ILMA Compoundings June 2018 - 10

INSIDE ILMA

ILMA Scholarship Recipient Makes
the Most of Her Opportunity
Q&A with Xiaohan Zhang

ach year, ILMA awards scholarships to students who excel in
fields relating to the lubricants
industry. After 17 years of the ILMA
Foundation Scholarship Program,
the Association has awarded more
than $400,000 to 155 students. One
of those students is Xiaohan Zhang,
a mechanical engineering graduate student at Auburn University and winner
of the 2015-16 Bob Jackson Award.
Zhang, born in China, started her
academic career in mechanical engineering at Taiyuan University of Science and
Technology in Shanxi in 2007. Since
then, she has made her way to Auburn,
one of the very best pipelines for future
lubricants industry professionals. Now
pursuing a Ph.D., Zhang is clearly on
her way to a successful career. And
with a little help from those ILMA
scholarship research funds - received
in full after her report to ILMA titled
An Analysis of Surface Roughness and Its
Influence on a Thrust Bearing - her
studies continue to drive her passion.
The Compoundings editorial team
caught up with Zhang after she
submitted the report to hear firsthand
about her research and how the ILMA
scholarship has helped her thrive.

Compoundings: How has your experience coming to Auburn helped you in
your pursuit of a Ph.D. and a career in
mechanical engineering?
Zhang: The mechanical engineering
department at Auburn provided me a
variety of courses. It helped me further
understand the different directions in
the mechanical engineering field and
choose a favorite direction to study. The
most important experience at Auburn
University has been meeting Dr. [Robert L.] Jackson and many friendly lab
mates. Dr. Jackson is full of patience in
guiding me with my research, and he
has shown me what a great professor
looks like at a university. My lab mates
have also helped me a lot with my
studies. With this comfortable learning

environment, I can put my heart and
soul into pursuing my Ph.D. degree.
Compoundings: How did you learn
about the ILMA scholarship, and why
did you apply for it?
Zhang: Dr. Jackson sent me an email
about the ILMA scholarship to help
me learn more about it. I became
a Ph.D. student in 2015, and he
and I wanted to do research on the
evaluation of the effect of multiscale
roughness on the mixed lubrication
regime, but we lacked funding at
that time. Therefore, I applied for the
ILMA scholarship.
Compoundings: How has the scholarship helped you advance your research
in the field of mechanical engineering?

Compoundings: Why did you decide
to pursue the field of mechanical
engineering?
Xiaohan Zhang: My uncle is an
engineer. When I was a child, I
remember him working on the design
of a crane. I thought that was awesome and became very interested in
it. So, I decided to study mechanical
engineering when I got to college.

JUNE 2018

| COMPOUNDINGS | ILMA.ORG

Robert L. Jackson, Ph.D., professor of mechanical enginnering at Auburn (left), first contacted Xiaohan Zhang about
the ILMA scholarship opportunity.

http://www.ILMA.ORG

ILMA Compoundings June 2018

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