Education:

l  Ph.D. (Mathematics), Institute of Mathematics, Academia Sinica, Beijing, China, 1994 – 1997.

Specialization: Domain Decomposition Method, Finite Element Method and its Application on Scientific and Engineering Computing.

l  M.S. (Mathematics), Shandong University, Shandong, China, 1991 – 1994.

Specialization: Computational Mathematics and its Applied Software.

l  B.S. (Mathematics), Shandong University, Shandong, China, 1987 – 1991.

Specialization: Computational Mathematics and its Applied Software.

 

Employment:

l  Assistant Professor, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, August 2007 – present.

l  Assistant Professor, Pennsylvania State University, September 2005 – August 2007.

l  Research Associate, Simon Fraser University, Canada, September 2004 – August 2005.

l  Postdoctoral Fellow, Pennsylvania State University, December 2001 – August 2004.

l  Project Manager & Chief Research and Development Scientist, FEGEN Software Co. Ltd. (www.fegensoft.com), Beijing, China, December 1997 – November 2001.

l  Research Assistant, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, June 1997 – November 1997.

l  Research and Development Scientist (part time), Offshore Oil Exploration and Development Research Center, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, Beijing, China, 1995 – 1996.

 

Visiting positions:

l  Guest professor, College of Automotive Engineering, Tongji University (Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline – "111 Project"), Shanghai, 2008 – present

l  Electrochemical Engine Center, Penn State University, January – July 2006.

l  Xiangtan University, China, 1 week, November 2004.

l  Mathematics and Computer Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, 1 week, October 2003.

l  Michigan State University, Michigan, USA, 1 week, August 2003.

l  University of California, San Diego, California, 2 weeks, March 2002.

 

INVITED SEMINAR AND COLLOQUIUM TALKS:

l  Colloquiums of Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline (“111-project”), Tongji University, Shanghai, China, May 27 and July 4, 2008.

l  Colloquium of Math. Dept., Idaho State University, November 9, 2007.

l  Numerical Analysis Seminar, University of Maryland, March 27, 2007.

l  Finite Element Circus, Penn State University, November 3-4, 2006.

l  Computation Day, Penn State University, February 28, 2006.

l  Workshop on New Directions in PDE, Banff International Research Station (BIRS), Banff, Alberta, Canada, July 2-7, 2005.

l  Computation Day, Penn State University, Feb. 17, 2005.

l  Workshop on Singularities in Materials, Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 25-29, 2004.

l  Finite Element Circus, University of Pittsburgh, April 16-17, 2004.

l  Finite Element Circus, Cornell University, November 7-8, 2003.

 

Research interests:

My primary fields of research are Numerical Analysis and Scientific and Engineering Computing. More specifically, my work is on the analysis and design of algorithms in the following areas:

l  Nonlinear iteration methods for coupled multiphysics problems.

l  Anisotropic mesh adaptation and adaptive finite element methods.

l  Fuel cell modeling.

l  Phase field methods.

l  Numerical solution of partial differential equations.

l  Domain decomposition methods with non-matching grids.

l  Numerical solution of integro-differential equations.

l  Computation and Software design.

My research interests focus on computational methods for handling large-scale and multiscale phenomena, e.g., for physical solutions having boundary layers or sharp interfaces on irregular domains in multiple spatial dimensions that involve complex boundary conditions. Applications focus of my research is widespread and includes the following practical problems:

l  Convection dominated PDEs.

l  A fourth order thin film flow problem with moving contact lines.

l  An extreme-mass-ratio binary system arising from a black hole problem.

l  Numerical models of fuel cell dynamics.

l  Two-phase flow problems.

l  Navier-Stokes equations.

l  Elasticity and plasticity mechanics problems.

l  Multiphase compressible displacement in porous media.

l  Integro-differnential equation arising in population dynamics.

 

Publications:

1.        Fast numerical simulation of two-phase transport model in the cathode of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, Pengtao Sun, Guangri Xue, Chaoyang Wang and Jinchao Xu, Communications in Computational Physics (accepted), 2008

2.        A combined finite element-upwind finite volume method for three dimensional simulations of liquid feed direct methanol fuel cells, Pengtao Sun, Guangri Xue, Chaoyang Wang and Jinchao Xu, Proceedings of 6^th International Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology Conference, Denver, June, 2008

3.        New numerical techniques for a liquid-feed 3D full direct methanol fuel cell model, Pengtao Sun, Guangri Xue, Chaoyang Wang and Jinchao Xu, SIAM J. Appl. Math. (submitted), 2008

4.        Adaptive finite element-phase field method on thermo-induced Marangoni effects in the mixtures, Chun Liu, Pengtao Sun and Jinchao Xu (To be submitted), 2008

5.        A domain decomposition method for two-phase transport model in the cathode of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, Pengtao Sun, Guangri Xue, Chaoyang Wang and Jinchao Xu, Journal of Computational Physics (submitted), 2007

6.        A new adaptive local mesh refinement algorithm and its application on fourth order thin film flow problem, Pengtao Sun, Robert Russell and Jinchao Xu, Journal of Computational Physics, 224 (2007), 1021-1048.

