Chen Zhong

Dr. Chen is a Professor at the School of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE), Nanyang Technological University (NTU). He obtained his PhD in 1997 from the University of Reading, under sponsorship of the Overseas Research Scholarship (ORS) by the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals (CVCP) and a European Union research grant. In April 1997, he joined the newly founded Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), a national research institute funded by the Singapore government. After spending three fruitful years in IMRE, the passion for education brought him to NTU as an Assistant Professor in March 2000. He has been promoted to Associate Professor and Professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering since then. So far, Prof. Chen has graduated 36 PhD students and 6 MEng students. He has also supervised over 200 undergraduate research projects (FYP, URECA, etc.). Prof. Chen’s research interest includes 1) Surface engineering of materials and nanostructures; 2) Mechanical & long-term behaviors of materials. In the study of thin film mechanical behavior, he was the first to discover a significant substrate compliance effect on the energy release rate of thin film delamination. He also pioneered a novel buckling-based technique to measure thin film fracture & delamination toughness. The work in this area provides critical insights and design guidance for the development of flexible, printable electronic devices. His team has also made substantial progress in the development of mechanically durable coatings for self-cleaning, anti-icing, anti-fogging, and anti-fingerprint applications. Several patents / technological disclosures are made in this area. Prof. Chen has been active in applied research in recent years with a total industrial project funding exceeding 10M SGD. He has served the academic community as an editor / editorial board member for several journals and book series. He has also served as a reviewer for more than 70 journals and several research funding agencies including the European Research Council (ERC).