Prof. Zhen Gao is a professor of marine structures at the Department of Marine Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). He got his Bachelor and MSc degrees from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China in 2000 and 2003, respectively. He obtained his PhD degree at NTNU in 2008 and he was awarded the annual ExxonMobil Research Prize for Best Doctoral Thesis in Applied Research from NTNU in 2008. Prof. Gao’s main research areas cover coupled dynamic analysis of offshore renewable energy devices (including offshore wind turbines, both bottom-fixed and floating, wave energy converters, floating tidal turbines and combined concepts); marine operations related to installation and maintenance for offshore wind turbines and other ocean renewable energy devices; probabilistic modeling and analysis of wind- and wave-induced loads and load effects in offshore structures; fatigue and ultimate structural reliability assessment of offshore platforms and mooring systems.
He has participated and is now participating in several research projects and education programs on offshore renewable energy, including EU FP6 SEEWEC Project (2007-2009), EU FP7 MARINA Platform Project (2010-2014), IEA OC4 Project (2010-2012), EU FP7 MARE-WINT Project (2012-2017) and EWEM (European Wind Energy Master) Program (2012- ).
He has published 152 peer-reviewed papers (including 82 journal papers and 70 conference papers). He has co-supervised 9 PhD graduates and supervised/co-supervised about 36 master graduates. Currently, he is involved in the supervision and co-supervision of 10 PhD and 8 master students at NTNU.
He is a member of the Specialist Committee V.4 Offshore Renewable Energy in the International Ship and Offshore Structures Congress (ISSC) for 2009-2012 (committee member) and 2012-2015, 2015-2018 (committee chair), where they review the development of offshore renewable energy technology and make recommendations for future research in this area. He serves as an editorial board member for four international journals. He is also a member of the technical committee for four international conferences.
Contact information:
Affiliation: Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and Systems, Centre for Marine Operations in Virtual Environments, Department of Marine Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Position: Full Professor (Marine Structures)
Address: Otto Nielsens vei 10, Trondheim, Norway NO-7491
Email address: zhen.gao@ntnu.no ; Website: https://www.ntnu.edu/employees/zhen.gao