YINJIAN ZHAO

2677 Ellendale Place  Los Angeles, California 90007

(310)817-3930  yinjianz@usc.edu
EDUCATION
University of Southern California (USC)
Ph.D. in Astronautical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering

2014 - Present

Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT)

B.A. in Nuclear Engineering, School of Energy Science and Engineering

2010 - 2014

WORKING EXPERIENCE
Department of Physics and Astronomy, USC
Teaching Assistant

January 2016 - Present

Los Angeles, California

Lead labs for the course Physics for the Life Science.
Department of Biological Science, USC
Teaching Assistant

August 2015 - December 2015

Los Angeles, California

Lead labs for the course General Biology: Organismal Biology and Evolution.
Department of Astronautical Engineering, USC
Research Assistant

June 2015 - July 2015

Los Angeles, California

Focus on simulations about EM wave-material interaction and ion beam neutralization.

Department of Biological Science, USC
Teaching Assistant

January 2015 - May 2015

Los Angeles, California

Lead labs for the course General Biology: Cell Biology and Physiology.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Department of Astronautical Engineering, USC
Student

August 2014 - Present

Los Angeles, California

Developing a Particle-Particle solver for ion beam neutralization problem.

OpenMPI parallel Particle-in-Cell plasma simulation coding.
Simulation of ion beam and electron neutralization in an open space environment.
Simulation of EM wave propagation and wave-material interaction in solar wind plasma background.
Numerically solving Maxwells equations by using Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) method
with Perfectly Matched Layer absorbing boundary condition.
Institute of Advanced Power, HIT
Student

August 2011 - May 2014

Harbin, China

Design the first and second HITs Cusped Field Thrusters (CFT).
Study the influence of the magnetic field strength and the alterable magnet length to a Cusped Field
Thruster through Particle-in-Cell simulation.
Attend the 8th Chinese Electric Propulsion Conference.
Design a Stationary Plasma Thruster (SPT) with magnetic shielding.

PUBLICATIONS
Hui Liu, Guoshun Sun, Yinjian Zhao, Pengbo Chen, Chengyu Ma, Huan Wu, et al. (2015). Plume
control of a cusped field thruster. Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on, 43(1), 127-129.
Liu Hui and Chen Peng-Bo and Zhao Yin-Jian and,Yu Da. (2015). Particle-in-cell simulation for
different magnetic mirror effects on the plasma distribution in a cusped field thruster. Chinese Physics
B, 24(8), 085202.
Liu, H., Wu, H., Zhao, Y., Yu, D., Ma, C., Wang, D., et al. (2014). Study of the electric field formation
in a multi-cusped magnetic field. Physics of Plasma, 21(9), 090706.
Y J Zhao and H Liu and D R Yu and P Hu and,H.Wu. (2014). Particle-in-cell simulations for the effect
of magnetic field strength on a cusped field thruster. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 47(4),
045201.
H. Liu, C. Y. Ma, H. B. Su, P. B. Chen, G. S. Sun and Y. J. Zhao, A modular multi-cusped field
plasma thruster, Chinese Patent, No. CN103835906A, 2014.
C. Y. Ma, H. Liu, G. S. Sun, P. B. Chen, Y. J. Zhao and D. R. Yu, An assembling device for multiple
magnet rings, Chinese Patent, No. CN103836031A, 2014.
H. Liu, G. S. Sun, C. Y. Ma, P. B. Chen, Y. J. Zhao and D. R. Yu, A segmented ceramic discharge
channel for multi-cusped field plasma thrusters, Chinese Patent, No. CN103775297A, 2014.
H. Liu, P. B. Chen, D. R. Yu, C. Y. Ma, G. S. Sun and Y. J. Zhao, A radiating dissipation device for
multi-cusped field plasma thrusters, Chinese Patent, No. CN103790794A, 2014.
Y. J. Zhao, H. Liu, D. R. Yu and C. Y. Ma, Particle-in-Cell Simulations for a Variable Magnetic
Length Cusped-Field Thruster, IEPC-2013-171.
C. Y. Ma, H. Liu, D. R. Yu, Y. J. Zhao, P. B. Chen and G. S. Sun, Experiment Research on a Variable
Magnet Length Cusped Field Thruster, IEPC-2013-209.
P. B. Chen, H. Liu, D. R. Yu, C. Y. Ma, G. S. Sun and Y. J. Zhao, Design and Experiments of a
Cusped-Field Thruster, 9th Chinese Electric Propulsion Conference, Gansu Province, Lanzhou, China,
2013.
C. Y. Ma, H. Liu, D. R. Yu, B. B. Chen, G. S. Sun and Y. J. Zhao, Experimental Observation and
Analysis of The Oscillation of a Cusped-Field Thruster, 9th Chinese Electric Propulsion Conference,
Gansu Province, Lanzhou, China, 2013.
Y. J. Zhao, Y. N. Zhang and H. Liu, A method to control the divergent plume of a Cusped Field
Thruster, Chinese Patent, No. CN103327721A, 2013.
C. Y. Ma, H. Liu, Y. J. Zhao, A design of a Cusped Field Thruster with a variable magnetic field
configuration, Chinese Patent, No. CN103410694A, 2013.
Y. J. Zhao, H. Liu and D. R. Yu, Comparison and analysis of the concepts of SPT and HEMPT through
Particle-in-Cell simulations, 8th Chinese Electric Propulsion Conference, Beijing, China, 2012.
SKILLS
Experiment: Structure and magnetic field configuration design, thermal analysis and experimental
diagnoses, etc.
Simulation (computer programming and software): Particle-in-Cell plasma simulation,OpenMPI and
OpenMP parallel computing, Fortran, Matlab, SolidWorks, AutoCAD, Tecplot, Gnuplot, Latex, Adobe
Flash, Vim, etc.