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Prof. Charlie C.L. Wang of the Mechanical and Automation Engineering Department at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) recently received the 2009 Young Engineer Award, Computer and Information in Engineering Division, from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). This annual award recognizes a promising young investigator, under the age of 35, who is making outstanding contributions to progress in the application of computers in engineering. The award is presented to not more than one scholar all over the world each year.

‘ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference 1999 was the first international academic conference I attended when I was a graduate student. Ten years later I was elected the recipient of its Young Engineer Award. It’s not easy for an investigator outside the US to get this award since the majority of the ASME community is from US universities or research institutes.’

Professor Wang’s main research interest is geometric modelling methods for three dimensional complex objects, with applications in computer-aided design and manufacturing, biomedical engineering and computer graphics. He has invented a fabricated wetsuit by applying the technique of transforming 3D body data into 2D pieces to optimize customization of clothes and greatly shorten the production time. His project won the Best Lifestyle Bronze Award (Work Life and Professional Services) from the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2008.

To further improve fabrication of the wetsuit, his research group is now focusing on two major research areas, namely the fast solid modelling for complex objects, which was awarded the Best Idea Award (2nd Place) in the 2009 International CAD Conference and Exhibition, and the geometric/physical modelling of developable freeform surfaces.