Smart and Additive Manufacturing

The Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at UVA is leading efforts to improve how things are made by integrating intelligent systems, robotics, materials science, and human-centered design through interdisciplinary research of Smart and Additive Manufacturing. Their work spans cyber-physical systems for real-time production control, machine learning-driven optimization of manufacturing processes, and the development of bioinspired and nanomaterial-enabled devices. Research efforts also include innovations in wearable electronics, soft-hard material integration, and autonomous robotic systems for complex environments. This collective expertise supports transformative applications in sustainable manufacturing, healthcare, and next-generation industrial automation. 

Core Faculty

Qing (Cindy) Chang

Professor
Qing Chang’s current research interests include math-based and data-enabled modeling and analysis of dynamic manufacturing systems, improving manufacturing efficiency and sustainability through adaptive control and machine learning-based methods, and driving innovation in human-robot collaborations…
Google Scholar ResearchGate Intelligent Systems Lab
Email qc9nq@virginia.edu

Tomonari Furukawa

Professor and Zinn Faculty Scholar Director of VICTOR Lab
Professor Furukawa received his B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from Waseda University, Japan, in 1990, and a M.Eng. (Research) in Mechatronic Engineering from University of Sydney, Australia, in 1993 and a Ph.D in Quantum Engineering and Systems Science from University of Tokyo, Japan, in 1996. He…
Google Scholar
Email tf4rp@virginia.edu

Gavin Garner

Associate Professor

Gavin Garner joined the University of Virginia faculty in 2009. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics from Colby College and Master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Virginia in both Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. 
Google Scholar Mechatronics Lab
Email gtg7g@Virginia.EDU
Phone (434) 924-7366

Xiaodong (Chris) Li

Rolls-Royce Commonwealth Professor ASME Fellow, SEM Fellow
Dr. Li’s expertise and interests include (but not limited to) additive manufacturing, smart manufacturing, nanomaterial-enabled energy systems, biological and bio-inspired materials and devices, biomechanics, micro/nanomechanics, surface engineering, and tribology. His stature in the field of his…
Google Scholar
Email XL3P@virginia.edu

Ye (Sarah) Sun

Associate Professor

Sun joined UVA as an associate professor in 2021. Prior to her position at UVA, Sun was an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Michigan Technological University.
WEARLab
Email dzv7sg@virginia.edu
Phone (434) 243-5140

Baoxing Xu

Associate Professor

Dr. Xu joined the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at The University of Virginia in the fall of 2014. He received his PhD in Mechanics and Materials from Columbia University in 2012 and was a Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2012 to 2014.
Google Scholar Xu Research Group
Email bx4c@Virginia.edu

Associated Labs and Groups

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