Dr Sing Swee Leong joins the Department of Mechanical Engineering, NUS, as an Assistant Professor in August 2021. Prior to joining NUS, he was a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, after receiving the prestigious fellowship in 2020. Swee Leong was named a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate in 2024, 2023, and 2022. In 2022, he was also awarded the Young Professional Award by ASTM International for his work in additive manufacturing and contribution in standard development for the field. As a scientist and innovator, Swee Leong’s interest is enabling material development and creating strategic and sustainable values for Industry 4.0 and beyond through the use and integration of advanced manufacturing. He is actively involved in inter-disciplinary research.

Dr. Wei Fan is a Professor at Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU), where he focuses on multi-material additive manufacturing and hybrid manufacturing based on additive processes. He received his Ph.D., Master’s, and Bachelor’s degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from NPU between 2009 and 2021. From 2022 to 2024, he conducted postdoctoral research at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Dr. Fan is a member of the Additive Manufacturing and Innovative Design team led by Professors Xin Lin and Weidong Huang. The team hosts several national and international research platforms, including the International Joint Research Center for Aerospace Material-Structure Integrated Design and Additive Manufacturing Equipment Technology, and the Key Laboratory of High-Performance Metal Additive Manufacturing and Innovative Design, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China. They have also established the NPU-Airbus Joint Laboratory for Additive Manufacturing in collaboration with Airbus Europe.

The team conducts cutting-edge research in areas such as additive manufacturing and innovative design, precision solidification theory and technologies, and multiscale thermo-mechanical-microstructural modeling and simulation of materials processing. To date, they have published over 500 academic papers and hold more than 50 invention patents related to additive manufacturing. Their technologies serve over 100 industrial partners across sectors such as aerospace, aviation, power, and energy. Research outcomes have been successfully applied to major national programs including the C919 aircraft and the Tianwen-1 Mars mission. The team’s industrial spin-off, BLT (Bright Laser Technologies), became the first 3D printing company listed on China’s STAR Market and is now among the global leaders in the field.

Dr. Ming C. Leu is the Keith and Pat Bailey Distinguished Professor and Curator’s Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology. He founded Missouri S&T’s Center for Aerospace Manufacturing Technologies in 2004 and has been serving as its director until 2016.

He also served as the Director of Intelligent Systems Center, 2003-2020. Prior to joining Missouri S&T, he was a Program Director at the National Science Foundation, 1996-1999, the State Chair Professor in Manufacturing Productivity at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, 1987-1996, and a faculty member at Cornell University, 1981-1987. Professor Leu obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1981 from the University of California at Berkeley, his M.S. degree in 1977 from the Pennsylvania State University, and his B.S. degree in 1972 from the National Taiwan University, all in Mechanical Engineering.

His research interests include additive manufacturing, 3D printing, smart manufacturing, intelligent robotics, and cyber-physical systems. He has published over 500 refereed papers in professional journals and conference proceedings, as well as one e-book, 11 book chapters, and 5 granted U.S. patents.

Dr. Leu has received numerous professional awards including, among others, the ISC/MST Distinguished Investigator Award (2022), International Freeform and Additive Manufacturing Excellence (FAME) Award (2020), ASME Milton C. Shaw Manufacturing Research Medal (2018), University of Missouri President’s Leadership Award (2017), ASME Blackall Machine Tool and Gage Award (2014), ISFA Hideo Hanafusa Outstanding Investigator Award (2008), ASME Dedicated Service Award (2004), SME University Lead Award (1994), NJIT Harlan J. Perlis Research Award (1993), NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award (1985), SAE Ralph R. Teetor Education Award (1985), FPRS Wood Award (1981), and best paper recognition from multiple professional conferences.

He was elected to SME Fellow in 2018, CIRP Fellow in 2008, and ASME Fellow in 1993, and is a member of Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies.

Professor João Pedro Oliveira is a Full Professor in the Department of Materials Science (DCM) and a researcher at CENIMAT-i3N – Centro de Investigação de Materiais, part of the I3N Associated Laboratory. He previously served as an Associate Professor in the same department, as an Invited Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (DEMI), and as a researcher at UNIDEMI – the Research and Development Unit in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.