Ying-Chen “Daphne” Chen

Ying-Chen “Daphne” Chen, a new assistant professor of electrical engineering in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, came to the school because of the opportunities for collaboration the Phoenix area provides for her research in microelectronics.

Chen’s microelectronics expertise has resulted in grants from NASA during her time as a researcher. For her current project with NASA, she is investigating the possibilities of manufacturing electronic devices in space.

Her research is also sponsored by the semiconductor industry to collaborate on next-generation microelectronics and workforce development.

“I am excited to collaborate on semiconductor and multidisciplinary projects and engage with students interested in semiconductor device physics, fabrication and nanotechnology,” Chen says.

She joins the ASU faculty from Northern Arizona University, where she worked as an assistant professor of electrical engineering. Before working at NAU, Chen held roles in the electronics industry as an emerging memory engineer at Micron Technology and a hardware developer at IBM.

Chen’s fascination with electronics began as a child, when she grew curious about the equipment in her father’s computer room. This interest inspired her to study materials science and engineering for her bachelor’s degree and electrical and computer engineering for her master’s degree, both of which she received from Taiwan’s National Chiao Tung University.

In her new role at ASU, Chen hopes to inspire others to research semiconductor technology.

“As a female faculty member, I expect to encourage young women, underrepresented groups and kids in general to work in semiconductor research by increasing the field’s accessibility,” she says.

Chen will teach EEE 202 Circuits I for undergraduate students and courses in semiconductor device physics for graduate students.

She has received numerous awards and honors during her academic career, including an invitation to the Rising Stars in EECS 2017 workshop at Stanford University for women in electrical engineering and computer science. Only 60 people were invited to participate from around the country. She also received a Sandia National Laboratories Research Award in 2019.

When not working, Chen enjoys hiking, camping, creating ceramic art and gardening with family.

Meet the newest faculty members of the Fulton Schools of Engineering here.

Written by TJ Triolo