After eight years of teaching and conducting research in Biochemical Engineering and Fermentation Technology at the Zhejiang University of Technology, Zhang went to the University of Leeds as a Ph.D. student to study in Microbiology. He joined the Linhardt Group at the University of Iowa in 1999, after he worked in Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) for one year as a research associate. Zhang moved to Rensselaer with the Linhardt Group in 2003.
Fuming Zhang has published more than 50 research papers and received several scientific achievement awards in China (such as the Zhejiang Provincial Government Scientific Achievement Award). He is a member of many professional societies including the American Chemical Society, the Society for Glycobiology, the Society for General Microbiology (UK), and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).
