FAMU-FSU Chair

Dr. Ben Wang

Dr. Ben Wang holds two distinguished professorships: Simon Ostrach Professor of Industrial Engineering and U.S. Department of Energy Massie Chair of Excellence in Engineering. He is Fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) and World Innovation Foundation (WIF), and serves as a member of the Life Boat Foundation Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Wang was Chair of the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering from 1993 to 2005. He had worked closely with the faculty in developing both a Master of Science (1994) and a doctoral degree program (1997). The department passed two ABET accreditation reviews, three SACS reviews and one QER review.

Throughout his career, Dr. Wang has been instrumental in enhancing the dialogue between engineering faculty and practitioners by fostering industrial partnerships. Such dialogues have proven very effective for the faculty's continuing career development. Moreover, industrial partnerships have also provided valuable internships, co-ops and employment opportunities for students. These opportunities have developed students’ “business sophistication” in addition to their technical competence.

Dr. Wang is widely acknowledged as a pioneer in the growing field of nano-materials science. His main area of research, involving an extraordinary material known as “BuckyPaper”, has shown promise in a variety of applications, including the development of aerospace structures, the production of more-effective body armor and armored vehicles, the improvement of energy and power efficiency, the enhancement of thermal management of engineering systems, and the construction of next-generation computer displays. Because of his contributions to nanotechnology, Dr. Wang and Dr. Les Kramer, Lockheed Martin Chief Technologist, were invited to present to the U.S. National Research Council (NRC) Review Panel in support of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) in 2005.

In 1998, Dr. Wang founded the Florida Advanced Center for Composite Technologies (FACCT), a research institute sanctioned by the Florida Board of Education. As a direct result of his developing partnerships between universities and industries, in 2002, FACCT was selected by the National Science Foundation to join the NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) program. Through the I/UCRC program, FACCT partnered with Ohio State University and University of Wisconsin-Madison to form a synergy with industry and government in producing stronger, lighter, more versatile composite fibers at a minimum cost. Building on his commitment to excellence, an aggressive fund raising campaign is underway to build a $18M, world-class building for FACCT.

With a primary research interest is applying emerging technologies to improve manufacturing competitiveness, he specializes in process development for affordable composite materials. AFOSR, AFRL, ARL, ARO, DARPA, DOE, NASA, NIST, NSF, ONR, SME, Sandia, 2Phase, AT&T, Boeing, British Petroleum, Caterpillar, Cummins Engine, GKN, GM, JEOL, Lockheed Martin, Motorola, MTS, Raytheon, Sikorsky, Sun Microsystems, TA Instrument, and Westinghouse are just a few of his many sponsors. He is a consultant to a number of U.S. and international companies. Currently, Dr. Wang is concentrating his research on affordable composites, which is already changing product innovation worldwide. His attention to applications of the integrated product-process design approach to substituting metal structures with low-cost, high-performance composite materials is unique among researchers in these difficult and most promising investigations.

Dr. Wang has served on a number of NSF Grant Review Panels and Site Visit Teams, as well as the U.S. Department of State Science Centers Program Committee, DoD Graduate Fellowship Review Committee, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Grants Review Committee, Hong Kong Research Grants Council, Egyptian Science and Technology Cooperation Project Review Panel, and Australian Research Council Grants Review Committee. He has also served as a technical consultant for the Louisiana State Board of Regents and the New York Economic Development Council. He served on the Board of Directors for the North Florida Manufacturing Technology Center, which is part of the NIST Manufacturing Extension Program (MEP).

Dr. Wang is an editorial board member for the Journal of Multidiscipline Modeling in Materials and Structures, Composites B Journal, International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Journal of Manufacturing Systems, Journal of Design and Manufacturing Automation, and Journal of the Chinese Institute of Industrial Engineers. He was elected to the US Council of the Japan-US Conference on Composite Materials in 2005.

He is a co-inventor on projects resulting in seven U.S. patents (5566092, 5566273, 5602761, 5939013, 6488569, 6532799, and US 2006/0017191A1). In addition to being the author or co-author of more than 130 refereed journal papers and 60 conference articles, he is a co-author of three books: Computer-Aided Manufacturing (Prentice-Hall), Computer-Aided Process Planning (Elsevier Science Publishers), and Computer Aided Manufacturing PC Application Software (Delmar Publishers). These books are currently being used worldwide. Computer-Aided Manufacturing was selected to receive the IIE 1992 Joint Publishers Book-of-the-Year Award and the 1992 SME M. Eugene Merchant Manufacturing Textbook Award. In addition, Dr. Wang edited three books: Integrated Product, Process and Enterprise Design, Concurrent Design of Products, Manufacturing Processes and Systems, and Computer-Aided Maintenance: Methodology and Practices.

