Dr Yanan Xu is a Chancellor’s Research Fellow in the School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Her research focuses on structural optimisation, fibre-reinforced composite structures, additive manufacturing, computational mechanics, uncertainty quantification, multiscale modelling, and machine learning-assisted engineering design. 

Dr Xu received her PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Sydney in 2024. She has rapidly established a strong early-career research profile, publishing extensively in leading journals such as Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, and Composites Science and Technology. Dr Xu has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed journal publications, attracting over 1,000 Google Scholar citations with an h-index of 17. Her publications achieved a Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) of 4.86 overall, with approximately 39% of her outputs ranked within the world’s top 10% most-cited publications. Her work has been recognised through several awards, including the APCOM 2025 Early Career Researcher Travel Grant, ACCM 2023 Best Paper Award.

Dr Xu is currently seeking motivated PhD students and research collaborators interested in structural optimisation, additive manufacturing, composite structures, multiscale modelling, and machine learning-assisted engineering design. Prospective students are encouraged to contact Dr Xu for potential research opportunities.