Dongliang Fan is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech). He received his Ph.D. from SUSTech in June 2023. His research focuses on optical sensing, bio-inspired design, and reconfigurable robotics. He has published over 10 academic papers, including several as first or co-first author in prestigious international journals such as Nature Communications, Soft Robotics, Advanced Materials Technologies, and IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters. His honors include the SUSTech Outstanding Graduate and Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis awards. Additionally, He was selected for the National Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (Category B) and led a General Program funded by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation.

Research Area：
Flexible sensing: Optical sensing principles, visuo-tactile sensors；
Soft robotics: Microstructure fabrication technologies, novel actuation technologies；
Reconfigurable robotics: Rigid-flexible coupling mechanisms, co-design of integrated actuation and sensing；
 
Work Experience：
◆ Nov. 2025 – Present，

Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) 
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology

◆ Aug. 2023 – Oct. 2025
Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) 

Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology.
 
Education:
◆ Sep. 2019 – Jun. 2023, Ph.D. in Mechanics, Southern University of Science and Technology

◆ Aug. 2016 – May 2018, M.S. in Polymer Science, The University of Akron, USA.

◆ Sep. 2013 – Jun. 2017, B.E. in Composite Materials, East China University of Science and Technology 

Professional Recognition：
◆ 2023, National Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (Category B)
◆ 2024, SUSTech Presidential Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellowship
◆ 2023, SUSTech Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis

Representative Books and Papers:
◆ Fan, D., Yuan, X., Wu, W., Zhu, R., Yang, X., Liao, Y., ... & Qin, P. (2022). Self-shrinking soft demoulding for complex high-aspect-ratio microchannels. Nature Communications, 13(1), 5083.
◆ Fan, D., Liao, Y., Wu, W., Zhang, P., Yang, X., Zhu, R., ... & Wang, H. (2023). Flow casting soft shells with geometrical complexity and multifunctionality. Advanced Materials Technologies, 8(8), 2201640.
◆ Fan, D., Zhu, R., Yang, X., Liu, H., Wang, T., Wang, P., ... & Wang, H. (2023). Innervation of Sensing Microchannels for Three‐Dimensional Stimuli Perception. Advanced Materials Technologies, 8(17), 2300185.
◆ Xie, G.#, Fan, D.#, Wang, H., Zhu, R., Mao, J., & Wang, H. (2023). Strong reliable electrostatic actuation based on self-clearing using a thin conductive layer. Soft Robotics, 10(4), 797-807.
◆ Zhu, R.#, Fan, D.#, Lin, J.#, Feng, H., Wang, H., & Dai, J. S. (2023). Machine-learning-assisted soft fiber optic glove system for sign language recognition. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 9(2), 1540-1547.
◆ Fan, D., Liu, H., Wang, T., Zhu, R., & Wang, H. (2023, October). Monolithic microchannels in miniature pneumatic soft robots for sequential motions. In 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) (pp. 10191-10196). IEEE.
◆ Nie, Y., Fan, D.*, Huang, J., Liu, C., & Dai, J. S*. (2025, October). Stretchable and High-Precision Optical Tactile Sensor for Trajectory Tracking of Parallel Mechanisms. In 2025 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) (pp. 7376-7382). IEEE.