Dr. Wang is a co-recipient of a 2004 R&D 100 Award. In 1999, Dr. Wang received the AT&T Industrial Ecology Fellow Award and the DOE Outstanding Research and Educational Accomplishment Award. In 1998, he received an IRI/ASEE Engineering Faculty Fellowship Award and a United Nations Development Program Fellowship. In addition, he is the recipient of the 1993 Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society Outstanding Professor Award. For his leadership and significant achievements in manufacturing education and research, Dr. Wang also received the 1990 SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award. In 1991, he received the University of Iowa Old Gold Iowa Fellowship, and in 1987, the New York State Improvement of Undergraduate Education Award. As further confirmation of his accomplishments, his biography is listed in Who's Who in Engineering, Who's Who in Global Business Leaders, Who's Who among Asian Americans, and Who's Who in the Midwest. He received his B.S.I.E. degree from Tunghai University (Taiwan) and M.S.I.E. and Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University.

A Discussion with Dr. Wang on Program Goals

"The concept of what we do is very simple. We design products that can be manufactured, used, and disposed of easily without adverse effects on the environment. According to a recent EPA report, the U.S. spends over 100 billion dollars each year to cleanup various contaminated and polluted sites. Many of those contaminations and pollutions are the result of the shortsightedness of the manufacturing policies and practices of the past. People designed and made products without paying attention to what effects the products or manufacturing processes might have on the environment or how the product might be disposed of once it reached the end of its service life cycle. As a result, various pollutions from solid wastes to toxic chemicals to air pollutants are everywhere seriously threatening the quality of our life and that of future generations. The FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Design for Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing group is developing technologies that will enable engineers to design products with the environment in mind. Such a foreward-looking technological development is guided by four principles:

Life-cycle
It is no longer sufficient just to pay attention to what's taking place within the factory. We must take a life-cycle view, a so-called cradle-to-grave view, of everything including design, manufacturing, distribution, storage, end-use, maintenance, retirement and disposal of every product. Each stage of a product has an impact on the environment, and should be thoroughly studied and tackled.
Information Integration
This is closely connected to life-cycle analysis. Information about materials, processes, environmental impact, and costing must be made available to the engineer if he or she is to design an environmentally conscious product.
Scalability
It means the technology we develop can be scaled up or down easily to fit the size and nature of the company to which the technology is going to be transferred. We cannot afford to have a technology for a 10-employee company and a totally different technology for a 10,000-employee company. The technology must have scalability.
Adaptability
People won't like it if the technology is going to interrupt the routine production schedule. Design for environmentally conscious manufacturing is a continuous improvement process. New technology must be designed and transferred in such a way that it can be phased in easily."

Book Chapters and Recent Publications in Refereed Journals

Mehta, C. and H.P. Wang, “Green Quality Function Deployment III: A Methodology for Developing Environmentally Conscious Products,” invited paper appeared in the inaugural issue of Journal of Design and Manufacturing Automation, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2001, pp. 1-16.

Luo, J., Liang, C. Zhang and H.-P. Wang, " Optimum Tooling Design for Resin Transfer Molding with Virtual Prototyping and Artificial Intelligence," Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Vol. 32, 2001, pp. 877-888.

Liu, Q., C. Zhang, and H.-P. Wang, "On the Effects of CMM Measurement Uncertainty on Form Tolerance Evaluation," Measurement: Journal of the International Measurement Confederation IMEKO, Vol. 30, 2001, pp. 33-47.

