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Wenxiao Pan

Wenxiao Pan

Associate Professor

Prof. Pan received her training in both mechanical engineering (BS, MS) and applied mathematics (PhD), providing her with a unique perspective at the interface of engineering, applied mathematics, and scientific computing. Motivated by grand challenges in modeling and simulating complex fluids, soft matter, and solid materials, as well as their broad applications in materials design and advanced manufacturing, Prof. Pan’s research group is dedicated to establish accurate, robust, and scalable computational methods and ML/AI-enhanced modeling and simulations.

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Contact

2242, Mechanical Engineering Bldg
1513 University Ave
Madison, WI

Featured news

  • PhD 2010, Brown University

  • Scientific Machine Learning
  • Reduced Order Modeling
  • Quantum Computing
  • Complex Fluids
  • Fluid-solid Interactions
  • Soft Matter
  • Solid Materials
  • Advanced Manufacturing

  • 2024 University of Wisconsin-Madison, Vilas Associate Award
  • 2017 Journal of Computational Physics, Outstanding Reviewer Award
  • 2016 Co-developer for R&D 100 Awarded “Carbon Capture Simulation Initiative”
  • 2014 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Exceptional Contribution Award
  • 2012 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Outstanding Performance Award
  • 2009 Brown University, Simon Ostrach Dissertation Fellowship

  • Qian, C., Stanifer, E., Ma, Z., Yao, L., Luo, B., Liu, C., Li, J., Pan, P., Pan, W., Mao, X., & Chen, Q. (2025). Nanoscale phonon dynamics in self-assembled nanoparticle lattices. Nature Materials, 24(10), 1616-1625 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02253-3
  • Ye, Z., & Pan, W. (2024). Discrete Variable Topology Optimization Using Multi-Cut Formulation and Adaptive Trust Regions. arXiv preprint arXiv:2406.12215.
  • Qian, C., Stanifer, E., Ma, Z., Luo, B., Liu, C., Yao, L., Pan, W., Mao, X., & Chen, Q. (2024). Nanoscale Imaging of Phonons and Reconfiguration in Topologically-Engineered, Self-Assembled Nanoparticle Lattice. arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.15627.
  • Ma, Z., & Pan, W. (2024). Shape deformation, disintegration, and coalescence of suspension drops: Efficient simulation enabled by graph neural networks. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 176, 104845.
  • Ye, Z., Qian, X., & Pan, W. (2023). Quantum topology optimization via quantum annealing. IEEE Transactions on Quantum Engineering, 4, 1-15.
  • Ye, Z., Hu, X., & Pan, W. (2022). A multigrid preconditioner for spatially adaptive high-order meshless method on fluid--solid interaction problems. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 400, 115506.
  • Ma, Z., Ye, Z., & Pan, W. (2022). Fast simulation of particulate suspensions enabled by graph neural network. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 400, 115496.
  • Yang, J., Rubino, V., Ma, Z., Tao, J., Yin, Y., McGhee, A., Pan, W., & Franck, C. (2022). Spatiotemporally Adaptive Quadtree mesh (STAQ) Digital Image Correlation for resolving large deformations around complex geometries and discontinuities. Experimental Mechanics, 1-25.
  • Wang, S., Ma, Z., & Pan, W. (2021). Data-driven coarse-grained modeling of non-equilibrium systems. Soft Matter, 17(26), 6404-6412.
  • Ma, Z., & Pan, W. (2021). Data-driven nonintrusive reduced order modeling for dynamical systems with moving boundaries using Gaussian process regression. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 373, 113495.

  • ME 363 - Fluid Dynamics (Fall 2026)
  • ME 563 - Intermediate Fluid Dynamics (Fall 2026)
  • ME 699 - Advanced Independent Study (Fall 2026)
  • ME 790 - Master's Research and Thesis (Fall 2026)
  • ME 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Fall 2026)
  • ME 990 - Dissertator Research and Thesis (Fall 2026)
  • ME 790 - Master's Research and Thesis (Summer 2026)
  • ME 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Summer 2026)
  • ME 990 - Dissertator Research and Thesis (Summer 2026)
  • ME 489 - Honors in Research II (Spring 2026)
  • ME 491 - Mechanical Engineering Projects I (Spring 2026)
  • ME 699 - Advanced Independent Study (Spring 2026)
  • ME 790 - Master's Research and Thesis (Spring 2026)
  • ME 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Spring 2026)
  • ME 990 - Dissertator Research and Thesis (Spring 2026)
  • ME 563 - Intermediate Fluid Dynamics (Fall 2025)
  • ME 699 - Advanced Independent Study (Fall 2025)
  • ME 737 - Scientific Computing and Machine Learning for Engineering Applications (Fall 2025)
  • ME 790 - Master's Research and Thesis (Fall 2025)
  • ME 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Fall 2025)
  • ME 990 - Dissertator Research and Thesis (Fall 2025)
  • ME 790 - Master's Research and Thesis (Summer 2025)
  • ME 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Summer 2025)
  • ME 990 - Dissertator Research and Thesis (Summer 2025)
  • ME 790 - Master's Research and Thesis (Spring 2025)
  • ME 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Spring 2025)
  • ME 990 - Dissertator Research and Thesis (Spring 2025)
  • ME 363 - Fluid Dynamics (Fall 2024)
  • ME 790 - Master's Research and Thesis (Fall 2024)
  • ME 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Fall 2024)
  • ME 964 - Special Advanced Topics in Mechanical Engineering (Fall 2024)
  • ME 990 - Dissertator Research and Thesis (Fall 2024)