Speakers

Dr. Dong Yang Wu
Vice President, Boeing Research & Technology, China

Dr. Dong Yang Wu is a Technical Fellow (TF) of The Boeing Company in the area of chemistry, materials and processes since 2010. She is currently the Vice President of Boeing Research & Technology-China responsible for development and implementation of Boeing R&D strategies and portfolio in China since 2012. Prior to this appointment, she was the Manager of the Melbourne Technology Centre and the Chief Scientist of Boeing Research and Technology-Australia from 2008 to 2012. Prior to joining the Boeing Company, Dong Yang has spent 17 years working at Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) of Australia as a leading scientist and Leader of the Sustainable Polymeric Materials Organization at CSIRO involving in research and commercialization of new technologies in Australia and globally.

Dong Yang was part of the team which received a Boeing Special Invention Award in 2010 and a CSIRO Medal in 2011 for successful development and commercialization of a surface reactivation technology for Boeing. She has also obtained other awards such as 1998 Australia Technology Award (The Judging Panel Highly Commends) for the development and successful commercialization of a novel surface treatment for the automotive and building industries, and CSIRO Divisional Award for “Service from Science” in 2003, and a “Leadership” Award in 2004 etc.

Dong Yang obtained a Ph.D degree and a Master degree in Physical Chemistry from University of Haute Alsace (France) in 1991 and 1988 respectively, and a Bachelor degree in Chemistry from Sun Yat-Sen University (China) in 1986.  She is also an Adjunct Professor at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia.

Dr. Charlie Gu
Sales Director, Northeast Asia, Boeing Commercial Airplanes

Dr. Gu has been working at Boeing for about 20 years. As a Sales Director, Dr. Gu and his sales team are responsible of selling airplanes to several Chinese airlines. As a Boeing Executive Focal, Dr. Gu is managing Boeing’s overall cooperation and partnership with the assigned airline customers.

Prior to this assignment, Dr. Gu worked as a sales program manager in airplane sales for two years. He also worked as a business development manager responsible of Boeing Air Traffic Management’s China market development. Dr. Gu worked as a principal engineer and lead in airport and airspace simulation modeling and system analysis in Boeing Commercial Airplane’s Airplane Systems Division in his early years with Boeing.

Dr. Gu had taught three years as an assistant professor at Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics from 1988 to 1990.

Dr. Gu is graduated with a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, a M.S. in Industrial System Engineering, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Dr. Gregory Washington
Dean, The Henry Samueli School of Engineering, UC Irvine

Dean Gregory N. Washington, Ph.D., joined The Henry Samueli School of Engineering in August 2011. Prior to his arrival at UC Irvine, he served as the interim dean for the College of Engineering at The Ohio State University, where he provided visionary leadership, oversight and management for one of the nation’s largest and highest ranked engineering programs.He joined the faculty at OSU in 1995, became the associate dean for research in 2005 and then was appointed interim dean in 2008. As a professor of mechanical engineering, his research is in the design and control of smart material systems, the design and control of hybrid electric vehicles and the design of smart electromagnetic systems.

He has conducted research for a host of organizations including the National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA, General Motors Company, the Air Force Research Laboratory and the U.S. Army Research Office; and has served as a member of the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, NSF Engineering Advisory Committee, Institute for Defense Analyses and numerous other boards.  His core area of interest lies in the area of dynamic systems, with an emphasis on modeling and control of smart material systems and devices. He has been involved in the design and control of mechanically actuated antennas, advanced automotive systems incorporating smart materials, hybrid electric vehicles, and structural position and vibration control with smart materials.

Washington accumulated a long list of research and teaching awards from OSU, including the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching, the Harrison Faculty Award for Excellence in Engineering Education and the Lumley Research Award. He also is the recipient of the NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award. Washington holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University.

Dr. Pradeep Raj
Professor, Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, Virginia Tech

Dr. Pradeep Raj, a Professor in the Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, is engaged in applied aerodynamics research to develop more effective multidisciplinary analysis, design and optimization environments for future aircraft designs. In addition, he is responsible for teaching senior capstone aircraft design courses.

Dr. Raj joined Virginia Tech in 2012 after a 32-year career with Lockheed Martin (LM), starting in 1979 as a Senior Aerodynamics Engineer at the Lockheed-California Company and retiring in 2011 as a Program Management Director from LM’s Advanced Development Programs, commonly known as the Skunk Works® and widely recognized for creating breakthrough technologies and landmark aircraft. From 1979 through 1999, he was instrumental in enhancing the effectiveness of applied computational aerodynamic tools and processes for aircraft design.

Prior to joining LM, he spent one year (1978-79) as an Assistant Professor at the University of Missouri-Rolla, and two years (1976-78) as a Research Assistant Professor at the Iowa State University. Dr. Raj earned a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from Georgia Tech in 1976, and master’s in aeronautical engineering in 1972 and bachelor’s in electrical technology in 1970, from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.

Dr. Raj is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Mr. James Webb
IT International Director, North Asia Boeing Information and Analytics

James Webb is the IT International Director for North Asia. James is also a board member on the Virginia Tech College of Engineering International Programs Advisory Board. Based in Tokyo, he has responsibility for leading the regional IT operations team and partnering with other IT functional teams to ensure the provision of cost effective, secure, scalable and supportable products and services to business partners in the region. He is also responsible for partnering with regional Boeing business units to develop IT-driven revenue generating opportunities and to identify new capabilities in the region.

With nearly 30 years of experience as a professional, James brings a breadth of experience in systems engineering, business development and marketing. He has spent the last 18 years in Japan and is fluent in the Japanese language. Immediately prior to joining Boeing, James spent over nine years with Sony Corporation and was responsible for global marketing of network-based video surveillance systems. Prior to his role at Sony, James was the VP of Business Development for an IT firm based in Tokyo. He began his professional career in 1988 at the Naval Air Systems Command in Washington, D.C. as a systems engineering manager.

James earned both a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in systems engineering from Virginia Tech. He has also taken a number of higher-education courses at the Defense Systems Management College and at the University of Michigan.

Mr. Peng Wang
Vice Director, Airworthiness Certification Technology Research and Management Center, Civil Aviation University of China

Peng Wang is the vice director of Airworthiness Certification Technology Research and Management Center at the Civil Aviation University of China. Based on the guidance by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China and Civil Aviation Administration, the center is founded in the Civil Aviation University of China. He graduated from ENSICA. He is mainly engaged in system safety design of civil aircraft and assessment as well as design and verification of avionic electronic equipment and software and hardware.

In addition, Peng Wang is also a commissioner of C919 aircraft type certification board. At the same time, he serves as a commissioner of C919 system safety assessment committee. Prior to his current position, he worked as a commissioner of airworthiness standard of small airplanes in legislative committee. In the past few years, he has presided over several major special projects on giant planes, civil aviation science and technology. He worked as a major member to participated in over 10 national projects and provincial research projects.

Dr. Lily Wu
Director of Academic Innovation Programs, Office of the Dean, Henry Samueli School of Engineering, UCI

Lily Wu is the Director of Academic Innovation, Programs in the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at University of California, Irvine.  Dr. Wu is responsible for implementing, overseeing and assessing the first-year engineering program and international programs to enhance and support the undergraduate engineering education at the Henry Samueli School of Engineering.

Dr. Wu received her Ph.D. degree in Material Science and Engineering from the University of California, Irvine  with primary research focuses on the design, development and integration of microfluidic systems for biomedical applications.  Prior to her current position, Dr. Wu worked as a research associate at the Integrated Nanosystems Research Facility where she co-developed student research training programs and mentored undergraduate and high school students in highly multidisciplinary engineering projects.