Lea Der Chen

Dr. Lea-Der (LD) Chen is currently Professor and Director of the School of Engineering and Computing Sciences and Associate Dean for Research of the College of Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi. Prior to joining A&M – Corpus Christi in July 2010, he was with the University of Iowa, holding professorial positions as well as department chair (Department Executive Officer) and center director (National Advanced Driving Simulator) positions. Chen earned his baccalaureate degree in mechanical engineering from National Taiwan University (Taipei, Taiwan), his master and Ph.D. degrees from the Pennsylvania State University (University Park, Pennsylvania). Upon receiving his Ph.D. degree, Chen was appointed a Research Associate at Penn State’s Applied Research Laboratory and held a non-tenure track assistant professor appointment in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Chen also had an IPA appointment at Air Force Research Lab (WPAFB, Ohio) conducting research in jet diffusion flames. Chen’s research was in the areas of combustion, propulsion and power, fuel cell modeling and simulation, and CO2 electrochemical reduction. His research was funded by NSF, AFOSR, ONR, NASA, TARDEC, ARDEC, ConocoPhillips, Honda R&D, GM, Cummins Inc., and Deere & Co. Chen’s NASA funded research included a glovebox investigation onboard of the US Space Shuttle Columbia STS-87/USMP-4 Mission in November/December 1997. He has authored/co-authored more than 150 technical publications.

Chen is a life member of ASME, senior member of AIAA, and member of ASEE and the Combustion Institute. He currently serves on the ASME Propulsion Technical Committee as the Committee Vice Chair. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the ASME Aerospace Division.