Professor honored for electrical engineering work

By Kris Rodriguez
Public Affairs Specialist

(June 4, 2007)--Philip Chen, UTSA professor of electrical engineering, has been named a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in honor of his contributions to intelligent manufacturing systems design and integration.

Conferred by the IEEE board, the grade of fellow is awarded to less than 1 percent of the 360,000 members in 160 countries with an extraordinary record of accomplishments throughout their careers. IEEE is the world’s leading professional association for the advancement of technology in numerous areas including aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications, biomedical engineering, electrical power and consumer electronics.

"It's a great honor to be recognized by peers in my research area and I'm grateful to those who nominated and recommended me for this award," said Chen. "This not only indicates an advancement in my professional career, but also brings honor to UTSA for its recognition and dedication in research, teaching and service."

Currently, Chen is working with scientists at Southwest Research Institute to develop new ways to monitor the health of aircraft jet engines. He also is the principal investigator of a three-year grant from NASA involving life extension of aircraft engines.

Chen joined UTSA in 2002, and serves as chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering. He received a doctoral degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University and a master's degree in electrical engineering from University of Michigan.

He is a member of the IEEE board of governors; a member of the executive committee and treasurer of the Systems, Man and Cybernetics (SMC) Society; the founding chair of IEEE SMC Central Texas Section; the founding co-chair of two technical committees of the System of Systems and Information Assurance organization; associate editor of IEEE Systems Journal and IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics. Additionally, Chen is a member of Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu honor societies and serves as faculty adviser for Tau Beta Pi Engineering honor society.

Chen joins UTSA electrical engineering professors Mo Jamshidi and G.V.S. Raju as recipients of IEEE fellowships.