Bioengineering
Jun Chen
Associate Professor
- 4121H Engineering V
- jun.chen@ucla.edu
- (310) 794-5550
- Fax: (310) 794-5956
Faculty Information
Research and Interests
- Magnetoelasticity
- Soft matter
- Bioelectronics
- Wearable electronics
- Smart textiles
- Body area networks
- Personalized healthcare
- Energy and sustainability
Notable Publications and Books
[Google Scholar] and [Web of Science]
In the News
- UCLA Researchers Develop Smart Stent to Track Blood Flow in Real Time | UCLA, 04/2026
- A New Meaning of ‘Liquid Capital’| UCLA Magazine, 02/2026
- Blink Twice If You’re Tired | Yale scientific, 12/2025
- The Top 25 Bruinventions of the 21st Century (So Far) | UCLA Magazine, 11/2025
- AI Pen Analyzes Handwriting to Spot Parkinson’s with 96% Accuracy | Parkinson’s News Today, 07/2025
- A Pen With Magnetic Ink Could Test for Parkinson’s Disease | IEEE Spectrum, 06/2025
- Magnetic 3D-printed Pen Could Help Diagnose People with Parkinson’s | The Guardian, 06/2025
- Bioengineer Jun Chen awarded top honor for early-career scientist in materials research | UCLA, 04/2025
- Terasaki Institute Announces 2025 Paul and Hisako Terasaki Award Recipients | Terasaki Institute News,02/2025
- UCLA Engineers Discover Permanent Fluidic Magnets for Liquid Bioelectronics | UCLA, 01/2025
- 5 UCLA Engineers Named to 2024 List of World’s Most Influential Researchers | UCLA, 11/2024
- AAASE Honors Steven Chu, Gang Chen, Jun Chen, and Haotian Wang with Prestigious Awards | AAASE, 10/2024
- Novel liquid acoustic sensor mimics whale melon to recognize voices in noisy environments | Tech Xplore, 10/ 2024
- LogOn: Device may help disabled vocal cords speak again | Voice of America, 7/2024
- Injectable and retrievable soft electronics | Nature Materials, 5/2024
- Injectable liquid bioelectronics | Nature Reviews Bioengineering, 5/2024
- A magnetic liquid makes for an injectable sensor in living tissue | Nature, 5/2024
- Wearable Patch Offers Voice to the Voiceless | ASME, 4/2024
- The Happy Pod: The Centenarian Stargazer | BBC Global News Podcast, 4/2024
- Elastic Patch Tech Helps Vocally Impaired Speak | IEEE Spectrum, 3/2024
- AI-Assisted Throat Patch Can Help People with Voice Disorders Speak, Researchers Say | FirstAlert4, 3/2024
- New Wearable Neck Patch Invention Allows People to Speak with no Vocal Cords | The Jerusalem Post, 3/2024
- New Self-Powered Throat Patch Could Help People Speak without Vocal Cords | Stat News, 3/2024
- A Flexible Patch Could Help People with Voice Disorders Talk | The Economist, 3/2024
- New Self-Powered Throat Patch Could Help People Speak without Vocal Cords | Stat News, 3/2024
- New Self-Powered Throat Patch Could Help People Speak without Vocal Cords | Live Science, 3/2024
- Speaking Without Vocal Cords, Thanks to a New AI-assisted Wearable Device | UCLA News, 03/2024
- UCLA Bioengineers Develop Artificial Skin to Outfit Underwater Robots with a Sense of Touch | UCLA News, 02/2024
- UCLA Bioengineering Student Receives 2024 AHA Predoctoral Fellowship | UCLA News, 01/2024
- Robot with sense of touch grabs ocean trash without harming sea life | NewScientist, 01/2024
- Engineering professors honored by Office of Naval Research | UCLA News, 12/2023
- 8 UCLA Engineers Among World’s Most Influential Researchers | UCLA Engineering News, 11/2023
- Engineering Student and Faculty Recognized for Innovation and Mentorship| UCLA Engineering News, 10/2023
- Looking Backward, Moving Forward: Four Invited Works Celebrating Four Years of Matter | Matter, 07/ 2023
- Patch uses nanomagnets to detect muscle movement through the skin | Phys.org, 07/ 2023
- This patch uses nanomagnets to detect muscle movement through the skin | Science Daily, 07/ 2023
- Challenges in Making Smart Clothing Accessible for Healthcare | Fiber Journal, 02/2023
- Jun Chen receives young investigator grant for sleep disturbance research | UCLA News,12/2022
- UCLA Engineer Receives Young Investigator Grant for Smart Textile Research on Sleep Disturbance| UCLA News, 12/2022
- Prof. Jun Chen Received the 2022 iCANX Young Scientist Award | UCLA Engineering News,12/2022
- Nearly 40 UCLA scholars are among the most highly cited researchers in their fields| UCLA News,11/2022
