Wei Chen

[Ph.D. ME 1995]
Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois

E-mail: yongchen@usc.edu

A major reason that I went to Georgia Tech for graduate school is because I was interested in Professor Farrokh Mistree's research work in Engineering Design. It was through his encouragement that I decided to purse a Ph.D. degree. The Woodruff School was also the right place because of its good academic reputation.

What I gained from the graduate program was enormous. When I first started at the Woodruff School, I never thought that I could become a faculty member. That was a dream that is now a reality. In addition to the constant encouragement from my advisors (Drs. Mistree and Janet Allen), I was very touched by the personal attention given by the Graduate Program Coordinator (at that time, Professor Bill Wepfer) to each graduate student.

I received a Woodruff Teaching Fellowship, which gave me the opportunity to practice my teaching skills while I was a graduate student. I felt I was surrounded by many brilliant people; I like the intellectual challenges they created. The friendships I built at the Woodruff School have kept to the present. Since graduation, I have kept working on research projects and other professional activities with my former teammates at SRL.

The major strengths of the program are top-notch faculty members, a challenging degree program, good financial resources, top-rated graduate student body, a nice, friendly environment, and good support to those wishing to pursue an academic career. I would rate the Woodruff School in the top five in the nation.