Research interests: advanced materials synthesis and processing, specifically in scalable manufacturing of 0D-3D micro/nanostructures, laser matter interaction, and mechanical/physical property enhancement of materials. The applications are in energy transport, conversion and storage, load bearing, biomedical, electrical and optical devices.
Dr. Cheng received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University in 2002. Dr. Cheng serves as an associate Editor for Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, Journal of Manufacturing Process, and as a subject editor for the Journal of Materials Processing and Technology.
At Purdue, Dr. Cheng teaches IE370 "Manufacturing Process I", IE 470 "Manufacturing Process II", IE 570 " Advanced Manufacturing Process", and IE 670 "Advanced Topics in Nano-Manufacturing." He also heads the Scalable Micro Nano Manufacturing Lab (SMNML).
NSF Faculty Early Career Award 2006
SME K.K. Wang Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award 2007
ONR Young Investigator Award 2007
ASME Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conf., Best paper award, 2010 and 2012
ASME Chao Trigger Young Investigator, 2012.
Journal of Materials Science “The Cahn prize” finalists 2012
Purdue University Faculty Scholar.
Fellow of American Society of Mechanical Engineering (FASME) 2013
National Research Council (NRC) senior research fellow award
Seed for success award, 2017 (for PI who received an award of at least $1 million)
Purdue’s Innovator Hall of Fame
Best paper award, International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, 2020
Purdue College of Engineering Outstanding Faculty Mentor award, 2021
Senior Member of IEEE
Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (FAAAS) 2021
ASME Milton C. Shaw Manufacturing Research Medal, 2022
Best paper award, International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, 2022
Fellow of International Society of Nanomanufacturing (FISNM), 2022
Fellow of Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA), 2023
Fellow of Society of Manufacturing Engineers (FSME), 2023
Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), 2023
Best Author Award, International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, 2024