- A Self-Powered HMI That’s Also Waterproof | IEEE Spectrum, 08/2022
- Encrypted Human-Machine Interface Technology Reveals User Physiology | Communications of the ACM, 08/2022
- Human-machine Interfaces Work Underwater, Generate Their Own Power | Innovations Report, 08/2022
- Two UCLA Samueli School of Engineering Assistant Professors Receive Young Investigator Awards |UCLA News, 06/2022
- Smart Textiles for Wearable Healthcare and Sustainability Explained |UCLA News, 03/2022
- UCLA Bioengineers Develop New Class of Human-Powered Bioelectronics | Magnetics Magazine, 02/2022
- Materials Today Rising Star Award 2021| UCLA BioEngineering News, 01/2022
- 43 UCLA scholars among most highly cited researchers for 2021| UCLA News, 11/2021
- Magnetoelastic material sustainably powers health monitors using body movement | Physics World, 10/2021
- Developing Human-Powered Bioelectronics | AZO Materials, 10/2021
- Bioengineers develop a new class of human-powered bioelectronics| Electronic Products & Technology, 10/2021
- Bioelectronic patch harnesses magnetoelastic effect | Eureka! Magazine, 10/2021
- Bioengineers Develop New Class of Giant Magnetoelastic Effect Human-Powered Bioelectronics | SciTech Daily, 09/2021
- UCLA Bioengineers Develop New Class of Human-Powered Bioelectronics | Semiconductor Digest, 09/2021
- Bioengineers develop a new class of human-powered bioelectronics | Science Daily, 09/2021
- UCLA Bioengineers Develop New Class of Human-Powered Bioelectronics|UCLA News, 09/2021
- Three Assistant Professors Named 2021-22 UCLA Hellman Fellows | UCLA News, 08/2021
- Catch up with wearables expert Jun Chen | UCLA TDG Innovation Magazine, 07/2021
- Breakthroughs and Discoveries by UCLA Chancellor Gene Block | UCLA News, 03/2021
- Science stories of 2020 you won't want to miss! | Ontario Science Centre, 03/2021
- Nine UCLA Engineering Faculty Named Among World’s Most Influential Researchers| UCLA News, 11/2020
- 2019 Highly Cited Researchers Announced| UCLA News, 11/2019
- Bioengineering Student Receives National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship | UCLA News, 08/2020
- Amazing new glove can translate sign language into spoken words in real time | Yahoo, 08/2020
- Glove developed by UCLA researchers translates American Sign Language to speech | Daily Bruin, 08/2020
- These gloves let your ‘hear’ sign language | Fast Company, 07/2020
- High-tech glove to translate sign language into speech in real time | HappyMag.tv, 09/2020
- UCLA Scientist Develops Gloves That Translate Sign Language | NPR, 07/2020
- Wearable-tech glove translates sign language into speech in real time | UCLA News, 06/2020
- This new high-tech glove translates sign language into speech in real time | CNN, 06/2020
- Wearable-tech glove translates sign language into speech in real time | Tech Xplore, 06/2020
- New gloves can translate sign language | Fox News, 07/2020
- Sign language helps the hearing impaired communicate | KNX1070 News Radio, 06/2020
- New glove can translate sign language instantly through an app, researchers say | The Sacramento Bee, 07/2020
- Wearable-tech glove translates sign language into speech in real time | Science Daily, 06/2020
- UCLA Engineers Develop Fabric that Harvests AND Stores Energy | UCLA News, 03/2020
- Thermogalvanic hydrogel cools down electronic devices | Physics World, 06/2020
- A new way to cool down electronic devices, recover waste heat | Science Daily, 04/2020
- A new way to cool down electronic devices, recover waste heat | AAAS and EurekAlert!, 04/2020
Education
- Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University
Awards and Recognition
- 2026
- Fellow of American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE)
- Cover Story Feature, "UCLA's Innovation Engine," UCLA Magazine (Summer Issue)
- Profiled in "A New Meaning of ‘Liquid Capital’," UCLA Magazine (Winter Issue)
- UCLA Top 25 Inventions of the 21st Century, UCLA Magazine (Fall Issue)
- 2025
- ACS Nano Lectureship Award
- MRS Outstanding Early-Career Investigator Award
- Hisako Terasaki Young Innovator Award
- BMES CMBE Rising Star Award
- FlexMat Excellent Paper Award
- FlexMat Outstanding Editorial Board Member
- Springer Nature Editorial Contribution Award
- NIH UCLA CTSI Core Voucher Award
