Academic Profile : Faculty

Dr Xiaolei Feng_1.jpg picture
Dr Xiaolei Feng
Lecturer, School of Materials Science & Engineering
Assistant Chair (Lifelong Learning), School of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE)
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Xiaolei Feng is trained as a condensed matter physicist, having graduated with a bachelor’s degree and PhD from the department of Physics of Jilin University, China. Towards the end of her studies at Jilin, she realised the need to broaden her understanding of the physics of materials to encompass naturally-occurring materials’ behaviour in the environment. She therefore took the opportunity to undertake a 2nd PhD at the department of Earth sciences at University of Cambridge. She worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the research institute “High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research (HPSTAR)” in Shanghai and Beijing, China. She also worked as associate professor at the Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction, Sichuan University, China before she joined the School of Materials Engineering in 2022.
Dr. Xiaolei Feng has a general interest in understanding the structure and property relationship of solid materials, and how these relate to the underlying mechanism by computational simulations. She uses quantum mechanical (so-called “ab initio”) methods to determine the electronic structure of solids, having applied these methods to a very wide range of materials, ranging from super-hard solids to high-temperature superconductors. An underlying link between almost all of the studies that she has carried out is that they explore the role of pressure in modifying and controlling materials’ solid-state structure and properties.
 
  • Game-based Authentic Learning in Engineering Courses
  • Understanding the environmental phosphorous proxy in corals and other biogenic carbonates from fundamental quantum mechanical investigation
  • Symmetry in Matter: Interdisciplinary Exploration for Emerging Scientists (SIMIXES)
Courses Taught
MS7120 Inorganic Materials, since Academic Year 2022/23, Semester 2
MS4667 Introduction to Sustainable Materials, since Academic Year 2023/24, Semester 1
MS3011 Metallic and Ceramic Materials, since Academic Year 2023/24, Semester 1
MS2012 Introduction to Manufacturing Processes, since Academic Year 2023/24, Semester 2