Advanced Manufacturing Processes Laboratory

Jian Cao

Associate Vice President for Research

Cardiss Collins Professor

Director, Northwestern Initiative for Manufacturing Science and Innovation (NIMSI)

Email: jcao@northwestern.edu
Phone: 847-467-1032

Professor Jian Cao joined Northwestern University shortly after receiving her Ph.D. degree from M.I.T. in 1995. She received her M.S. from M.I.T. and B.S. from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Currently, she is the Cardiss Collins Professor and Director of Northwestern Initiative for Manufacturing Science and Innovation at Northwestern University. During her tenure at Northwestern, she took a one-year leave at General Motors and a two-year leave at the National Science Foundation as a program director of Materials Processing and Manufacturing (MPM) program. She also served as the Director of Graduate Studies of Mechanical Engineering and served as an Associate Vice President for Research at the university from October 2012 to August 2021.

Prof. Cao’s major research interests include innovative manufacturing processes and systems, particularly in the areas of deformation-based processes, laser additive, and laser subtractive processes. Her work has made fundamental contributions to the characterization of material behavior and the relationships between manufacturing processes and resulting material/part performances. Her research has integrated analytical and numerical simulation methods, control and sensors, design methodologies, and machine learning to advance manufacturing processes and systems. Prof. Cao’s research group has designed unique manufacturing equipment for dieless sheet forming, microforming, and additive manufacturing. Current research has direct impacts on energy-efficient manufacturing, surface engineering, and distributed manufacturing. Prof. Cao has published over 400 technical articles, including over 260 journal articles, 10 book chapters, and about 20 patents. She has given over 170 invited talks and published op-ed articles. 

Prof. Cao’s research contributions have been recognized extensively by her peers in the fields of manufacturing, applied mechanics and control. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAA&S), a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP), the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Her major awards include the inaugural ASME DeVor-Kapoor Manufacturing Medal, the ASME Milton Shaw Manufacturing Research Medal; the SME Gold Medal; the DoD Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship; the ASME and Pi Tau Sigma Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award; the SME Frederick W. Taylor Research Medal; the ASME Blackall Machine Tool and Gage Award (twice); the ASME Ted Belytschko Applied Mechanics Award, ASME/AMD Thomas Hughes Young Investigator Award; and the NSF Early CAREER award. Prof. Cao is the former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Materials Processing Technology and was the founding Technical Editor of the ASME Journal of Micro- and Nano-manufacturing. In 2012, she was selected to be the panelist representing the field of manufacturing in the World Technology Evaluation (WTEC) study on Societal Convergence for Human Progress: Beyond Convergence of Nano-Bio-Info-Cognitive Technologies, sponsored by NSF, NIH, NASA, EPA, DoD, and DoA.