Qiaoqin Yang B.Sc., B.E., M.Sc., P.Eng.
Professor Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering

Materials Science and Metallurgy

Education and Experience

B.Sc., Engineering Physics

M.Sc., Metallic Materials Engineering

Ph.D., Inorganic Non-metal Materials Engineering

Prior to joining the University of Saskatchewan, Prof. Yang worked as a STA (Science and Technology Agency) Fellow in The National Maritime Research Institute (Japan), a visiting professor in Vienna University of Technology (Austria) and in Siemens Company (Germany), and a professor in Hunan University (China). She is active in a number of technical societies and professional associations, including MRS, AVS, ASM and APEGS and has published 136 papers in reputed refereed Journals. She received her B.Sc. degree in Engineering Physics, M.Sc. degree in Metallic Materials Engineering, and Ph.D. in Inorganic Non-metal Materials Engineering.

Teaching Interests

Prof. Yang teaches several undergraduate and graduate courses in Materials Science and Engineering. She has developed a new graduate course, ME 842-Advanced Surface Engineering, and adopted an innovative teaching method, named self-participation lecturing and research problem solving, in teaching the graduate course. She thinks the role of a professor is not limited to the effective delivery of knowledge to students and the fair assessment of students' achievements. She believes it is more important to cultivate students with appropriate critical and creative thinking skills, independent learning abilities, and the positive and confident attitude to face new challenges.

Research Interests

Prof. Yang has developed strong expertise in the synthesis, structures, properties and correlation between structures and properties on various kinds of advanced materials and hard coatings including diamond, diamond-like carbon, nanocomposite Ti-B-N, WC-Co, amorphous and quasicrystal thin films/coatings, carbon nanostrucutres, ceramics and ceramic-based composites through her broad interdisciplinary training and extensive research experience in China, Austria, Germany, Japan and Canada. With the successful award of Canada Research Chair in 2005, she has built up a new laboratory in surface engineering and is leading a new research program in the area of nanostructured thin films/coatings. Currently she is directing many research projects and orchestrating coordinated collaborative research with many researchers possessing national and international reputations. Current research interests include:

• Diamond and its related nanostructured thin films/coatings
• Superhard nanocomposite thin films/coatings
• Friction, wear and corrosion
• Plasma and ion beam deposition and etching
• Advanced tooling and biomedical applications