Dr. Hongyang Cheng is a postdoctoral researcher in the Multi-Scale Mechanics group in the Faculty of Engineering Technology and the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology of the University of Twente. He holds a PhD and a M.Eng. degree in geotechnical engineering of Hiroshima University in Japan. His research interests lie in the predictive computational science for granular materials, for which advanced experiments (e.g., micro-CT imaging), numerical simulations (e.g., DEM/LBM/FEM coupling) and Bayesian inference (e.g., sequential Monte Carlo methods, maximum a posteriori estimation) are the three cornerstones. Dr. Cheng's main research focus is on the development of an intelligent, unified material informatics framework for Bayesian uncertainty quantification, validation, selection and eventually unsupervised learning of granular mechanics at various scales.

Dr. Cheng was awarded the Japanese government scholarship in 2011 to work on multiscale characterization of geosynthetic-reinforced soils, i.e., structured/nonstructured fiber-soil mixtures, at Hiroshima University. During his PhD, he initiated an independent research line on Bayesian calibration for discrete element method (DEM) simulations of granular media. Based on assumptions drawn from accurately calibrated DEM simulations, he formulated a new constitutive model for geotextile-wrapped granular soils. Dr. Cheng has developed and coupled several open-source software packages (e.g., YADE, MercuryDPM, and LB3D) for solving various geomechanics/geophysics problems, including soil-geomembrane interaction (FEM-DEM) and wave propagation in dry/saturated granular media (LBM-DEM). He develop efficient Bayesian calibration tools, aided by machine learning, which have lead to several industrial collaborations and invited talks. Since January 2019, Dr. Cheng started working with Dr. Thomas Weinhart on his Vidi project. They will develop a unified multiscale modeling framework for optimizing solid/fluid-like granular processes, such as additive manufacturing and wet granulation.​