John Ting-Yung Wen ’85, a professor of electrical, computer, and systems engineering at Rensselaer, has been named a fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Wen earned the distinction for his contributions to the control of nonlinear electrical-mechanical systems and robotic manipulation.
When asked about the IEEE’s appreciation of his work, he said, "It was a real honor and I’m in prestigious company. I am at the same time proud and humbled."
He noted however that receiving the fellow grade would not affect the direction in which he was heading in his research efforts.
"This is the best job in the world," said Wen.
As a promoter of the engineering process of developing, creating, integrating, sharing, and applying knowledge about electrical and information technologies and sciences, the IEEE confers the grade of fellow upon individuals in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of electrical and electronics engineering.
Wen’s current research interests include the design of minimally invasive surgical robots, which assist suturing in minimally invasive surgeries; the analysis, synthesis and control of general parallel robotic systems; multiple-robot coordination; mobile robots; and distributed motion control.
To help advance his research in distributed motion control, he developed Java-based software applications, that allow for using the Internet for systems control and coordination across multiple platform connections.
Wen recently integrated the software into his classroom operations in order to both let students control experiments and let him monitor their relative progress remotely via the Web.
Using the software, his research group has collaborated with the University of Albany Medical College on the development of robotic devices called Endobots, which provide assistance to surgeons during endoscopic surgeries.
Wen was one of two professors from the Institute who were recognized this year, the other being Xi-Cheng Zhang.
Wen earned his bachelor’s degree from McGill University in 1979, his master’s degree from the University of Illinois-Champagne in 1981, and his doctorate degree from RPI in 1985, all in electrical engineering.
