Dr. Jihua "Jan" Gou is an Associate Professor of Department of Mechanical, Materials & Aerospace Engineering at the University of Central Florida. He received his Ph.D. from Florida State University in 2002 and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1999. He is Director of Composite Materials & Structures Laboratory (CMSL) in the Department of Mechanical, Materials & Aerospace Engineering at the University of Central Florida. The CMSL focuses on composites research and education at both the material level, structural level, and system level.

His research group focuses on composite materials manufacturing, nanocomposite materials, mechanics of composite materials, computational mechanics of materials processing, solid mechanics, design and manufacturing. He teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in the broad areas of materials, mechanics, design, and manufacturing, including Statics, Dynamics, Solid Mechanics, Materials Science, Machine Design and Analysis, Senior Design, Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing, Introduction to Composite Materials, Mechanics of Composite Materials, and Engineering Design with Composite Materials.

Dr. Gou's research in composite materials and nanotechnology has been funded by National Science Foundation (NSF), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Office of Naval Research (ONR), Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), and ACS Petroleum Research Fund (ACS PRF). He has published over 90 peer-reviewed articles including 1 book chapter, 32 journal articles, and 58 conference papers. He is the recipient of Best Prize in Materials Modeling Methodologies awarded by Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) for the International Conference on Multiscale Materials Modeling in 2002 at the University of London, UK.

Dr. Gou is an Editorial Board Member for 2 journals including Composites Part B: Engineering (published by ELSEVIER) and Journal of Computational and Theoretical Nanoscience (published by American Scientific Publishers). He has served as a reviewer for 19 scientific journals including Aerospace Science and Technology, AIAA Journal, Carbon, Composites Part B: Engineering, Composites Science and Technology, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics - Part B, Journal of Aerospace Engineering, Journal of Cluster Science, Journal of Composite Materials, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Journal of Nanomaterials, Journal of Vibration and Control, IOP Nanotechnology, Physica A, Polymer, Polymer International, Smart Materials and Structures, and Textile Research Journal. He has served as a reviewer for conferences including ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition (IMECE), ASME International Conference on Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference (MSEC), and Materials Research Society (MRS) Fall Meeting. He has been invited by conference organizations to be Chairman and International Scientific Committee Member.

He served as a PANELIST for NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSF-NSEC), NSF Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI), and NSF Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE). He served as a proposal reviewer for NSF Office of International Science and Engineering (NSF-OISE), Army Research Office (ARO), U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF), American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (ACS-PRF), Louisiana Space Consortium (LaSpace) Research Enhancement Awards, and Fonds National de la Recherche (Luxembourg).

Dr. Gou is a member of American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE), Society for the Advancement of Material and Processing Engineering (SAMPE), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and Materials Research Society (MRS). As further confirmation of his accomplishments, his biography is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Science and Engineering, and Who's Who in the World. Dr. Gou lives in Avalon Park, Orlando with his wife and two children - Zachary and Ryan.