Â鶹ÊÓƵ

Dr Jinning Zhang is currently a Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering and deputy programme director of MSc Aerospace at Â鶹ÊÓƵ. She obtained her MSc (2019) and PhD degree (2022) in aerospace propulsion from Cranfield University. Her research interests include energy management strategies and integrated control system design for aerospace propulsion, AI for transport and energy systems, and integrated power systems in aerospace and transportation-energy nexus.  

Research areas of interest include, but are not limited for:

• Sustainable propulsion system (battery, hydrogen) multidisciplinary design optimisation and integration.
• Supervisory energy management strategies and integrated control system for propulsion and power system. 
• Aviation-energy nexus: synergies between air transport sector and energy supply networks for an integrated carbon footprint reduction.

Research grant:

• PI, UK Department for Transport, Transport Research and Innovation Grants, ‘EH2Air: Electricity and Hydrogen towards Green Air Transport’, £45k, awarded in March 2024.
• Chief Scientific Adviser Award for Outstanding Project Delivery, Connected Places Catapult and Department for Transport, awarded in October 2024.
• PI, EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award (DLA studentship, ~£100k), ‘Digital Propulsion: Physics-Informed Machine Learning based Digital Twins for Aircraft Propulsion System Prognostics and Health Management’, awarded in December 2024.

Selected Publications:

[1] Zhang, J., Roumeliotis, I., Zhang, X., & Zolotas, A. (2023). Techno-economic-environmental evaluation of aircraft propulsion electrification: Surrogate-based multi-mission optimal design approach. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 175, 113168.

[2] Zhang, J., Roumeliotis, I., & Zolotas, A. (2022). Model-based fully coupled propulsion-aerodynamics optimization for hybrid electric aircraft energy management strategy. Energy, 245, 123239.

[3] Zhang, J., Roumeliotis, I., & Zolotas, A. (2021). Nonlinear model predictive control-based optimal energy management for hybrid electric aircraft considering aerodynamics-propulsion coupling effects. IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification, 8(2), 2640-2653.

[4] Zhang, J., Roumeliotis, I., & Zolotas, A. (2022). Sustainable aviation electrification: a comprehensive review of electric propulsion system architectures, energy management, and control. Sustainability, 14(10), 5880.

[5] Guo, Z., Zhang, J., Zhang, R., & Zhang, X. (2021). Aviation-to-Grid Flexibility through Electric Aircraft Charging. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 18(11), 8149-8159.

[6] Luan, Z., Zhang, J., Zhao, W., & Wang, C. (2020). Trajectory tracking control of autonomous vehicle with random network delay. IEEE transactions on vehicular technology, 69(8), 8140-8150.

[7] Kang, S., Roumeliotis, I., Zhang, J., Broca, O., & Pachidis, V. (2022). Assessment of engine operability and overall performance for parallel hybrid electric propulsion systems for a single-aisle aircraft. Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, 144(4).

[8] Wu, H., Zhang, Y., Huang, L., Zhang, J., Luan, Z., Zhao, W., & Chen, F. (2022). Research on vehicle obstacle avoidance path planning based on APF-PSO. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering, 09544070221088364.

[9] Lai, CS., Chen, D., Zhang, J., Zhang, X., Xu, X., Taylor, G. and et al. (2022) 'Profit maximization for large-scale energy storage systems to enable fast EV charging infrastructure in distribution networks'. Energy, 259. pp. 1 - 21. ISSN: 0360-5442.

[10] Carpentier, T., Zhang, J., van Heerden, A. S., & Roumeliotis, I. (2022, June). Performance and economic assessment of mechanically integrated parallel hybrid aircraft. In Turbo Expo: Power for Land, Sea, and Air (Vol. 86014, p. V004T06A018). American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

 

EG3313 State Variable Control

EG2302 System Dynamics and Control

UG Final year projects

MSc projects

• Associate Editor, IET Smart Grid, 2025.
• Advisory Board Member, DfT Transport Research and Innovation Grant, Connected Places Catapult, 2025.
• Chief Scientific Adviser Award for Outstanding Project Delivery, Connected Places Catapult and Department for Transport, 2024.

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), Advance HE, 2024.

• Â鶹ÊÓƵ Citizen Recognition Scheme 2024, in recognition of my proactive contributions have significantly enhanced communication and research collaboration within the School of Engineering.

• ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Turbo Expo 2024 & 2025 Hybrid Electric Propulsion Session Chair.
• Connected Places Catapult’s ‘Meet the Academic’ Series, “Helping Aviation to Plan Future Energy Needs”, 2024. 

• 2024 4th International Symposium on Electrical, Electronics and Information Engineering Local Chair.

• Guest Editor for the special issue on the topic of “Artificial Intelligence for More Efficient Renewable Energy Systems” in the journal Algorithms, 2023.

• Cranfield Arthur Lefebvre Prize 2022, a highly prestigious award to only one doctoral graduate each year within the field of propulsion research, in recognition of the outstanding research achievements.