Gang Chen, the Carl Richard Soderberg Professor of Power Engineering, has been named head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering (MechE), effective July 23.
The announcement came Monday afternoon in an email from Ian Waitz, dean of the School of Engineering. “Professor Chen’s leadership, vision, dedication and strong sense of community will keep the department on its path of excellence and help it flourish in the days ahead,” Waitz wrote. “Please join me in congratulating Gang on this appointment. He will be an excellent leader for MechE and I very much look forward to working with him.”
A member of the MIT faculty since 2001, Chen succeeds Mary Boyce, who had served as department head since 2009 and who is now dean of engineering and applied science at Columbia University.
“I am deeply grateful to former Department Head, Professor Mary Boyce … and Associate Department Head, Professor Gareth McKinley, for their exceptional leadership. They have set the department on a marvelous trajectory,” Waitz wrote.
As the director of MIT’s Pappalardo Micro and Nano Engineering Laboratory, Chen is internationally recognized for his contributions to nanoscale transport and energy-conversion phenomena. His work in nanoscale heat-conduction physics has led to significant advances in thermoelectric materials and in their application to converting solar energy and waste heat into electricity.
Chen has served on the editorial and advisory boards of nine journals; as advisory board chair of the ASME Nano Institute; and has co-founded two companies, including GMZ Energy Inc., a maker of thermoelectric materials. He has also led several large research programs, including the first U.S. Department of Defense Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative on thermoelectric materials. Currently, he directs the Solid-State Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion Center (S3TEC), which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Chen’s numerous awards include an ASME Heat Transfer Memorial Award; R&D magazine’s 100 Award, which recognizes top technology products; and the Capers and Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising. Additionally, Chen is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of ASME, the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Chen was an assistant professor at Duke University from 1993 until 1997, when he took a tenured faculty position at the University of California at Los Angeles. In 2001, Chen made the move to MIT as a tenured associate professor of mechanical engineering.
Chen has published more than 280 technical articles and wrote the book Nanoscale Energy Transfer and Conversion: A Parallel Treatment of Electrons, Molecules, Phonons, and Photons (2005) — the first textbook in the field. He also has more than 30 patents granted or pending.
Chen earned his bachelor’s (1984) and master’s (1986) degrees in power engineering from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China; he earned his PhD in mechanical engineering in 1993 from the University of California at Berkeley.
陈刚
著名华裔科学家，湖北南漳人，美国国家工程院院士，麻省理工学院正教授。1984年和1987年，分别获华中科技大学动力系学士和硕士学位；1993年获得加州大学伯克利分校机械系博士学位。麻省理工学院机械工程系Carl Richard Soderberg讲席教授，国际热传递、纳米技术和能源领域的权威人物。陈刚是美国国家自然科学基金委（NSF）杰出青年基金获得者、古根海姆基金会会员（Fellow）、美国机械工程师学会（ASME）会士、美国科学促进会（AAAS）会士，2012年当选美国物理学会会士(APS Fellow)
1980年，从湖北省襄阳五中毕业；
1984年和1987年，分别获华中工学院（现华中科技大学）动力系学士和硕士学位；
1993年，在加州大学伯克利分校机械系获得博士学位（师从时任伯克利分校校长田长霖教授）；
1993年至1997年，任杜克大学机械工程与材料科学系助理教授；
1997年至2001年，任加州大学洛杉矶分校机械与航空工程系副教授；
2001年，转任麻省理工学院机械工程系，现任Carl Richard Soderberg讲席教授。
他是美国国家自然科学基金委（NSF）杰出青年基金获得者、古根海姆基金会会员（Fellow）、美国机械工程师学会（ASME）会士、美国科学促进会（AAAS）会士；2012年当选美国物理学会会士(APS Fellow)；
他担任国际上5个传热学、纳米技术和能源技术学术刊物的编辑，曾担任美国机械工程师学会纳米技术学会顾问组组长，担任麻省理工学院Pappalardo微纳米工程实验室主任，以及美国能源部前沿能源研究中心资助的固体太阳能热电能量转换研究中心主任。
