Emerging Leader
Jianfang (Olena) Zhu, Ph.D.
Intel Corporation
For innovative work that pushes boundaries and discovers solutions; for leadership and a collaborative spirit; and for being an influential role model and mentor to women engineers.
Jianfang (Olena) Zhu, Ph.D., is a principal engineer and a lead architect in the Client Computing Group (CCG) at Intel Corporation, focusing on end-to-end computer system design optimization and innovation. Dr. Zhu currently co-leads the corporate-level strategy on developing Augmented Intelligence (machine + human intelligence) solutions to transform end-to-end design tools and methodologies. She spearheads the teams across Intel to drive highly optimized design at scale, through Augmented Intelligence, from silicon to intelligent endpoint device.
Under her leadership, Dr. Zhu’s team has deployed multiple Augmented Intelligence tools and reduced design time by more than 90%. She also oversaw the Intel Evo Platform/Project Athena battery life pillar and drove power & performance optimization. Her team increased PC system battery life by two to three times, delivering true all-day battery life user experience. Her team also established and led Project Athena Open Lab to support low-power component optimization for all Evo systems.
In 2020, Dr. Zhu received the Intel Achievement Award, the company’s top honor. She has 21 patents granted or pending, and has had numerous publications by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). She also serves as a reviewer, industry chair, and board member for multiple IEEE journals, conferences, and professional volunteer organizations.
Dr. Zhu continually fosters partnerships between industry and academia. She has spearheaded multiple university collaborations to develop advanced algorithms (including machine learning) for signal integrity analysis of nonlinear high-speed input/outputs and high-dimensional global optimization for system design optimization, such as system configuration tuning. She successfully secured significant funding from Intel to drive multiple research projects at Purdue; the University of California, Davis; and the University of California, San Diego. In 2018, she was honored with the Outstanding Industry Liaison Award from the Semiconductor Research Corporation for her dedicated efforts.
Outside of work, Dr. Zhu is a board member for multiple volunteer organizations and serves as an industry chair and technical committee member/reviewer for various IEEE journals and conferences. She mentors and coaches dozens of university students and Intel internal engineers in both technical and career growth. She is a frequent and inspirational speaker at universities and conferences, sharing her experience and knowledge.
She is also active in STEM outreach to students from middle school to university level. Since 2011, Dr. Zhu has mentored more than 20 students at Purdue, UC Davis, and UC San Diego. In 2018, she successfully guided one Purdue mentee to win the Cadence Women in Technology Scholarship.
Dr. Zhu holds a B.S. in electronic engineering and information from the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, China, and a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering with a concentration in electromagnetics from Purdue University.
Dr. Zhu, her husband, one daughter, and one dog currently live in Portland, Oregon. They enjoy all the amazing Pacific Northwestern outdoor activities.