Faculty Profiles

Shaochen Chen

Dr. Chen’s research focuses on developing advanced nano/micro-manufacturing processes and nano/micro-mechanical systems for biomedical and life sciences applications. Meantime, he investigates fundamental issues regarding near-field optics (e.g. plasmonics), thermal/fluid transport, and nanomechanics in these nano/micro-systems.

The goal of his research is to overcome the technical limitations of large scale conventional manufacturing processes, develop new processes and nano/micro-devices with good understanding of fundamental physics and chemistry, and to use these nano/micro-systems to advance health care. His research is highly interdisciplinary, involving laser physics, photonics, nano/micro-manufacturing, thermal/fluid transport, nanomaterials, and biomedical engineering on a small length scale and/or time scale.

Capsule Bio:

Dr. Chen is a Professor in the Nanoengineering Department at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He is also a faculty member of the Institute of Engineering in Medicine at UCSD. Before joining UCSD, Dr. Chen had been a Professor and a Pearlie D. Henderson Centennial Endowed Faculty Fellow in Engineering in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Texas at Austin. From 2008 to 2010, Dr. Chen served as the Program Director for the Nanomanufacturing Program in the National Science Foundation (NSF), where he directed the frontiers of nanomanufacturing research at NSF and managed 150 active grants of the program.

Dr. Chen has a good track record for developing well-funded research programs with funding from NIH, NSF, DoD, ONR, AFOSR, American Heart Association, Texas Instruments, Intel, and IBM. His group has published over 120 peer-reviewed publications and filed more than 10 patents/provisional patents. Three of the patents were licensed to CardioSpectra, Inc. and later acquired by Volcano Corporation (NASDAQ:VOLC) with $25M in cash.

Among his numerous awards, Dr. Chen received the CAREER award from NSFin 2001 for cutting-edge research in laser nano-scale processing of biodegradable polymers. This work is leading to the development of degradable polymeric micro- and nano-devices for cellular and molecular therapeutics. In 2004, Dr. Chen received the Young Investigator award from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) for his work on nanocomposites with unique optical, thermal, and chemical properties. His lab has developed innovative three-dimensional, multi-functional micro and nanostructures with a gradient of material composition and topography, leading to applications for tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and solar energy harvesting. His work about surface plasmons and its application for nanolithography has won the Best Paper Award of AIAA Thermophysics Conference in 2006. Several technical magazines such as “Laser Focus World”, “Nanotechnologie News (Germany)”, “R & D Magazine”, “Photonics Spectra”, “Design News Online”  and “C-NET News” reported on his research work.

As an active member in his professional community, Dr. Chen was elected Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in 2007 and Fellow of the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) in 2008. Currently he serves as the Associate Editor for Journal of Biomedical Nanotechnology and ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering. He is also on the editorial board of journals including Nanomedicine, Biofabrication, The Open Materials Science Journal, Journal of Nanoengineering and Nanomanufacturing, and Journal of Nano Energy and Power Research.

Selected Publications:

Google Scholar Publications

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