Advanced Textiles Expo 2026

F. Frank Chen
Lutcher Brown Distinguished Chair in Advanced Manufacturing
The University of Texas at San Antonio Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Industrial Engineering


Dr. F. Frank Chen is Lutcher Brown Distinguished Chair in Advanced Manufacturing at the University of Texas at San Antonio where he founded the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Lean Systems in 2007 and is serving as the center director. Before joining UT-San Antonio, he was with Virginia Tech as John Lawrence Endowed Professor at the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering there he founded the Center for High Performance Manufacturing. He was with Caterpillar Technical Center as Senior Manufacturing Systems Engineer and as Project Manager before returning to academia in 1991. He received the 1996 NSF Presidential Faculty Fellows (PFF, also first PECASE) Award at the White House, with current research interests in applying AI in manufacturing, Industry 4.0/5.0, defense manufacturing, and applications of lean tools and techniques in various manufacturing and service industries. Dr. Chen has served as a principal investigator of over $20 million externally funded research projects and equipment grants.

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