7.        Optimal anisotropic meshes for minimizing interpolation errors in L^p-norm, Long Chen, Pengtao Sun and Jinchao Xu, Math. Comp. 76 (2007), 179-204.

8.        A toy model for testing finite element methods to simulate extreme-mass-ratio binary systems, Carlos F. Sopuerta, Pengtao Sun, Pablo Laguna and Jinchao Xu, Class. Quantum Grav. 23 (2006), 251-285

9.        Multilevel homotopic adaptive finite element methods for convection dominated problems, Long Chen, Pengtao Sun and Jinchao Xu, The Proceedings for 15th Conferences for Domain Decomposition Methods (2004), 459-468.

10.    Technical analysis of pressure vessel analytical design software VAS2.0, Hong Wei, Pengtao Sun, (in Chinese) Process Equipment & Piping, 38 (2001), No.3, 54-57.

11.    Thermal stress finite element analysis of heat-exchanging equipment, Hong Wei, Pengtao Sun, (in Chinese) Process Equipment & Piping, 38 (2001), No.6, 56-59

12.    Solving parabolic problem by domain decomposition methods with Lagrangian multipliers, Qiya Hu, Pengtao Sun and Guoping Liang, (in Chinese) Journal of Computational Mathematics, 22 (2000), 241-256.

13.    Lagrangian multiplier based domain decomposition method with non-matching grids for time-dependent equations, Pengtao Sun, The Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on High-Performance Computing, IEEE Computer Society, 2000.

14.    The non-conforming finite element method for parabolic integro-differential equations, Pengtao Sun, Journal of Mathematics and Physics (1997), No.3.

15.    Fluid migration between fault-bound basins on the south China margin, Qiyun Wang, Pengtao Sun, Jiangheng He and Guoping Liang, The Proceedings of the 30th International Geological Congress, Beijing, China, 1996

16.    The F.E.M. for hyperbolic integro-differential equation and the application of Interpolated postprocessing technique, Pengtao Sun, Mathematica Applicata, 9 (1996), 433-440.

17.    The interpolated postprocessing technique of the F.E.M. for nonlinear parabolic integro-differential equations, Pengtao Sun, Journal of Systems Science and Mathematical Sciences, 16 (1996), 159-171.

18.    Elliptic H²-Volterra Proiection and the H¹-Galerkin Methods for the integro- differential equations of evolution, Pengtao Sun, Applied Mathematics A Journal of Chinese Universities B, 10 (1995), 11-24.

19.    Effects of quadrature errors in finite element methods for nonlinear hyperbolic integro-differential equations, Pengtao Sun, Journal of Shandong University (Natural Science), 30 (1995), 43-51.

20.    The analysis of approximation for F.E.M. for nonlinear hyperbolic integro- differential equations, Pengtao Sun, Chinese Journal of Engineering Mathematics, 11 (1994), 76-82.

21.    Interpolated post-processing technique for convection and diffusion equation, Pengtao Sun, The Proceedings of the Sixth National Symposium on Numerical Methods for Fluid Dynamics, Jinan, China, 1993.

 

participated Projects:

1.        Fuel Cell Vehicle and Powertrain System Engineering Technologies, Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline –"111-project", College of Automotive Engineering, Tongji University, China, Summer 2008.

2.        Algorithms research and finite element simulation on 3D direct methanol fuel cell, with Chaoyang Wang’s group, Electrochemical Engine Center (ECEC) and Jinchao Xu, Penn State & UNLV, 2006-present.

3.        Adaptive finite element-phase field method for thermo-induced Marangoni effects in the mixtures, with Chun Liu and Andrew L Belmonte, Department of Mathematics, Penn State University, 2007.

4.        Adaptive finite element method for steady-profile fingering flows in Marangoni driven thin films, with Thomas Witelski, Duke University, 2007.

5.        Adaptive finite element simulation for the dynamics of a particle around a rotating black hole, with Carlos F. Sopuerta, Spanish National Research Council, 2007.

6.        Adaptive finite element method for thin film flow, with Robert Russell, Simon Fraser University, Canada, 2005-2006.

7.        3D numerical simulation for Cahn-Hilliard equation derived from diblock copolymer, with Rustum Choksi, Simon Fraser University, Canada, 2004.

8.        Finite element simulation for PEM fuel cell, with Chaoyang Wang’s group, Electrochemical Engine Center (ECEC), Penn State University, 2003.

9.        Finite element simulation for black hole binary system, with Pablo Laguna, Department of Physics, Penn State University, 2003.

10.    Phase field method for the fingering of gel, with Chun Liu and Andrew L Belmonte, Department of Mathematics, Penn State University, 2003.

11.    Adaptive mesh method for convection dominated diffusion problem, with Long Chen and Jinchao Xu, Penn State University, 2002.

12.    CAD application in Shoes Design System, FEGEN Software Co. Ltd., Beijing, China, 2001.

13.    Online Finite Element Program Generator, FEGEN Software Co. Ltd., Beijing, China, 2001.

14.    Finite element computing of two-phase compressible displacement in porous media, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China, 2000.

