Haolin Zhu

Teaching Professor, ENGR Academic & Student Affrs

Dr. Haolin Zhu earned her B.S.E. in Engineering Mechanics from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and her Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Cornell University, specializing in computational solid mechanics. She is a Teaching Professor on the First-Year Engineering Education team in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU), where she designs curriculum and teaches in both first-year engineering and mechanical engineering programs. She also serves as Co-Director of ASU’s Grand Challenges Scholars Program (GCSP), providing strategic leadership in curriculum development, student engagement and success, faculty engagement, program implementation, and assessment. She is actively involved in the international GCSP Network, where she has held leadership roles and mentors institutions developing new GCSPs. 

Throughout her career at ASU, Dr. Zhu has led and contributed to educational innovations across in-person, online, hybrid, and massive open online course (MOOC) formats. She has developed and co-developed nine courses, more than 15 project-based learning experiences, and multiple curricular and educational programs designed to foster critical thinking, entrepreneurial mindset, systems thinking, global and interdisciplinary perspectives, engineering design, real-world problem solving, teamwork, communication, value creation, and other professional competencies. Her work spans hands-on online engineering education, flipped and technology-enhanced learning, interdisciplinary curricula, and scalable online and hybrid learning. She was part of the team that developed the first fully online Introduction to Engineering course built around active, hands-on, team-based, and design-focused learning and co-developed two MOOCs for ASU’s Universal Learner Courses initiative, reaching thousands of learners. She also pioneered an ICAP-based flipped-classroom approach in Mechanics of Materials, and her Energy Economics Game was recognized by ASU EdPlus as an exemplar for engaging learners at scale. More recently, she led the development of a Global Intensive Experience in Costa Rica designed specifically for first-year engineering students.

Dr. Zhu’s current scholarship centers on engineering education, including first-year engineering, student engagement and persistence, project-based and interdisciplinary learning, global engineering education, Entrepreneurial Mindset, non-traditional instructional modalities, and implementation and assessment of GCSP. Her educational innovations have resulted in more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and have been disseminated through conferences, workshops, and open-access resources. Her concept-mapping instructional resources have received more than 30,800 downloads, while interdisciplinary Grand Challenges materials she co-developed have received more than 6,000 downloads. Dr. Zhu received the Fulton Outstanding Lecturer Award and was named an Engineering Unleashed Fellow for her contributions to engineering education.

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