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George Mason University

Faculty & Staff Directory

Hongwei Sheng

  • Associate Professor

    Contact Info

    Headshot of Dr. Hongwei Sheng
    Name
    Dr. Hongwei Sheng
    Job Title
    Associate Professor
    Phone Number
    703-993-8576
    Office Number
    Planetary Hall, Room 211, MSN 3F3

    Affiliations

    Departments

    Education

    Ph.D., Material Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1997

    About

    Prof. Sheng received his Ph.D. from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1997. He is a condensed-matter physicist whose research focuses on the atomic-scale structure of disordered and low-dimensional materials and how these structures govern physical properties. His work aims to develop advanced materials through a fundamental understanding of structure–property relationships, supported by multiscale computational modeling and data-driven approaches. Prof. Sheng combines first-principles calculations, large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, and emerging machine-learning–assisted techniques with state-of-the-art synchrotron X-ray scattering experiments. He has authored or co-authored over 120 peer-reviewed publications, cited more than 12,000 times. He received the Young Researcher Award at the International Conference on Metastable Materials in 2007, and his research has been supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation.

    Current Research

    My research focuses on understanding how atomic-scale structure governs the physical properties of disordered and low-dimensional materials, with the long-term goal of enabling the design of advanced materials through fundamental structure–property relationships. I combine multiscale computational approaches—including first-principles calculations, large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, and machine-learning–enabled interatomic potential development—with state-of-the-art synchrotron X-ray scattering experiments. This integrated framework allows direct connections between theory, simulation, and experiment across multiple length and time scales.

    Current research directions include:

    • Development of advanced interatomic potential models for condensed-matter systems
    • Phase transitions and transformation mechanisms enabled by emerging computational techniques
    • Structural ordering, relaxation, and nucleation in disordered materials
    • Prediction of materials properties using density functional theory and large-scale simulations
    • Generative and data-driven approaches for materials discovery and synthesis
    • High-pressure physics and in situ synchrotron X-ray scattering experiments

    Teaching Focus

    My teaching emphasizes building strong physical intuition while equipping students with modern computational skills essential for research in physics and materials science. Over the past decade, I have taught both graduate- and undergraduate-level courses, integrating theory, computation, and real-world scientific applications. At the graduate level, I have developed and taught advanced courses including Computational Quantum Mechanics, Density Functional Theory, Advanced Computer Simulation of Materials, and The Wave Mechanics of Electrons in Metals, preparing students for high-level computational and data-driven research. I also teach core theoretical courses such as Classical Electrodynamics and Physical Foundations of Materials Science. At the undergraduate level, I have taught courses including Griffiths’ Classical Electrodynamics, Modern Physics, and Materials Science for Renewable Energy, as well as introductory computing courses using MATLAB to build early computational literacy. 

    Selected Publications

    1.     Z. Chen, Y.Chen, D. Wei, etc., Enhancing the strength and ductility of a medium entropy alloy through non-basal slip activation, Nature Communications, 16, 6480 (2025)
    2.     H. Tang, Y. Cheng, X. Yuan, K.Zhang, A. Kurnosov, Z. Chen, W. Xiao, H, S Jeppesen, M. Etter, T. Liang, Z. Zeng, Fei Wang, H. Sheng*, T. Katsura, Toughening of oxide glasses through paracrystallizaiton, Nature Materials 22, 1089 (2023)
    3.     H. Tang, X. Yuan, Y. Cheng, H. Fei, F. Liu, T. Liang, Z. Zeng, T, Ishii, M. Wang, T.Katsura, H. Sheng*, H. Gou*, Synthesis of paracrystalline diamond, Nature 599 7886 (2022)
    4.     Q.J. Li, H. Sheng* and E. Ma, Strengthening in multi-principal element alloys with local-chemical-order roughened dislocation pathways, Nature Communications 10, 3563 (2019)
    5.     J. Ding, Y.Q. Cheng, H. Sheng, M. Asta, R.O. Ritchie, E. Ma, Universal structural parameter to quantitatively predict metallic glass properties, Nature Comm. 7, 13733 (2017)
    6.     Q.Y. Hu, J.F. Shu, A. Cadien, Y. Meng, W.G. Yang, H.W. Sheng, H.K. Mao, Polymorphic phase transition mechanism of compressed coesite, Nature Communications 6, 6630 (2015)
    7.     L. Zhong, J. Wang, H.W. Sheng*, Z. Zhang, S.X. Mao*, Formation of monatomic metallic glasses through ultrafast liquid quenching, Nature 512, 177 (2014)
    8.     A. Cadien, Q.Y. Hu, Y. Meng, Y.Q. Cheng, J.F. Shi, H-K. Mao and H.W. Sheng, First-order liquid-liquid phase transition in Cerium, Phys. Rev. Lett., 110, 043020 (2013)
    9.     H.W. Sheng, H.Z. Liu, Y.Q. Cheng, P.L. Lee, W.K. Luo, S.D. Shastri, and E. Ma, Polyamorphism in a metallic glass, Nature Materials 6, 192 (2007)
    10.   H.W. Sheng, W.K. Luo, F.M. Alamgir, J.M. Bai, and E. Ma, Atomic packing and short-to-medium range order in metallic glasses, Nature 439, 419-425 (2006)

    Awards

    • Multiple awards for general user proposals of synchrotron X-ray experiments at Advanced Photon Sources, Argonne National Lab (2007 –-2024)
    • Received multiple Research grants from the NSF (2009 – 2024)
    • NSF ARRA award on “Structural ordering and vitrification of multicomponent metallic liquids”, 2009
    • Invited visiting Professor to the World Premiere International (WPI) Research Center, Japan, Jul. 2008 ~ Sep. 2008
    • Recipient of the ISMANAM 2006 Junior Scientist Award (International Symposium on Metastable and Nano Materials), Warsaw, Poland, Aug. 2006
    • Recipient of the 100 Most Distinguished Doctorate Dissertations Award, China, 2002 (only two recipients under the category of materials science)
    • Recipient of the Most Excellent Graduate Student Award from Institute of Metals Research, CAS, 1997
    • Recipient of Presidential Award (Distinguished Student Award) of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1997
    • Recipient of the “Innovative Scientific Ideas” Award of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China, 1996
    • Winners of top-prize graduate scholarships in consecutive years, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (1992-1997)

    Contact Info

    Headshot of Dr. Hongwei Sheng
    Name
    Dr. Hongwei Sheng
    Job Title
    Associate Professor
    Phone Number
    703-993-8576
    Office Number
    Planetary Hall, Room 211, MSN 3F3

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