Wenhua Zhao is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Earth and Oceans at The University of Western Australia, where he previously served as Associate Professor, Research Assistant Professor, and Senior Lecturer. He earned his PhD in Ocean Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2014, with a thesis on the numerical and experimental study of hydrodynamics of FLNG facilities. His career includes roles such as ARC Future Fellow since 2023, By-Fellow at the University of Cambridge since 2019, and ARC DECRA Fellow from 2019 to 2021. Zhao has secured significant research funding, including over AUD 30 million from the Australian Research Council and industry partners. He has contributed to industry applications, such as safe operations for Shell’s Prelude FLNG and offshore wind projects like BW Ideol's Floatgen and TetraSpar prototypes, where he was selected as one of Eight Innovation Partners in 2023.

Zhao's research specializes in offshore hydrodynamics and artificial intelligence technologies applied to marine renewable energies, including offshore wind turbines, floating solar, offshore aquaculture, wave energy converters, and green hydrogen production. Key interests encompass linear and nonlinear wave-structure interactions, fluid-structure interactions, machine learning for ocean wave prediction, and data-driven models in ocean engineering. He has authored over 110 publications, with notable works including 'Gap resonance and higher harmonics driven by focused transient wave groups' (Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2017, 203 citations), 'Recent developments on the hydrodynamics of floating liquid natural gas (FLNG)' (Ocean Engineering, 2011, 128 citations), and 'Nonlinear harmonics of gap fluid resonance with floating body motions' (Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2022). His scholarly impact includes 2489 citations and an h-index of approximately 27. Zhao holds editorial positions as Deputy Editor of Ocean Engineering since 2018, Associate Editor of ASME Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering since 2023, and Editorial Board Member of Applied Ocean Research since 2023. He has received awards such as the ARC Future Fellowship (2023), DECRA Fellowship (2019), Oceans Graduate School Mid-Career Research Award (2023), and Mid-Career Research Award (2023). At UWA, he served as Graduate Research Coordinator, Board Member of the Postgraduate Studies Committee, and member of the Oceans Graduate School Research Committee, while coordinating and teaching units on offshore energy facilities and advanced offshore systems design.

Professional Email: wenhua.zhao@uwa.edu.au