Fan, C., C. Dong, C. Zhang and H.-P. Wang, “Diagnosis of Machine Tool Contouring Errors with Wavelet Transforms and Neural Networks,” Journal of Manufacturing Systems, Vol. 20, No. 2, 2001, pp. 98-112.
Jiang, S., C. Zhang and H.-P. Wang, “A Process Performance Index and Its Applications to Optimization of RTM Processes,” Polymer Composites, Vol. 22, No. 5, 2001, pp. 690-701.
Liu, Q. and H.-P. Wang, “A Case Study on Multi-sensor Data Fusion for Imbalance Diagnosis of Rotating Machinery,” Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing, Vol. 15, 2001, pp. 203-210.
Jiang, S., C. Zhang, H.-P. Wang, “Optimum Arrangement of Gate and Vent Locations for RTM Process Design Using a Mesh Distance-based Approach,” Composites Part A – Applied Science and Manufacturing, Vol. 33, No. 4, 2002, pp. 471-481.
Dong, C., C. Zhang, H.-P. Wang, and G. Zhang, “Prediction and Compensation of Dynamic Errors for Coordinate Measuring Machines,” ASME Transactions: Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, Vol.124, No.3, 2002, pp. 509-514.
Bovea, D. and H.-P. Wang, “Identifying Environmental Improvement Options by Combining LCA and Fuzzy Theory,” International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 41, No. 3, 2003, pp. 593-609.
Gou, J., C. Zhang, Z. Liang, H.-P. Wang and J. Simpson, "Resin Transfer Molding Process Optimization Using Computer Simulation and Design of Experiments Approach," Journal of Polymer Composites, Vol. 24, No. 1, 2003, pp. 1-12.
Fan, C. E. G. Collins, C. Liu, H.-P. Wang, “Radial Error Feedback Geometric Adaptive Control for Bar Turning in CNC Turning Centers,” Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, Vol. 125, February 2003, pp. 77-84.
Dong, C., C. Zhang, H.-P. Wang, “Integration of Green Quality Function Deployment and Fuzzy Multi-attribute Utility Theory-based Cost Estimation for Environmentally Conscious Product Development,” International Journal of Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2003.
Dong, C., C. Zhang, Z. Liang and B. Wang, “Assembly Dimensional Variation Modelling and Optimization for the Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM) Process,” Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering, No. 11, pp.1-17, 2003.
Ding, L., C. Shih, Z. Liang, C. Zhang and B. Wang, "In-Situ Measurement and Monitoring of Whole-Field Permeability Profile of Fiber Preform for Liquid Composite Molding Processes," Composite, Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Vol. 34/8, 2003, pp. 779-789.
Thagard, J.R., O.I. Okoli, Z. Liang, B. Wang and C. Zhang, “Resin Infusion between Double Flexible Tooling: Prototype Development,” Composite, Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Vol. 34, 2003, pp. 803-811
Dong, C., C. Zhang, B. Wang and G. Zhang, “Design and Optimization of Air Bearings for Precision Applications,” ASME Transactions, Journal of Mechanical Design, Vol. 125, No. 4, 2003, pp. 831-839.
Liang, Z., C. Gou, C. Zhang, B. Wang, L. Kramer, “Investigation of Molecular Interactions between (10,10) SWNT and Epon 862 Resin/DETDA Curing Agent Molecules,” Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol. 365/1-2, 2004, pp. 228-234.
Dong, C., C. Zhang, Z. Liang and B. Wang, “Dimension Variation Prediction for Composites with Finite Element Analysis and Regression Modeling,” Composite, Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Vol. 5, No. 6, 2004, pp. 735-746.
Gou, J., Z. Liang and B. Wang, “Experimental Design and Optimization of Dispersion Process for Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Buckypapers,” International Journal of Nanoscience, Vol. 3, No. 3, 2004, pp. 293-307.
Laio, Y-H, O. Marietta-Tondin, Z. Liang, C. Zhang and B. Wang, “Investigation of the Dispersion Process of SWNT/SC-15 Epoxy Resin Nanocomposites,” Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol. 385, 2004, pp. 175-181.
Chen, R., C. Dong, Z. Liang, C. Zhang and B. Wang, “Flow Modeling and Simulation of Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding Process with the Equivalent Permeability Method,” Polymer Composites, Vol. 25, No. 2, 2004, pp. 146-164.
Z. Wang, Z. Liang, B. Wang, C. Zhang and L. Kramer, “Processing and Property Investigation of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube (SWNT) Buckypaper/Epoxy Resin Matrix Nanocomposites,” Composite, Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Vol. 35, No. 10, 2004, pp. 1225-1232.
Dong, C., C. Zhang, Z. Liang, B. Wang, “Assembly Dimensional Variation Modeling and Optimization for the Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) Process,” Modeling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering, Vol. 12, No. 3, 2004, pp. 221-237.
Ye, X., C. Zhang, Z. Liang and B. Wang, “A Heuristic Algorithm for Determining Optimal Gate and Vent Locations for RTM Process Design,” Journal of Manufacturing Systems, Vol. 23, No. 4, 2004, pp. 267-277.
Zhang, D.X., C. Zhang, B. Wang, S.C. Feng, “A Unified Functional Tolerancing Approach for Cylindrical Components,” International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 43, No. 1, 2005, pp. 25-47.
Li, J., C. Zhang, Z. Liang and B. Wang, “Statistical Characterization and Robust Design of RTM Processes,” Composites, Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Vol. 36, 2005, pp. 564-580.
Toro, N., O. Okoli, B. Wang, “In-mold Coating of Composites Manufactured by Resin Infusion between Double Flexible Tooling Process,” Journal of Reinforced Plastics & Composites, Vol. 24, No. 7, 2005, pp. 725-733.
Dong, C., C. Zhang, Z. Liang and B. Wang, “Tolerance Analysis and Synthesis and Design Optimization of Composite Assemblies,” ASME Transactions, Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, Vol. 127, 2005, pp. 635-646.
Bovea, M.D. and B. Wang, “Green Quality Functional Deployment: A Methodology for Integrating Customer, Cost and Environmental Requirements in Product Design,” International Journal of Environmentally Conscious Design and Manufacturing, Vol. 12, No. 4, 2004-2005, pp. 9-19.
Wang, S., R. Liang, T. Liu, B. Wang and C. Zhang, “Effective Amino-Functionalization of Carbon Nanotubes for Reinforcing Epoxy Polymer Composites,” Nanotechnology, Vol. 17, 2006, pp. 1551–1557.
Wang, S., R. Liang, B. Wang and C. Zhang, “Statistical Characterization of Single-Wall Nanotube Length Distribution,” Nanotechnology, Vol. 17, 2006, pp. 634–639.

