He is also the coordinator of the photonics graduate program. He earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from California Institute of Technology in 2008. His current research interests include laser beam combining, hybrid photonic integration, optomechanics, and nanophotonic devices. He has published more than 70 peer- reviewed journal and conference papers. His work has been funded by many federal agencies, including ARO, DARPA, HEL-JTO, NSF, and USARMY SMDC. Zhu was the recipient of the DARPA Young Faculty Award, ARO Young Investigator Award, and ORAU Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award. He has served on the technical committees of many IEEE and OSA photonics conferences.