Peng Wang

Associate Professor
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

For Peng Wang, the engineering process is a journey of discovery and innovation, beginning with the critical step of identifying a problem. 

The problem he is addressing? Improving operational safety, process stability, efficiency, quality assurance and sustainability in manufacturing. Through creative solutions, Wang turns abstract concepts into practical prototypes, something he finds very rewarding.

“It’s a hands-on process where you can see your ideas come to life, often revealing new insights and opportunities for improvement," the associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering said.

Launched at the University of Kentucky, his Augmented Intelligence for Smart Manufacturing (AISM) lab is dedicated to bringing ideas to life. With a mission to explore state-of-the-art machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, AISM will work to integrate with manufacturing domain knowledge, creating augmented intelligence suitable for manufacturing data analytics, pattern recognition, and decision-making.

The potential solutions to emerge from AISM have many applications—manufacturing machine condition monitoring and predictive maintenance, manufacturing process sensing, quality prediction, defect detection, process-property modeling and optimization, as well robotic automation of complex manufacturing processes and human-robot collaboration.

“Engineering is one of the most impactful fields when it comes to driving societal advancement and improving the quality of people's daily lives,” the associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering said.

Now, Wang will help train the next generation of CWRU engineers with the skills they need to change lives. This semester, he will teach Machine Learning for Manufacturing.

“The initial motivation for developing these courses is considering the next-generation engineers should be prepared with multi-disciplinary knowledge,” he said. “Their job duties require not only the hand-on manufacturing or engineering experience, but also more other knowledge and expertise that a new smart manufacturing paradigm needs.”

A key part of Wang’s classroom experience is student engagement, something he believes directly affects student learning experiences and outcomes. 

“I like interacting with students during and after classes, driving them to more actively think through asking questions, soliciting their feedback to better cater the lectures to their background and learning style, and providing instant help to their needs.”

What are you most looking forward to at Case Western Reserve University?

From the perspective of research, I am excited about the research platform and multi-disciplinary research collaboration available at the Case [Western Reserve] campus. Specifically, I am very thankful to the university, the Case School of Engineering, and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering for allowing me to purchase a hybrid additive manufacturing machine. This machine integrates Direct Energy Deposition-based metal additive manufacturing with subtractive manufacturing and various inline process sensing tools. Upon this machine, we can perform work in both the fundamental research folder, such as developing a correct-by-fabrication manufacturing capability that allows defect-free part fabrication, and in the applied research folder that is urgently needed in national defense and in-space manufacturing.

From the perspective of teaching, I look forward to equipping our engineering students with essential machine learning and data analytics skills, to broaden their job opportunities after graduation and enhance their research capabilities. I'd also like to provide more project and research experiences to our undergraduate students, to let them have more career options to explore.

Do you have any personal goals, hobbies, family, interests that you would like to share?

I like running, swimming, and skiing. One thing that I really look forward to is skiing in Cleveland, as there are a couple of ski resorts in the Cleveland area (I already purchased the Epic seasonal pass) and Cleveland has a longer winter than my previous living state. More interestingly, the number of my hobbies is increasing annually. For example, I started playing piano last year, and plan to learn drawing this year. But the learning curve for me is quite long, so hopefully, I can be persistent in sharpening my skills in these hobbies.

I have a lovely dog, named Mandy, a miniature Schnauzer. She is very smart in understanding our expressions and feelings. She is bilingual, and can understand both English and Chinese basic words. She brings a lot of joy to my family, and I feel lucky to have her, except for some moments when I came home from work and found that she did some bad things on carpets or rugs, lol.

What’s one piece of advice you have for students? Or what’s a great piece of advice you’ve received?

One thing that I repeatedly tell my students in my research group is that they should happily study and work on research projects, by working on something that best matches their background and interests and valuing the work-life balance. I ask them to communicate with me efficiently if they feel unhappy and frustrated so that we can work the issues out as a team. 

I would give similar advice to our other undergraduate and graduate students. Life is short, so we'd better try our best to find the joys in the classroom and get a job that really matches our interests or aligns with our life journey goals. It's inevitable to encounter difficulties and challenges here and there throughout our lives, but we should make sure at least most parts of our life journey are enjoyable. Just be positive!