Professional Organizations/Associations

Fellow, Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE)

Fellow, Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME)

Fellow, World Innovation Foundation (WIF)

Member, American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE)

Member, Society for the Advancement of Material and Process (SAMPE)

List of Accomplishments

Fellow, World Innovation Foundation, 2005

WIF is an independent think tank dealing with scientific, technological, engineering and applied economics matters. Its membership, which numbers approximately 2,000 and include 86 Nobel Laureates, offers advice to governments and corporations throughout the world or a wide range of critical issues fosters innovative ideas to enhance the welfare of humanity.

AFRL ML Lab Director Funding Award, 2005

One of the 14 out of 139 proposals selected for “high-risk, high payoff” revolutionary technology research.

R&D 100 Award, 2004

Successful technology transition of Resin Infusion between Double Flexible Tooling (RIDFT) into industry.

Best Poster Prize, International Conference on Multiscale Materials Modeling, London, U.K., 2002

Awarded by The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of the United Kingdom due to its uniqueness and the quality of research in nano-materials.

Outstanding Alumni Lecture Speaker, Tunghai University, 2002

Selected to deliver three Tunghai University Outstanding Alumni Lectures due to contributions to industrial engineering and management science.

Fellow, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, 2001

Awarded by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers for outstanding contributions to academia, industry and profession.

Simon Ostrach Professor of Engineering, 2001

Dr. Simon Ostrach is credited for his pioneering studies in Microgravity. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and NAE Home Secretary 1996-2000. Dr. Ostrach was instrumental in the creation of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. Dr. Want was selected by FSU to hold this Named Professorship for his exemplary achievements in engineering.

AT&T Faculty Fellow in Industrial Ecology, 2001

Awarded by AT&T in recognition of research contributions to industrial ecology and pollution prevention in service industries.

Keynote Speaker, 5^th International Conference on Industrial Engineering Theories and Applications, 2000

Delivered a keynote speech on critical technologies and technology enablers in the 21^st century and their impact on knowledge economy.

United Nations Development Program Fellowship Award, 2000

Awarded by the United Nations for providing excellent professional and technical guidance for developing countries.

Institute of Industrial Engineers UPS Minority Advancement Award, 2000

Awarded by the Institute of Industrial Engineers for his deep personal commitment and a tremendous record of accomplishment, as an industrial engineering professional, for women and minority recruitment and retention.

Fellow, Institute of Industrial Engineers, 1999

Awarded by the Institute of Industrial Engineers for outstanding contributions to academia, industry and profession.

DOE Outstanding Research and Educational Accomplishment Award, 1999

Awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy for outstanding research and educational accomplishments as Massie Chair and incessant efforts to increase the number of well-trained minority engineers.

