Julie Chen

Julie Chen serves as both Chancellor and Professor in the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department within the Francis College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She maintains an active academic role while providing university-wide leadership as the institution's fourth chancellor, and previously held faculty positions at Boston University.

Her educational foundation was built at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology:

• B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• M.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Professor Chen's research program centers on composite materials and nanomanufacturing, with particular emphasis on:

• Deformation mechanics of fibrous and textile structures
• Affordable composites manufacturing processes
• Novel textile architectures for enhanced performance
• Impact and crashworthiness analysis
• Nano-composite development

Her experimental and analytical work investigates how fiber architecture and manufacturing defects affect forming, stamping, energy absorption, fatigue resistance, and failure mechanisms in composite materials. As Chancellor, she bridges academic leadership with ongoing engineering research contributions, maintaining her status as a regional expert in nanotechnology applications for material science.