Alumnus Jie Chen Elevated to IEEE Fellow

ECE alumnus Jie Chen was elevated to Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The highest grade of membership, IEEE Fellow, is attained through nomination by peers and approval by the IEEE Board of Directors for distinction in the profession. Chen was recognized for contributions to low-power and biomedical ultrasound circuits and devices. He was advised by Christine Kim Eminent Professor K. J. Ray Liu at the University of Maryland. Chen graduated with both his M.S. and Ph.D. from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, completing his studies in 1998.

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Chen is professor of Electrical Engineering and an adjunct professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, AB, Canada. He is also a research officer at the National Research Council/National Institute for Nanotechnology, Canada. Dr. Chen is a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada. Chen’s current research interests are in applying nanotechnology for biomedical applications, particularly in the areas of cross-disciplinary bio-medical nanotechnology. A few of his projects include devising an ultrasound device to proliferate stem cells for tissue engineering, the generation of biofuel; and nanoparticles which will affect gene/drug delivery, cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Prior to joining the University of Alberta, Chen worked in industry for 7 years focusing on research and management at Bell-Labs and Hughes Network Systems, Inc. He acquired entrepreneurial experience while helping establish two Bell-Lab spin-off companies. One company was acquired by QUALCOMM in San Diego, the other, iBiquity Digital Coorporation, produces digital car radios sold at Walmart and Best Buy.

He has coauthored two books, three book chapters, 83 peer-reviewed journal papers, and 76 peer-reviewed conference proceeding papers (with an H-index of 26 and i10-index of 54). His work has been cited more than 2,960 times. He has been granted 7 patents, and several patents have been licensed to 3 Canadian companies.

Chen has received numerous awards such as the Killam Professorship Award (one of the highest honors to a professor in Canadian Universities), Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Leaders’ Opportunity Award by the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the best poster award by the International Union of Crystallography at the Conference of Biology and Synchrotron Radiation (BSR) 2013, the Best Innovation Prize at the 7th MXIC IC Design Contest (the largest and the most important annual IC design contest in Taiwan), the 2008 National Chip Implementation Center (CIC) Annual Best Chip Award (the highest score in the digital circuit field among 1,700 annual chips taped-out through the CIC), the Best student paper award at IEEE/National Institutes for Health (NIH) 2007 Life Science Systems & Applications Workshop, and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Distinguished Lecturer Award by the Circuits and Systems Society (2004-2005). His research on designing miniaturized ultrasound device for intra-oral dental tissue formation was listed by “Reader’s Digest” as a major medical breakthrough in Canada in 2006.

Published December 14, 2015