
Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
317 Engineering Lab (ELab)
160 Governors Dr
Amherst, MA 01003-9292
(413) 577-0138
wenchen@umass.edu
www.umass.edu/engineering/about/directory/wen-chen
Associate Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
I completed my PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Yale University. My PhD thesis focused on understanding microstructure-property-processing relationships in metallic glasses by artificial microstructures approach. After my PhD, I worked as a postdoctoral research scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where I developed direct ink writing based technology for additive manufacturing of metals. My research interests primarily lie in mechanical behavior of materials, materials design, and additive manufacturing.
Current Research
My main research thrust revolves around the interface of materials science and advanced manufacturing. We are particularly interested in understanding the fundamental microstructure-property-processing relationships in advanced materials and integrating control over materials on different length scales (atomic structure, microstructure, architecture) through materials processing and additive manufacturing (or 3D printing), to eventually arrive at optimized, multi-functional engineering components. Specific research activities include, but are not limited to:
- Microstructure-property-processing relationships in structural metals (e.g., metallic glasses, steels, etc)
- Development of cost-effective and highly flexible metal 3D printing technologies
- Design and fabrication of architectured materials (e.g., cellular materials, composites, functionally graded materials) with engineered microstructures through hybrid manufacturing based on thermoplastic forming, direct ink writing, selective laser melting, projection stereolithography, silicon photolithography, powder metallurgy, electro- and electroless deposition, etc.
Academic Background
PhD Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Yale University 2016
M Phil Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University 2011
BS Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology 2008