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.

Wonjoon Choi is a Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Korea University. He earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2012 and his B.S. in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering from Seoul National University in 2003. Before joining Korea University as an Assistant Professor in 2012, he worked as a Postdoctoral Associate in MIT's Department of Chemical Engineering. He also has prior industry experience as an Assistant Engineer at KEBTechnology Co., Ltd. and as an Engineer at CyberCVS Co., Ltd.

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.

Charlotte A.E. Hauser is a Professor of Bioscience and the Chair of the Bioengineering Program at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. Before joining KAUST, she was a Principal Investigator at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, A*Star, Singapore, and Adjunct Professor at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Trained as a chemist, she did her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Cologne, Germany, then joined INSERM in Paris, and later the Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, Germany. She was a Founder and Managing Director of Octagene in Munich/Martinsried, Germany. There, she developed the first fourth generation human recombinant coagulation factor VIII (hFVIII). This recombinant human clotting factor NUWIQ® is the newest hFVIII replacement and since 2014 on the market. She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineers (AIMBE) and since 2015 a Fellow of the US National Academy of Inventors (NAI). In 2016, she started the KAUST spin-off company PepPrint. Her research includes molecular self-assembly, synthetic peptide biomaterials, novel inhibitor compounds for neurodegenerative diseases, and regenerative therapies as well as 3D bioprinting. 

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.

After graduating from University of Birmingham, Panwisawas has joined the Centre for Advanced Simulation and Modelling (CASiM2) programme within Partnership for Research in Simulation of Manufacturing and Materials (PRISM2) research group as a Research Fellow at Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre, University of Birmingham from June 2013 to May 2018. In June 2018, he has awarded EPSRC UKRI Innovation Fellowship to conduct his project on additive manufacturability, at University of Oxford and he became Senior Fellow and now an Academic Visitor at Department of Materials, University of Oxford. During the period of 2020 to 2022, Panwisawas worked as an Associate Professor in Digital Manufacturing and Associate Director of NISCO UK Research Centre at School of Engineering, University of Leicester.
 

In 2022, Panwisawas moved to London to take up a position as Senior lecturer (Associate professor) in Materials and Solid mechanics at Queen Mary University of London. He is a Visiting Associate Professorship at Next Generation Tatara Co-Creation Centre (NEXTA) at Shimane University, a MMRI Affiliated Professorship at Metallurgy and Materials Science Research Institute (MMRI), Chulalongkorn University, Visiting Associate Professor at Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and a Visiting Academic Collaborator Status at Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis.

Panwisawas' research focused on multi-scale materials modelling of liquid/solid reactions, particularly in casting, fusion welding and additive manufacturing of high performance alloys using an integrated computational material engineering (ICME) framework. He is a computational materials scientist to use modelling and simulation to gain in-depth understanding of melt pool physics, formation of defects and microstructural phenomena during selective laser melting. or laser-based powder-bed fusion additive manufacturing. His work is done in collaboration with Rolls-Royce, neutron facilities such as ISIS Neutron and Muon Source and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and X-rays synchrotron facility like Diamond Light Source, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility.

Hongze Wang is an Associate Professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, a position he has held since October 2019. He received his B.A. (2011) from Huazhong University of Science & Technology and his Ph.D. (2016) from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Following his doctorate, he conducted postdoctoral research at Osaka University, Japan (2016–2018), and subsequently at the University of Toronto, Canada (2018–2019). His research focuses on innovative manufacturing processes, particularly laser additive and hybrid manufacturing, integrating advanced simulation, sensing, and control to elucidate the relationships among processing, microstructure, and product performance. He has published about 50 technical articles, including over 20 journal articles, 1 awarded patent. He has given over 20 invited talks.

Professor Laichang Zhang is the Program Leader–Mechanical Engineering and the Head of Centre for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing in the School of Engineering at Edith Cowan University (ECU). After receiving his PhD at Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Prof. Zhang had worked at The University of Western Australian, University of Wollongong, IFW Dresden and Technical University Darmstadt before joining ECU. Prof. Zhang is a Highly Cited Researcher in the field of Materials Science (Clarivate) with high-quality publication in Science, Progress in Materials Science, Materials Science and Engineering R: Reports. He is a leading researcher in metallic materials (3D-printing, metallic biomaterials, lightweight alloys & structures, and high-strength alloys and composites), with high expertise in processing, microstructure and performance (e.g. mechanical properties, fatigue, corrosion).

Recognition, Prizes, Honours and Awards (Selected)

2024 Advanced Materials Laureate, International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM, Sweden)

2023 Highly Cited Researcher (Clarivate)

2022, 2023 Materials Science in Australia Leader Award, Research.com

2021 IAAM Scientist Medal (IAAM, Sweden)

2021 Outstanding Scientist Award (VDGOOD Professional Association, India)

2017 Top 10 Research Highlights of Amorphous in China

2005-2007 Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (Germany)

Dr. Yaoyao Fiona Zhao is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at McGill University, where she holds the titles of William Dawson Scholar and Ram Panda Faculty Scholar in Sustainable Engineering & Design. She leads the Additive Desian and Manufacturing Laboratory (ADML), recognized as a leading research group in additive manufacturing and sustainable design and manufacturing.

Her research spans the intersection of design innovation, advanced simulation, and Al-driven manufacturing, with contributions in areas such as design for additive manufacturing (DfAM), multifunctional and bio-inspired design, numerical modeling of AM processes, manufacturing informatics, and the application of machine learning to intelligent, sustainable, and adaptive manufacturing systems.