Yijie Jiang, an assistant professor in UNT's College of Engineering, earned the prestigious 2020 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities for his research into passive control of internal structures in 3D printed composites.

Jiang and his team of researchers will explore a new method of the 3D printing process that could result in better performance of composite materials. The new method, working together with direct ink writing 3D printing, involves controlling the orientation of the materials internally through designed channels, rather than using traditional methods that require very strong external mechanical interventions to make the fibers align in the desired direction.