MINIMAX Lab

Dr. Fangzhou Xia joined the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME) at the University of Texas at Austin in August 2024. Prior to that, he was a research scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), jointly appointed in the ME Department and the Physics Department, where he also conducted his postdoc training. He received his Ph.D. in 2020 and M.S. in 2017 from MIT in the ME department. He received dual bachelor’s degrees in ME from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2015. He received an ASML Student Scholarship in 2020 and the 2023 ASME DSCD Best Student Paper in Vibrations Award. As an expert in atomic force microscopy (AFM), Dr. Xia published a book in 2024 with Springer named “Active Probe Atomic Force Microscopy: A Practical Guide on Precision Instrumentation”.

Dr. Xia directs the MINIMAX lab, which develops MINIaturized devices for MAXimized impacts. To be specific, his research interests include mechatronics, physical/computational intelligence, and nanorobotics for applications in precision instrumentation, medical devices and manufacturing automation. MINIMAX lab innovations have enabled new types of experiments for fundamental studies, created novel tools for medical diagnosis or treatment, and improved performance of industrial machines. Dr. Xia’s teaching interests include dynamic system modeling and control, mechatronics, and instrumentation, with a specialty in developing education tools using digital twins and metaverse technology.

Selected Publications 

• F. Xia*, I. W. Rangelow, and K. Youcef-Toumi, Active Probe Atomic Force Microscopy: A Practical Guide on Precision Instrumentation. Springer, 2023. ISBN:978-3-031-44232-2
• F. Xia*, K. Youcef-Toumi, T. Sattel, E. Manske, and I. W. Rangelow, “Active probe atomic force microscopy with quattro-parallel cantilever arrays for high-throughput large-scale sample inspection,” JoVE, p. e65210, 2023.
• F. Xia*, S. Lovett, E. Forsythe, M. Ibrahim, and K. Youcef-Toumi, “AFM SMILER: A scale model interactive learning extended reality toolkit for atomic force microscopy based on digital twin technology,” IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, vol. 28, no. 4, p. 2101, 2023.
• F. Xia*, M. P. Mayborne, Q. Ma, and K. Youcef-Toumi, “Physical intelligence in the metaverse: Mixed reality scale models for twistronics and atomic force microscopy,” in IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), p. 1722, 2022.
• F. Xia*, J. E. Quigley, X. Zhang, C. Yang, Y. Wang, and K. Youcef-Toumi, “A modular low-cost atomic force microscope for precision mechatronics education,” Mechatronics, vol. 76, p. 102550, 2021.