2018 Scholarship Winner Feature – Ji Lang

STLE Section Awards Scholarship to Villanova University Doctoral Student

Mr. Thomas O’Brien, former STLE chair and an account manager for Lubrizol, presented Ji with a check during a visit to the College of Engineering.

The Philadelphia Section of the STLE is pleased to award a scholarship to Ji Lang, a Villanova University doctoral student in Mechanical Engineering.

Lang was awarded a $1,500 scholarship from the Philadelphia Section of the Society of Tribologists & Engineers (STLE) in recognition of his academic achievements and research.

A branch of mechanical engineering and materials science, tribology is the study of the science and engineering of interacting surfaces in relative motion. It includes the study and application of the principles of friction, lubrication and wear. Ji’s doctoral research is applying lessons from biological systems to develop a new type of soft porous damper (a thin porous material, which could be made of polymer or fibers) with superior damping and lubrication performance. He has performed extensive analytical, numerical and experimental studies on a novel experimental setup he designed and constructed to simulate the fluid response during the sudden impact on the joint cartilage.

Bill Tuszynski, PhD, a partner with the Unami Group and chair of the STLE’s scholarship committee says, “Quality students such as Ji show that the future of tribology research is in good hands.” In addition to being featured on the Philadelphia STLE website, Ji’s work will be included in a future issue of Tribology & Lubrication Technology, STLE’s monthly magazine. Scholarship awardees also are invited to present their work at one of the chapter’s monthly section meetings, which offer education, networking opportunities and fellowship.

The Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers is one of the largest professional societies in the field of lubrication and serves 15,000 industry professionals worldwide. Its mission is to advance the science of tribology and the practice of lubrication engineering in order to foster innovation, improve the performance of equipment and products, conserve resources and protect the environment. The local Philadelphia chapter is among the largest chapters in the world and its primary mission is fundraising to provide scholarship awards to worthy science and engineering students in the greater Philadelphia region.