Song Zhang earned his BS from the University of Science and Technology of China, and his MS and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stony Brook University. He then spent three years in the Mathematics Department at Harvard University. He is currently a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University. A highly cited and decorated fellow of ASME, Optica, and SPIE, Professor Zhang is often credited with developing the first-ever high-resolution, real-time 3D optical imaging system.