Feb. 14th, 2021, Dr. Chen has fortunately been placed the 2nd Influential Researcher globally in the field of nanogenerator, right behind the field pioneer, Prof. Zhong Lin Wang, according to a recent study entitled "Towards smart cities powered by nanogenerators: Bibliometric and machine learning-based analysis". The result was obtained via a principal component analysis of the bibliometric data. Please read the full paper for more details [Nano Energy 2021, 83, 105844].

Jan. 28th, 2021, Dr. Chen received the Nanoscale Emerging Investigators Award from The Royal Society of Chemistry. The Nanoscale Emerging Investigators are invited to write a forward-looking Review for the journal. Dr. Chen and his team wrote a review about self-powered chemical sensing and was selected as the Front Cover. Read more from [The Review] and [Front Cover].

Jan. 20th, 2021, our work on the wearable sign-to-speech translation made the list of ALTMETRIC TOP 100, an annual list of the publications that have most captured the public’s imagination each year, based on the data collected by Altmetric. Altmetric tracked 87.7 million mentions of 3.4 million works in 2020 and selected out 100 most discussed articles across 20 disciplines.

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].

Sep. 1st, 2020, Dr. Chen was granted the Okawa Foundation Research Award for his contribution to smart textiles for personalized healthcare. Each winner will be granted 10,000 dollars. Dr. Chen was the only one in 2020 from UCLA together with other 6 U.S. professors from UC Berkeley, Stanford, Caltech, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Southern California.

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][UC News] [ScienceDaily].

Mar. 23rd, 2020, our invited review paper was published on Chemical Reviews and was highlighted as the Front Main Cover. This review systematically discussed energy harvesting textiles as sustainable power sources for wearable bioelectronics for personalized healthcare in the era of the Internet of things. It soon becomes Highly Cited Paper & Hot Paper in the Web of Science.

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. 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 could contribute to save up to 23% cooling energy in the summer time.  This work was highlighted by Science [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. 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. 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”.