Yanzhang Ma was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure at Texas Tech University in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Ma was a CDAC Partner from 2006 to 2009 and worked on a variety of problems in high P-T materials science, including strength and deformation, superhard materials, nanomaterials, and high-pressure tribology. He also worked on the development of new techniques such as rotational diamond anvil cells. Ma was also a postdoctoral associate at Carnegie from 1996 to 2002.