Dr. Gao is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University. He earned a Bachelor degree in Engineering Mechanics from Sichuan University in 2003, and a Master degree in Solid Mechanics from Tsinghua University in 2006. Upon receiving his second Master in Mechanical Engineering from University of California, Irvine in 2007, Gao worked in industry for two years on the drive train design for electrical vehicles. Furthering his academic pursuit, he received Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from University of Texas at Austin in 2014 and conducted his postdoctoral training at Northwestern University. Before joining TAMU, Dr. Gao worked as an Assistant Professor at University of Texas at San Antonio from 2016 to 2022. Dr. Gao received the NSF CAREER award in 2021.