Chen Cui

About

Chen Cui received his Ph.D. in Astronautical Engineering from the University of Southern California in 2023, where he also completed his Master’s degree in High-Performance Computing. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Beihang University in 2017. Before joining the University of Virginia as an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Dr. Cui was an assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Mississippi State University. Dr. Cui’s research lies at the intersection of plasma physics, space engineering, and high-performance computing. His work focuses on the high-fidelity, fully kinetic modeling of plasma dynamics in spacecraft electric propulsion thrusters, solar wind, and other applications related to low-temperature plasmas. Dr. Cui is the primary developer of Vlasolver, a large-scale, parallelized framework for fully kinetic plasma modeling.

Education

Ph.D., Astronautical Engineering, University of Southern California, 2023

M.S., High-performance Computing, University of Southern Califorina, 2021

B.E., Aerospace Engineering, Beihang University, 2017