{"id":85273,"date":"2025-08-04T10:10:29","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T14:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/engineering\/?p=85273"},"modified":"2025-08-04T10:11:51","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T14:11:51","slug":"honoring-her-father-motivated-ph-d-graduate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/engineering\/honoring-her-father-motivated-ph-d-graduate\/","title":{"rendered":"Honoring her father motivated Ph.D. graduate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When Liyuan Gong was deciding on pursuing a higher degree and returning to academia, her father had just passed away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt made me reflect on what I could do to make a meaningful difference. Pursuing further education was also part of my father\u2019s wish for me and honoring that became a deep source of motivation,\u201d said Gong, who graduated this spring from the University of Rhode Island with her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this period of transition, Gong, from Fuyu, Jilin, China, came across assistant professor Yang Lin\u2019s lab. It was a newly established Microfluidics and Microsystems Laboratory<\/a> in the College of Engineering and its research focus strongly resonated with Gong\u2019s interests. \u201cI saw an opportunity not only to grow as a researcher, but also to work toward goals that aligned with both my personal aspirations and my father\u2019s hopes for my future,\u201d said Gong.<\/p>\n\n\n

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From left to right: Ph.D. student Bryan Varela, Assistant Professor Yang Lin, and Liyuan Gong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Her primary research focused on developing engineering solutions to address the challenges of detecting and characterizing micro- and nano plastics. \u201cI aimed to create tools that could bridge the gap between benchtop systems and field-ready devices for long-term environmental monitoring,\u201d said Gong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In particular, she explored the use of lab-on-a-chip and microfluidic technologies, which were a key focus of the lab. \u201cThese platforms hold great potential, not only for environmental detection, such as identifying micro- and nano plastics, but also for biomedical and health care applications, which align closely with my long-term research goals,\u201d said Gong. In addition to environmental sensing, the lab used microfluidic systems to culture cells and create more realistic in-vitro models. This allows the team to investigate micro- and nano plastic toxicity in a biologically relevant context, paving the way for more accurate and high-throughput screening methods.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Gong could often be found with friends on the beach, conducting research or simply enjoying the surroundings. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In the lab, she served as a part-time teaching assistant and a part-time research assistant. Uniquely, she wasn\u2019t just an RA in the one lab but also worked as an RA at the Rhode Island Consortium for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology core facility. \u201cI learned a great deal from my mentors there, assistant professor Irene Andreu and Matthew Cabral, director of the nanotechnology lab. These experiences were a true blessing, enriching my knowledge, expanding my skill set, and strengthening my professional network and career foundation,\u201d said Gong.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Fall 2022, the first group of undergraduates Gong worked with. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the most rewarding aspects of my Ph.D. was mentoring students. I had the opportunity to work closely with more than 10 undergraduates in our lab, and countless others in the nanotechnology lab,\u201d said Gong. \u201cTo me, this was the most invaluable and fulfilling part of my journey, guiding students, helping them discover their interests, and watching them grow. It was through these experiences that I discovered my true passion for teaching and mentorship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike the adrenaline-driven passion she had when she first entered her career, she says, \u201cThis deeper, more enduring joy comes from seeing students I\u2019ve mentored achieve their goals. It\u2019s a quiet but powerful motivation, one that helped me realize that becoming a professor is not just a career aspiration, but something I truly love and am committed to pursuing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from personal connections, she also cherishes the moments when the team achieved important milestones in the lab such as receiving funding awards or special recognition. \u201cThose moments made everything feel solid and real. They reminded me of how far we had come together,\u201d said Gong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her Ph.D. program, she published 11 papers\u2013including six as first author\u2013comprising a book chapter, two review articles, and four original research papers. \u201cOne of my research papers received the Best Paper Award at the ASME Fluids Engineering Summer Meeting in 2024. I was also honored with the Graduate Student Scholar Award for our work on the bi-axial cell stretching system, one of the projects I\u2019m most proud of,\u201d said Gong.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Gong’s Ph.D. thesis defense with mentor Assistant Professor Yang Lin. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

That project reminded her of her time on the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers team, where she spent long nights in the machine shop with teammates who shared the same passion and drive. \u201cIt embodied the engineering spirit and sense of teamwork that I\u2019ve always valued deeply,\u201d said Gong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was involved with the URI FSAE team during the early part of her Ph.D., where she met some truly inspiring students all chasing their dreams. \u201cIt brought me so much joy to see the racing spirit alive and well at URI. I genuinely hope the team continues to grow and thrive, and I can\u2019t wait to see them on the track someday,\u201d said Gong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond publications and awards, she believes her greatest accomplishments are in the people she has supported\u2014both undergraduate and graduate students. \u201cMentoring others, contributing to their growth, and being part of their journey has been the most meaningful and fulfilling part of my Ph.D.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Spring 2024. A group of star undergrads in the lab, that formed a small engineering team to build a system from sketch to functional prototype within six months, and a publication.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Now that she has received her doctorate, she will begin her postdoctoral training at the University at Buffalo in biomedical engineering, where she will challenge herself by diving deeper into the intersection of engineering and biology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis next chapter will allow me to expand my expertise, refine my research focus, and prepare me for a future faculty career,\u201d said Gong. \u201cOf course, I remain committed to continuous learning, sharing knowledge, and taking on new challenges with bold, innovative ideas. It\u2019s a spirit I carry with me from URI: \u2018Think Big, and let\u2019s do it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Liyuan Gong was deciding on pursuing a higher degree and returning to academia, her father had just passed away. \u201cIt made me reflect on what I could do to make a meaningful difference. Pursuing further education was also part of my father\u2019s wish for me and honoring that became a deep source of motivation,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5094,"featured_media":85281,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5094"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85273"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85288,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85273\/revisions\/85288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}