Chee Kai Chua's Biography

Chee Kai Chua, Executive Director, Nanyang Technological University

Professor Chua Chee Kai is the Chair of School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Nanyang Technological University. He received both his BEng (1st Class Honours) and MSc from National University of Singapore in 1985 and 1989 respectively, and his PhD degree from Nanyang Technological University in 1996. Over the last 25 years, Prof Chua has established a strong research group at NTU pioneering and leading in computer aided tissue engineering scaffold fabrication using various additive manufacturing techniques. He is internationally recognized for his significant contributions in the bio-material analysis and rapid prototyping process modeling control for tissue engineering. His work has since extended further into additive manufacturing of metals and ceramics for defence applications.

Prof Chua has published extensively with over 200 international journal and conference papers attracting over 3700 citations and a Hirsch index of 30 in Web of Science. His book, into the 3rd edition, entitled “Rapid Prototyping: Principles and Applications”, is widely used in American, European and Asian universities and is acknowledged by international academics as one of the best textbooks in the field. He is the World No. 1 Author for the area in ‘Rapid Prototyping’ or ‘3D Printing’ in Web of Science and is the most ‘Highly Cited Scientist’ in the world for that topic. His leadership and forefront research innovations in the area have placed NTU as the global leader in Additive Manufacturing. Prof Chua has often been invited to give keynote papers at overseas and local conferences. He is the Co-Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Virtual & Physical Prototyping and serves as editorial board member of 3 other international journals. As a dedicated educator who is passionate in training the next generation, Prof Chua is widely consulted on additive manufacturing since 1990 and has conducted numerous professional development courses for mechanical engineers in Singapore and the region. He had also served as the Director of the Singapore Institute of Industrial Engineers from 1990 to 1994 and later became its President from 1994 to1996.

Besides his scholastic achievements and contributions to the engineering profession, Prof Chua has made substantial contributions to the university during his term as Head, Division of Systems and Engineering Management from 1 April 1999 to Mar 2008, and currently as the Chair of School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering since 1 May 2011. Within two years under his leadership, the School of MAE has amassed more than 90 Million Euro research grants, an unprecedented quantum which has seen exponential growth in securing competitive grants, as well as over 6 Million Euro of Endowment and Term Grants. He is also instrumental in spearheading the set up of 3 pan-university institutes: the Institute for Sports Research, the Maritime Institute@NTU and the Air Traffic Management Research Institute. Through his strategic alliances formed with the funding agencies, the Centre for Optical and Laser Engineering funded by EDB and 3 joint laboratories with Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech) have also been established. Under his leadership, he has just established the 20 Million Euro, NTU Additive Manufacturing Centre funded by Singapore Economic Development Board.