Wanli Ye, Ph.D. (b. 1995, Wenzhou, Zhejiang) is a scholar in engineering. He received his Ph.D. from Harbin Institute of Technology under the supervision of Prof. Yiqiu Tan. During his doctoral studies he conducted a research visit at RWTH Aachen University (Germany), where he worked with Prof. Thomas Matschei and Prof. Anya Vollpracht. He earned his M.Sc. from Chang’an University under the supervision of Prof. Wei Jiang; his master’s thesis, “Research on Pavement Skid Resistance Based on 3D Road Surface Texture and Tire–Pavement Contact State,” was awarded the 2022 Outstanding Master’s Thesis by the China Highway & Transportation Society. In February 2026 he joined the School of Civil and Transportation Engineering at Shenzhen University, becoming a member of the research groups led by Prof. Biqin Dong and Prof. Yanshuai Wang.

His research focuses on alkali-activated materials, high-value utilization of multi-source solid wastes, zero-/low-/negative-carbon civil engineering materials, functionalization and intelligent design of construction materials, and improvement of pavement skid resistance. In the field of alkali-activated materials, he has developed systematic reaction-control approaches and achieved functionalized, on-demand intelligent designs for alkali-activated binders and cold-pressed alkali-activated artificial aggregates. He has proposed an innovative alkali-activated “artificial aggregate–binder” homologous system and accumulated a comprehensive research experience ranging from fundamental theory to engineering applications. In the area of pavement skid resistance, leveraging 3D point-cloud reconstruction techniques, he has revealed the real tire–pavement contact state and its effects on vehicle braking distance; these findings provide theoretical basis and data support for safe braking control of connected and autonomous vehicles.

He has published more than 20 academic papers, including nine SCI papers as first or corresponding author (five in top-tier journals), and his work has been cited 639 times. He holds one U.S. invention patent, six Chinese invention patents and seven utility-model patents, and he is the author of four registered software works. Two of his achievements have been selected for the Repository of Major Scientific and Technological Innovations in Transportation, and two patented technologies have been successfully transferred, generating RMB 200,000 in licensing revenue. He has served as a key researcher on multiple National Key R&D Programs, joint-fund projects, projects supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and provincial/ministerial key projects.

He currently serves as a reviewer for Construction and Building Materials (Elsevier), Journal of Cleaner Production (Elsevier), Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering (ASCE), International Journal of Pavement Engineering (Taylor & Francis), Road Materials and Pavement Design (Taylor & Francis), Surface Topography: Metrology and Properties (IOP Publishing), and Engineering Research Express (IOP Publishing), among others.

He welcomes undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students with backgrounds in materials science, civil engineering, transportation engineering, chemical engineering, environmental engineering and related interdisciplinary fields to join his research group. He also warmly invites academic and industry colleagues from domestic and international institutions for visits, exchanges and collaborative research or technology transfer. For inquiries, please contact by e-mail.