Zheshen Zhang receives 2025 Ernest and Bettine Kuh Distinguished Faculty Award

Zheshen Zhang, associate professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), is the recipient of the 2025 Ernest and Bettine Kuh Distinguished Faculty Award. This award recognizes outstanding young faculty members for their contributions in research, teaching, and service.

Zhang’s research focuses on using quantum mechanical phenomena, including quantum entanglement, to develop improved next-generation technologies. Under quantum entanglement, two particles or photons affect each other—no matter how much distance is between them. 

“I find these quantum concepts counterintuitive, but now they are an essential component of nature and, moreover, we can harness such unique phenomena to create next-generation technologies with the hope that these technologies will significantly outperform existing technologies,” Zhang said.

Zhang and his research group have used quantum entanglement to create networks of sensors that are more precise in their measurements than traditional sensor networks. For example, a series of entangled inertial sensors in the same device, such as a cell phone, could be used for navigation in places where GPS signals are unreliable. A network of globally-distributed entangled sensors could improve earthquake detection. Zhang has partnered with companies and government labs such as Honeywell, Fermilab, and JPL to develop and test entangled sensor networks.

“At the end of the day, the sensors’ entanglement results in less uncertainty in the data, thereby higher precision,” he explained.

Zhang has also been working on developing infrastructure for a quantum internet that is faster and more secure than our current internet. Entangled photons cannot be precisely measured or duplicated without changing or destroying their original quantum state. This property allows researchers to encode information into the entangled photons and protect them from hackers, but it also creates challenges in transmitting the photons over long distances without losing the signal. Zhang is working on creating quantum repeaters that allow the quantum internet to work over longer distances—and he tests the new technology with a quantum internet testbed his team has established on North Campus, linked by a network of fibers to Central Campus.

Zhang is also passionate about teaching and mentoring. In collaboration with ECE Professor L. Jay Guo, he created a new course to introduce undergraduates to the basics of quantum technology (“Introduction to Quantum Information Technologies”). He also added a module about quantum photonics to the existing “Principles of Photonics” course. Zhang personally  trains most of the graduate students in his research group in experimental techniques after they join. He finds the process of training, mentoring, and collaborating with students as they progress through the program fulfilling.

Zhang has published 57 peer-reviewed journal articles, authored seven patents, and received over $10M in research funds as a principal investigator, including an NSF CAREER Award. He received his PhD in ECE at Georgia Institute of Technology in 2011, worked as a research scientist and postdoctoral researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology until 2017, and became an assistant professor at the University of Arizona. He joined U-M ECE as an associate professor in 2022. Since then, he has served on several faculty search committees, the EECS Grad Awards Committee, and as an academic advisor for ECE master’s students in the Optics and Photonics area.

“It is an incredible honor to receive the Ernest and Bettine Kuh Distinguished Faculty Award. This recognition is deeply meaningful to me, as it reflects the unwavering support of our college and departmental leadership, staff, and the remarkable work of my group members over the years,” Zhang said. “I feel truly fortunate to work in such a collaborative and inspiring environment and look forward to continuing our shared efforts in advancing research, teaching, and service.”

Zhang was also pleased to find out that he and Kuh both studied at Shanghai Jiao Tong University as undergraduate students and were from the same town in China before coming to the U.S.

About the Ernest and Bettine Kuh Distinguished Faculty Award

Ernest and Bettine Kuh established the Ernest and Bettine Kuh Distinguished Faculty Award to recognize an outstanding associate professor for their teaching, research, and service. The award includes an annual stipend.

Ernest Kuh (1918-2015) graduated from Michigan with his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1949. He then received his master’s and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University. A pioneer in electronic circuit theory, he is widely considered one of the fathers of electronic design automation (EDA).

Ernest S. Kuh (1928 – 2015): Pioneer in Electronic Circuit Theory and EDA

ECE honored with the Ernest and Bettine Kuh Distinguished Faculty Award