Karen Yan

Karen Yan is Professor and Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The College of New Jersey, where she has held faculty positions since 2006 (progressing from Assistant to Full Professor). Her research specializes in biomaterials, composite materials, 3D bioprinting, and tissue engineering applications.

Education includes:

• Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Drexel University (2003)
• M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Drexel University (2000)
• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China (1993)

Her research focuses on:

• Design and characterization of biomaterials for tissue scaffolds
• 3D bioprinting and hydrogel-based microfluidic device fabrication
• Computational modeling of cell-material interactions and mechanical behavior
• Diffusion kinetics in electrospun fibers for drug delivery

Her publications (2016-2025) demonstrate strong emphasis on:

• Advanced biomaterial processing techniques
• Multiscale computational modeling of biological systems
• Innovations in 3D printing for biomedical applications

Awards and honors:

• Multiple Support of Scholarly Activity (SOSA) Awards
• Mentored Undergraduate Summer Experience (MUSE) grants
• Albert & Harriet Soffa Fellowships
• Michel Herman Memorial Scholarship

Research grants include projects funded by Colgate Palmolive ($50,000) and NSF ($688,132). She mentors undergraduate researchers through MUSE programs and leads research in tissue scaffold design and microfluidic device fabrication.