15.    3D computational fluid dynamics for coating die optimal designing, China Lucky Film Corporation, China, 2000.

16.    Stress analysis of pressure vessel, China National Standardization Committee on Pressure Vessel, Beijing, China, 1999.

17.    Parallel algorithms and software for domain decomposition finite element method, National Research Center for Intelligent Computing Systems, Beijing, China, 1999.

18.    Stability analysis of surrounding rock, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, China, 1998.

19.    Heat and material conduction on semiconductor chip, Motorola (China) Electronics Ltd., China, 1998.

20.    DDM with non-matching grids and its application on Basin Modeling with multi-fault and multiphase, Offshore Oil Exploration and Development Research Center, China National Offshore Oil Corp., and Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, 1997.

 

Developed software packages:

1.        Finite element simulation on fuel cell dynamics.

2.        Finite element simulation on thin film flow.

3.        Finite element simulation on black hole binary system.

4.        Finite element simulation with phase field method.

5.        Parallel finite element codes for domain decomposition method.

6.        Adaptive finite element codes with local refinement method.

7.        Adaptive finite element codes with moving mesh method.

8.        Geometric multigrid solver.

9.        Stress analysis system arising in pressure vessel.

10.    3D Computational Fluid System arising in coating die optimal design system.

11.    Basin Modeling System.

12.    Stability Analysis System arising in plastically deforming surrounding rock.

13.    Generic Finite Element Discretization Package.

14.    Shoes Design CAD System.

 

Advisors and collaborators:

l  Yirang Yuan: Professor, advisor of M.A., Shandong University, China.

l  Guoping Liang: Professor, advisor of Ph.D., Institute of Math, Academia Sinica.

l  Jinchao Xu: Professor, advisor of Postdoctoral fellow, Penn State.

l  Robert Russell: Professor, Simon Fraser University.

l  Chaoyang Wang: Professor, collaborator of fuel cell projects, Penn State.

l  Keith Promislow: Professor, collaborator of fuel cell research, Michigan State.

l  Ziping Huang: Professor, collaborator of fuel cell research, Tongji University.

l  Su Zhou: Professor, collaborator of fuel cell research, Tongji University.

l  Chun Liu: Professor, collaborator of phase field method research, Penn State.

l  William D. Gropp: Senior Computer Scientist, Argonne National Laboratory.

l  Michael J. Holst: Professor, University of California, San Diego.

l  John Stockie: Associate Professor, Simon Fraser University.

l  Long Chen: Assistant Professor, collaborator of adaptive mesh method, UC Irvine.

l  Youngju Lee: Assistant Professor, Rutgers University.

 

Skills:

1.        Expert level on finite element simulation by finite element program generator.

2.        Finite Element Analysis (FEA) by ANSYS and FEMLAB.

3.        Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) by STARCD and FLUENT.

4.        Expert level on scientific and engineering computing.

5.        Professional operation on popular systems as Windows, Mac, Linux and Unix.

6.        Proficiency at all kinds of office software on Windows, Mac and Unix.

7.        Expert level on programming in Fortran77, Fortran90, Visual C++, Visual Basic and HTML.

8.        Parallel computing in MPI.

9.        Interpersonal leadership.

10.    Project Management.

 

course taught:

l  MATH 140, Calculus with Analytic Geometry I, Penn State, Fall 2006.

l  MATH 140, Calculus with Analytic Geometry I, Penn State, Spring 2007.

l  MATH 283, Calculus with Analytic Geometry III, UNLV, Fall 2007.

l  MATH 463/663, Advanced Matrix Theory and Applications, UNLV, Spring 2008.

l  MATH 181, Calculus with Analytic Geometry I, UNLV, Summer 2008.

 

Thesis Work:

l  A Lagrange multiplier based domain decomposition method with non-matching grids for time-dependent problems, Ph.D. Thesis, Institute of Mathematics, Academia Sinica, Beijing, China, 1997.

l  Mixed finite element method for the integro-differential equations of evolution, M.A. Thesis, Shandong University, China, 1994.

 

Honors and Awards:

l  Guest professor, College of Automotive Engineering, Tongji University, China (Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline – "111 Project"), Summer 2008.

l  Excellent Ph.D. Thesis Scholarship, Institute of Mathematics, Academia Sinica, China, 1997.

l  Doctoral Thesis Scholarship, Institute of Mathematics, Academia Sinica, China, 1995-1996.

l  Winter School Fellowship on Iterative Methods in Scientific Computing and Their Applications, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1995.

l  Guanghua Scholarship, Shandong University, China, 1994.

l  Excellent Thesis Scholarship, Shandong University, China, 1991-1994.

 

Grants

l  UNLV Research Grant, RDA 08–Sun, The Research Development Award, “High Performance Numerical Simulation on 3D Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) Modeling”, PI, 7/18/2008 – 7/31/2009.

 

Professional Society:

l  Deputy Secretary General, The Specialty Association of Mathematical & Scientific Software, China Software Industry Association, Beijing, China, 1999 – 2001.

 

Conference Organization:

l  Program Committee Member, the Fourth International Conference on High-Performance Computing, IEEE Computer Society, Beijing, China, May 2000.