Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering professor Jie Chen, holding a prototype of a new biomedical engineering 'tricorder' device, has been awarded a prestigious Killam Annual Professorship.
(Edmonton) Jie Chen was thrilled to be named one of five University of Alberta recipients of a 2015 Killam Annual Professorship-less because of the personal recognition, and more because of the opportunities it opens up. "This recognition can bring me to the next level of excellence," he said.
A Killam can help open doors to further research collaborations, international awards, and funding opportunities, observed Chen. He takes particular pride in the fact that the Killam reflects all aspects of professorship. "The Killam Professorship is like a triathlon," he said, "because it looks at your teaching, your research, and your community service."
The award represents a validation of Chen's decision a decade ago to leave an Ivy League posting at Brown University for a fresh start at the U of A. "At the time, I was looking to work in a more multi-disciplinary area-more towards biomedical," he said. "The National Research Council and its National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT-a world-class research facility operated jointly by the U of A and the NRC) were recruiting people worldwide."
The opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration began virtually the moment Chen arrived on campus. At an introductory workshop, Chen and other new faculty members were exploring ways to motivate students to study subjects they don't like. "One of the other professors said, 'I hate circuit design.' So I stood up in front of my peers, and told them how great circuit design is, and how it is my passion."
After the meeting, Chen tracked down the colleague to learn more about his grudge against circuit design. That's how he first met Tarek El-Bialey, a dentist exploring the use of ultrasound to stimulate the growth of teeth. El-Bialey had been frustrated because the devices he had been working with were too bulky to fit in a patient's mouth. Within minutes, the new friends were eagerly discussing a possible joint project. "He asked me, can you design something which is miniaturized and can be used to stimulate dental tissue formation for an individual tooth?"
The resulting cross-campus collaboration in LIPUS-Low Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound-remains a central fixture in Chen's busy life as a researcher. In 2006, Reader's Digest recognized the team's LIPUS research as one of Canada's top medical breakthroughs. Not that Chen doesn't have other projects on his plate; since 2012 he has led or contributed to 13 grants worth over $7.7 million.
Despite his success as a researcher, Chen views himself as an educator first. He credits the example of his mother-"a born educator"-for his enthusiasm as a teacher. He takes pride in the achievements of his graduate and doctoral students, but also loves teaching younger students. "In a university, the undergrad education is the most important," he declared.
In supporting Chen's application for a Killam, Robert Burrell (Professor and Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering) pointed to Chen's consistently high scores in student evaluations. "His rating is excellent when you consider he is teaching complex biology as part of a Nanobiotechnology course to students who have almost no training in biology," he observed. "That is a formidable teaching task, and Dr. Chen excels in it."
Chen's reputation has the welcome spinoff of attracting more (and stronger) students to his classes. The influx of talent invariably spills over into Chen's research work-a trend that promises to gain momentum with this latest award. "Students these days shop for professors," said Chen. "With the Killam, I can attract more talented students to join my lab."
Those students who do come his way deserve a dedicated and attentive teacher, said Chen. "I always tell my students: You are my employers. I am your employee. I'm coming here to serve you, because you pay my salary."
Chen is one of two Killam recipients from the Faculty of Engineering this year; the other has been awarded to Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering professor Janet Elliott.
Prestigious Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarships were also announced recently. Graduate student Chao Li, in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mustafa Ege Babadagli, in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Amin Ghazanfari, in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, have been awarded the scholarships.