

Dec. 24th, 2020, our work on wearable sign-to-speech translation was selected as the Top 10 Science Stories of 2020 by Ontario Science Centre. As 2020 draws to a close, the Ontario Science Centre has rounded up 10 science gems based on the criteria that they push the boundaries of science to help us learn about our past, benefit our future and add wonder to our present.

Dec. 4th, 2020, Dr. Chen received the ACS Nano Rising Stars Lectureship Award from the American Chemical Society. The ACS Nano Rising Stars are invited to give globally broadcast iCANX lectures, serve as an advisory board member of ACS Nano, and write a forward-looking Perspective/ Review for the journal. Read More from [UCLA Bioengineering News] and [iCANX Talks].
Nov. 18th, 2020, Dr. Chen was identified to be one of the world’s most influential researchers in the field of materials science by the Web of Science Group and continues to be on the global list of Highly Cited Researchers together with the other 8 Professors in the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering. Read More from [UCLA Samueli Newsroom] and [UCLA University News].
Jun. 29th, 2020, our work on wearable sign-to-speech translation using machine-learning-assisted stretchable sensor arrays was published in Nature Electronics. This work was highlighted by Science [From My Hand to Your Ears, Science 2020, 369, 520], and Nature Electronics [Do Deaf Communities Actually Want Sign Language Gloves? Nat. Electron. 2020, 3, 512], previewed by Prof. John Rogers [Matter 2020, 3, 337], and covered by worldwide mainstream media over 200 times, including [NPR] [abc] [CNN] [NBC] [UCLA][Yahoo][ScienceDaily].
Nov. 19th, 2019, Dr. Chen was identified to be one of the world’s most influential researchers in the field of materials science by the Web of Science Group, and on the global list of Highly Cited Researchers together with the other 11 Full Professors in the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering. Read More from [UCLA Samueli Newsroom] and [UCLA University News].
Sep. 1st, 2019, Dr. Chen was invited to be an Associate Editor of Biosensors and Bioelectronics, an Elsevier journal established in 1985. With a current Impact Factor of 10. 257, CiteScore of 17.6, and around 1000 publications per year, Biosensors & Bioelectronics is in the top quartile of the analytical chemistry, biophysics, biotechnology & applied microbiology, electrochemistry, and nanoscience categories. It is ranked #1/37 in Electrochemistry, #3/129 in Biophysics, #8/275 in Biotechnology, #7/225 in Biomedical Engineering.
Sep. 12th, 2016, our work on smart textile for simultaneously harvesting solar and mechanical energy was published in Nature Energy. It reported a lightweight, wearable, foldable and sustainable power source with simple transport and storage. This work was selected as a Nature Research Highlights (Fabric Harvests Two Energy Forms, Nature 2016, 537, 283), and covered by media around the world over 200 times, including [ScienceDaily][YaHoo][People] [NanoWerk][Materials Today][Xinhua Net][Big News Network].
Feb. 9th, 2018, the large-scale radiative cooling fabric work was published in Nature Sustainability. It is a nanophotonic structure textile with tailored infrared property for passive radiative cooling, which lowered human skin temperature by 2.3 °C, corresponding to more than 20% saving on indoor cooling energy (Scaling Up Textiles that Cool Down, Science 2018, 360, 616). The related patent was licensed and filed around the world, including USA, China, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Brazil, European Associates, Mexico, India, Canada, Indonesia, Spain, and so on.
Mar. 4th, 2014, our work on radial-arrayed rotary triboelectric nanogenerator for high-performance mechanical energy harvesting was published in Nature Communications. It enables a high output power density of 19 mW/cm² at an efficiency of 24%. This work was selected as a Nature Research Highlights (Shake to Make Power, Nature 2014, 507, 143), and reported around the world over 100 times, including [Sinc] [Phys.org] [China Science Daily][Naukas] [Radio-Canada] [Mother Nature Network][World Industrial Reporter].
Feb. 26th, 2015, the first configuration of triboelectric nanogenerator networks configuration for large-scale blue energy harvesting was published by ACS Nano. It is capable of floating on the surface of the water and converting the slow, random and high-force all-directional oscillatory water wave motions into electricity. An average power output of 1.15 MW is expected to be generated from a one-kilometer square water surface in nature. This work was highlighted by Nature (Catch Wave Power in Floating Nets, Nature 2017, 542, 159).
Jun.1st, 2018, Dr. Chen was interviewed by ScienceNews Magazine and covered in a story entitled “Future Smart Clothes Could Pack Serious Gadgetry.” This article was highlighted as Front Cover of the SN Magazine. It is said “…Engineers are getting creative to make lightweight, flexible devices that keep clothing comfortable and still perform as well as their clunky counterparts...But fashionistas and gearheads can look forward to a future where electronic clothes are in vogue…” “…Primarily made of synthetic polymers and wool fibers, the fabric is lightweight, flexible and breathable. A 4-by-5 centimeter piece worn for a run in the sun can charge up a cell phone”.