Yong Chen of the Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems and Engineering has received the Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award from the Society of Manufacturing Engineering.

Assistant Professor Yong Chen

Chen, an assistant professor who has taught at USC since 2006, was selected by the group for the SME award, which recognizes manufacturing engineers age 35 or younger who have made exceptional contributions in the industry through the early stages of their careers.

“National awards are particularly auspicious when young faculty members are nominated by colleagues outside their home institutions,” said James Moore, Epstein ISE department chair. Chen received his nomination for the SME award from a colleague at Georgia Tech, Moore added.

“This is indicative of the usual extent to which Dr. Chen’s work as a leader in the rapid prototyping and manufacturing industry is being recognized throughout the field. He is a highly collaborative researcher with extensive industrial experience and a wide array of research contacts in industry and the academy who think every bit as highly of him and his work as we do here at USC.”

A graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, Chen previously spent five years as a senior research and development engineer for 3D Systems in Valencia, Calif.

He now teaches manufacturing processes, computer-aided manufacturing and geometric modeling and computation for digital fabrication in the Epstein ISE department.