I am a Postdoctoral Associate at Cornell University, working with Prof. Jian-Xun Wang. Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Notre Dame. I received both my Ph.D. and B.S. degrees from Tianjin University.

My research is differentiable computation and embedded learning for nonlinear, coupled dynamical systems in mechanics—fluid, structural, and their interaction (FSI)—grounded in physical understanding and proven on real engineering systems, toward intelligent computation that serves understanding, prediction, and inverse design. This spans three connected thrusts:

• Differentiable computation for multiphysics simulation — GPU-native solvers that make gradient-based inverse design tractable on high-dimensional, coupled systems.
• Learning within physics-based solvers — neural components trained end-to-end through the solver dynamics, so models stay stable and generalizable over long rollouts and unseen scenarios.
• Fluid–structure interaction and turbulence, from mechanism to deployment — explaining, predicting, and controlling flow-induced vibration of multi-body systems under turbulent flows in real engineering applications.

I'm actively searching for a tenure-track faculty position in mechanical, aerospace, civil, or computing-related departments. Please reach out to me if you think my background fits the position.

Download my curriculum vitae.

Research Focus

Thrust I: Differentiable Computation for Dynamical Systems

Thrust II: Learning Within Physics-Based Solvers

Thrust III: Fluid–Structure Interaction and turbulence, from Mechanism to Deployment

Future Directions

News

• [Aug, 2026] Collaborative work on soft robot optimization with Prof. Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin at the University of Notre Dame has been accepted at IROS 2026: “Hierarchical Differentiable Co-Design of a Soft Pneumatic Leg and Robot Body for Shallow-Water Locomotion” by Abu Nayem Md. Asraf Siddiquee, Xiantao Fan, Jian-Xun Wang, and Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin. Great to see differentiable physics applied to robot optimization for drag reduction in unsteady, transient environments.

Open to more complex multibody two-way FSI control and optimization problems.

• [Feb, 2026] I joined the Early Career Editorial Board of Journal of Fluids and Structures, a leading journal in the field of fluid–structure interactions. I look forward to contributing to and serving our research community.

• [Dec. 15-19, 2025] I will attend the AGU Annual Meeting in New Orleans and look forward to discussing differentiable physics and AI for sustainable environments.

• [Nov. 23-25, 2025] I will attend APS DFD in Houston and give a talk titled “Differentiable Hybrid Neural-CFD Modeling of Spatiotemporal Dynamics in 3D Wall-Bounded Turbulence.”

• [Nov, 2025] New features in Diff-FlowFSI: differentiable complex geometry; vectorized, high-order and sharp immersed boundary methods. Open to structural optimization, morphing and control.

Education

• Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University, 2018 - 2022
  

  

• M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University, 2016 - 2018
  

  

• B.Eng. in Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Tianjin University, 2012 - 2016

  

Publications

A complete list of my publications is available on Google Scholar.

• CMAME 2025 Neural differentiable modeling with diffusion-based super-resolution for two-dimensional spatiotemporal turbulence
  Xiantao Fan, Deepak Akhare, Jian-Xun Wang
  Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 2025

• JCP 2024 Differentiable hybrid neural modeling for fluid-structure interaction
  Xiantao Fan, Jian-Xun Wang
  Journal of Computational Physics, 2024

• CMAME 2024 Bayesian conditional diffusion models for versatile spatiotemporal turbulence generation
  Han Gao, Xu Han, Xiantao Fan, Luning Sun, Li-Ping Liu, Lian Duan, Jian-Xun Wang
  Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 2024

• EGY 2022 Toward a high performance and strong resilience wind energy harvester assembly utilizing flow-induced vibration: Role of hysteresis
  Xiantao Fan, Kai Guo, Yang Wang
  Energy, 2022

• RENE 2021 Impacts of coexisting buildings and trees on the performance of rooftop wind turbines: An idealized numerical study
  Xiantao Fan, Mingwei Ge, Qi Li
  Renewable Energy, 2021

Services

• Editorial Board: Journal of Fluids and Structures
• Reviewer: Ocean Engineering, International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, Physics of Fluids, Scientific Reports, Journal of Engineering and Applied Science, Engineering with Computers, Energy, Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, Journal of Computational Physics, Applied Energy, Nonlinear Dynamics
• Member: American Physics Society (APS), American Geophysical Union (AGU), Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), U.S. Association for Computational Mechanics (USACM)