Heejung Jung has been named a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers, or SAE, in recognition of his expertise and work in vehicle emissions for new emissions standards and new emissions measurement methods. He is also recognized for his expertise, work, and leadership in vehicle cabin air quality. Jung is one of 15 members of the 2022 Class of SAE fellows.

Jung is a professor of mechanical engineering in the Bourns College of Engineering and the Center for Environmental Research and Technology, or CE-CERT. He is also a founding program director for the mobility engineering online master’s program. His work centers on understanding how to improve air quality through a better understanding of pollutant particle formation from combustion sources such as internal combustion engines that power most conventional automotive and marine vehicles. His work has contributed to the setting of new standards for vehicle emissions.  

Jung has recently received a grant from National Academy of Sciences to study bus cabin air quality. The project was inspired by the lower mobility many low-income families experienced during the pandemic due to fear of catching COVID-19 on public transportation. He will collaborate with Jacob Swanson from Minnesota State University on this project to conduct both experiments and numerical simulation. Their goal is to evaluate the current level of exposure in bus cabins and to come up with a new ventilation system that can substantially reduce the transport of virus aerosols among passengers.

Jung is also one of faculty advisors for the EcoCar challenge in which UCR is participating.

Jung received his doctoral degree from the University of Minnesota, and received both his M.S. and B.S. degrees in mechanical engineering from Seoul National University. Upon completion of his master’s, he joined Hyundai Motor Company as a research engineer. Jung later completed his postdoctoral research at UC Davis before joining CE-CERT and UCR.