Xiang Zhang is an Emeritus Professor of Structural Integrity at Coventry University, UK. Before retirement in February 2026, she had worked for 35 years at various universities in the UK. Her research has focused on the mechanical performance of engineering materials and structures especially their fatigue and fracture behaviour, aimed for applications in the aerospace and other sectors using light-weight alloys as well as carbon fibre-reinforced polymer composites. She has worked on many research projects funded by the UK as well as the European Research Councils, has published over 200 papers and supervised 38 PhD students to completion. She is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK), an Associate Editor for the Journal of Aerospace Engineering, editorial board member for the Aerospace journal. In 2016, she received the Helmholtz International Fellowship awarded by the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres.