Wei Chen is a Chinese-American mechanical engineer known for her work on robust

engineering design The engineering design process, also known as the engineering method, is a common series of steps that engineers use in creating functional products and processes. The process is highly iterative – parts of the process often need to be repeat ...

metamodeling A metamodel is a model of a model, and metamodeling is the process of generating such metamodels. Thus metamodeling or meta-modeling is the analysis, construction, and development of the frames, rules, constraints, models, and theories applica ...

in design,

uncertainty quantification Uncertainty quantification (UQ) is the science of quantitative characterization and estimation of uncertainties in both computational and real world applications. It tries to determine how likely certain outcomes are if some aspects of the system ...

, and design under uncertainty. She is the Wilson-Cook Professor in Engineering Design at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, where she chairs the mechanical engineering department.

Education and career

Chen earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) is a public university in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 98 ...

, a master's degree from the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

, and a Ph.D. from the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...

, completed in 1995. She joined the Northwestern University faculty in 2003. She is the editor-in-chief of the

ASME The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing edu ...

''Journal of Mechanical Design'' and president of the International Society for Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization. She became chair of mechanical engineering at Northwestern in 2020.

Book

Chen is the coauthor with Christopher Hoyle and Henk Jan Wassenaar of the book ''Decision-based Design: Integrating Consumer Preferences into Engineering Design'' (Springer, 2012). She is also a co-editor of several

edited volume Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written language, written, Image editing, visual, Audio engineer, audible, or Film editing, cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing p ...

Recognition

Chen was the 2006 winner of the Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award of

SAE International SAE International is a global professional association and standards organization based in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, United States. Formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers, the organization adopted its current name in 2006 to reflect bot ...

. She was named a Fellow of the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing edu ...

in 2009, and was elected to the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

in 2019 "for contributions to design under uncertainty in products and systems, and leadership in the engineering design community".

References

External links

Home page at Northwestern Integrated DEsign Automation Laboratory
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Wei Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Chinese mechanical engineers Chinese women engineers American mechanical engineers American women engineers Shanghai Jiao Tong University alumni University of Houston alumni Georgia Tech alumni Northwestern University faculty Fellows of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering American women academics 21st-century American women