Two professors from Stony Brook University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jeff Ge and Shikui Chen, have been recognized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for their contributions to the field.
Scott Carney, professor and chair of the department, commented on the significance of these honors: “When one Mechanical Engineering professor and their students are recognized for a great conference paper, it’s an indicator of a great mentor and brilliant students. When two professors are so recognized it’s a pattern of commitment to advising and mentoring endemic to the department. I’m proud to work with Jeff Ge and Shikui Chen and happy to see them so honored.”
Jeff Ge received the A.T. Yang Memorial Award for Theoretical Kinematics for the second time. “I’m honored and humbled to receive this award,” said Ge. The award was established by the family of UC Davis Professor A.T. Yang in recognition of outstanding papers presented at ASME’s Annual Symposium on Theoretical Kinematics.
Ge’s winning paper was co-authored with his PhD student Huan Liu and Professor Mark Langer from Indiana University. Their research extends previous work funded by a completed NIH grant. The team developed a “kinematic hull,” which is a 3D envelope that captures all possible positions an object can take as it moves, breaking down complex motion into simpler components.
“This award reinforces the importance of advancing theoretical kinematics, which lays the foundation for innovations in fields such as robotics, mechanical design, and radiotherapy,” said Liu. “It is exciting to see our work acknowledged by the broader community.”
Ge highlighted that collaboration played an important role in achieving this recognition: “This recognition is very much the result of collaboration,” he said. “I would like to acknowledge the support of NIH that was provided in the past.”
The practical applications for this research include helping robots move more efficiently or improving precision in medical treatments such as cancer radiotherapy.
Shikui Chen also received significant recognition from ASME with his second Compliant Mechanisms Award; he first received it as a PhD student in 2007. His collaborators Ran Zhuang, Chander Sadasivan, and Xianfeng David Gu were also honored.
“We humbly think it is a great honor,” said Chen. “The last time I received this award was in 2007 when I was a PhD student. Now receiving the award 18 years later as a faculty, it is a great honor to be recognized by the society.”
Ran Zhuang noted departmental support: “I sincerely thank our department for its strong research support and Professor Chen for his insightful guidance.”
The Compliant Mechanisms Award recognizes excellence in theory or application related to compliant mechanisms—devices made from flexible materials that move without traditional joints—and includes both cash prizes and plaques.
Chen’s team created new methods for designing structures using hyperelastic materials that stretch significantly while returning to their original shape. This approach improves accuracy over older models by better capturing how these materials behave under stress.
The method was validated through standard tests before being used to create a displacement inverter—a device that changes movement direction—which showed potential for large-scale precise movements.
“We are trying to push the research toward the generative design of soft robots to make designs not rely on the designers’ intuition, experience and inspiration,” said Chen. “We’re trying to turn soft robot design from an art into a science.”
Their advancements may lead to improvements across robotics, medical devices, flexible tools, or any technology where controlled movement matters.