AT&T Faculty Fellow in Industrial Ecology, 1999

Awarded by AT&T in recognition of research contributions to industrial ecology and pollution prevention.

Alpha Pi Mu, IIE Honor Society Faculty Member, 1999

Recognized by the Industrial Engineering Honors Society for excellence in teaching, research and professional service.

University Service Award, 1999

Recognition of outstanding service to the university community.

United Nations Development Program Fellowship Award, 1998

Awarded by the United Nations for providing excellent professional and technical guidance for developing countries.

IRI/ASEE Engineering Faculty Fellowship Award, 1998

Awarded by the American Society for Engineering Education as a recognition of outstanding collaborations with industrial companies.

US DOE Samuel P. Massie Chair of Excellence, 1995 - present

Appointed by the US Department of Energy as Massie Chair of Excellence for continuing excellent contributions to environmentally conscious manufacturing.

Certificate of Appreciation, Caterpillar Technical Center, 1995

Recognition of leadership and outstanding R&D performance in areas of preventive maintenance and machinery testing.

Tau Beta Pi Outstanding Professor Award, 1993

Awarded for classroom leadership.

Co-Authorship of Computer-Aided Manufacturing, IIE Joint Publishers Book-of-the-Year Award, 1992

Awarded by the Institute of Industrial Engineers for authoring the best text book in 1992.

Co-Authorship of Computer-Aided Manufacturing, SME M. Eugene Merchant Manufacturing Textbook Award, 1992

Awarded by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers for authoring the best text book in 1992.

The University of Iowa Old Gold Iowa Award, 1991

Awarded by the University of Iowa in recognition of faculty excellence.

SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award, 1990

Awarded by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers in recognition of significant achievement and leadership in manufacturing engineering.

Paper Advisor of Third Prize Winner of Shingo Award for Manufacturing Excellence, 1989

Supervised a student paper that won the Third Prize in Shingo Award for Manufacturing Excellence competition.

Improvement of Undergraduate Education Award, State Government of New York, 1987

Awarded by the New York State Government in recognition of excellence in undergraduate engineering education.

Machine Fault Diagnostics System and Method, U.S. Patent No. 5566092, inventor with Huang, Knapp, Lin, Lin and Spoerre, issued 10-15-96.

Supervised Training of a Neural Network, U.S. Patent No. 5566273, inventor with Huang, Lin and Knapp, issued 10-15-96.

Machine Performance Monitoring and Fault Classification Using an Exponentially Weighted Moving Average Scheme, U.S. Patent No. 5602761, inventor with Spoerre and Lin, issued 2-11-97.

Process and Apparatus for the Production of High Strength Polymer Composite Structures, U.S. Patent No. 5939013, inventor with Han and Zhang, issued 8-17-99.

Use of Acoustic Emission for In-Process Detection of Micro-scratches in Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) Process, Inventor: Qing Liu, Co-Inventors: B. Wang, U.S. Patent No. 6488568, issued 12-3-02.

System for In-situ and Online Monitoring of Preform Layup Process for Liquid Composite Molding, Inventor: C. Zhang, Co-Inventors: Z. Liang, B. Wang, and C. Shih, U.S. Patent No. 6532799, issued 3-18-03.

A Method for Mechanically Chopping Nanotubes and Nanoscale Fibrous Materials, Inventor: R. Liang, Co-Inventor: Z. Wang, B. Wang and C. Zhang, US 2006/0017191A1.

A Method for Fabricating Nanocomposites with Preformed Carbon Nanotube Network and Resin Infusion Techniques,” inventor with B. Wang, Z. Liang, J. Gou, Z. Wang and L. Kramer, US Patent Application Pending, Patent Office ID: 10/726,024, Filing Date: November 30, 2002.

A Method for Continuous Fabrication of Carbon Nanotube Networks for Membrane Materials, inventor with Z. Liang, B. Wang, J. Ugarte, C. Lin and J. Thagard, US Patent Application Pending, Patent Office ID: 60/589,681.

Nano and Micro Electrical Discharge -Machining with Carbon Nanotubes, inventor with Z. Liang, B. Wang, R. Wysk, P. Cohen and H. Miao, US Patent Application Pending, Patent Office ID: 60/737788; Filing Date: November 17, 2005.

A Method to Prepare and Fabricate Backlight Units (BLU) and Illumination Products Using Carbon Nanotube Films, inventor with B. Wang, Z. Liang, H. Miao and Y. Chen, US Patent Application Pending.

( Updated 06/11/2009 )