- Best Materials Science Scientists (Ranked 216 in USA and 613 Globally)
- MRS Early Career Distinguished Presenter
- 2024
- Asian American Academy of Science and Engineering (AAASE) Rising Star Award
- Med-X Young Investigator Award
- Stephanie L Kwolek Prize (Royal Society of Chemistry Materials Chemistry Horizon Prize)
- UCLA Innovation Fellows
- Med-X Most Cited Paper Award
- Inaugural WACBE-BMES Young Investigator Award
- ASME Rising Star of Mechanical Engineering
- NIH UCLA CTSI Core Voucher Award
- BME Rising Stars (The 18th International Conference on Biomedical Engineering)
- Highly Cited Researchers in the Web of Science (1 out of 5 UCLA Engineering Faculty)
- The World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University (Ranked 4730 Globally across 22 Fields)
- 2023
- V. M. Watanabe Excellence in Research Award (1 Faculty Each Year in UCLA Samueli School of Engineering)
- UCLA Faculty Mentor Award (1 out of the 16 Selected UCLA Faculty; The 2 in UCLA Engineering)
- Georgia Tech Alumni 40 Under 40
- Shu Chien Early Career Award (1 Pre-Tenure Faculty Per Year Across 10 UC Campuses)
- Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award
- NIH UCLA CTSI KL2 Translational Science Award
- NIH UCLA CTSI Core Voucher Award
- American Heart Association Transformational Project Award
- American Heart Association Innovative Project Award
- American Heart Association's Second Century Early Faculty Independence Award
- Advanced Healthcare Materials Rising Star
- Chinese Association for Biomaterials Young Investigator Award
- Biosensors Best Paper Award
- Advanced Materials Technologies Rising Star
- Nano Research Young Innovator Award
- Highly Cited Researchers in the Web of Science (1 out of 8 UCLA Engineering Faculty)
- The World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University (Ranked 7006 Globally across 22 Fields)
- 2022
- ACS PMSE Young Investigator Award
- iCANX Young Scientist Award
- Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Young Investigator Award
- Microsystems & Nanoengineering Young Scientist Award
- Fellow of the International Association of Advanced Materials
- Featured Three Times in the Promotional Video "UCLA Samueli 75 Years in the Making"
- Distinguished Keynote Speakers of the 3rd KAIST Emerging Materials e-Symposium
- Selected Participant of US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, National Academy of Engineering
- Highly Cited Researchers in the Web of Science (1 out of 39 UCLA Faculty Members)
- The World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University (Ranked 9234 Globally across 22 Fields)
- 2021
- Materials Today Rising Star Award
- Advanced Materials Rising Star
- UCLA Society of Hellman Fellows Award
- Breakthroughs and Discoveries by UCLA Chancellor Gene Block
- Thought Leaders by AZo Materials
- Rising Leaders: Recognizing Talent Across The Life Sciences by In Vivo
- Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators Award
- Chemical Communications Emerging Investigators Award
- ACS Applied Energy Materials Early Career Investigators Award
- Innovating Health Outstanding Young Speaker, NUS
- Vebleo Fellow
- IAAM Scientist Medal
- Interstellar Initiative by the New York Academy of Sciences
- Ranked the 2nd Most Influential Researcher Globally in Nanogenerator Field
- Highly Cited Researchers in the Web of Science (1 out of 43 UCLA Faculty Members)
- The World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University (Ranked 14638 Globally across 22 Fields)
- 2020
- Okawa Foundation Research Award (7 in the U.S.)
- ACS Nano Rising Stars Lectureship Award
- Chemical Society Review Emerging Investigators Award
- Nanoscale Emerging Investigators Award
- Frontiers in Chemistry, Rising Stars
- Top 10 Science Stories of 2020 by Ontario Science Centre
- Altmetric Top 100 (out of 3.4 million works in 2020)
- Microsystems & Nanoengineering Outstanding Speakers Award
- Highly Cited Researchers in the Web of Science (1 out of 9 UCLA Engineering Faculty Members)
- The World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University (Ranked 20514 Globally across 22 Fields)
- 2019
- Highly Cited Researchers in Web of Science(1 out of 12 UCLA Engineering Faculty)