Distinguished alumnus Chen leads tech for GE China

6/2/2016

  Dr. Xiangli Chen (MSME ’88, PhDME ’94) arrived at the University of Illinois from China in the mid-1980s to start his graduate program in mechanical engineering.

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Dr. Xiangli Chen (MSME ’88, PhDME ’94) arrived at the University of Illinois from China in the mid-1980s to start his graduate program in mechanical engineering. His first position after completing his PhD was with General Electric (GE), where he is now Vice President and CTO of GE China and President of the GE China Technology Center in Shanghai City, where he has led a cross-business team of about 3,000 in research, new product development, and engineering services since 2007. 
 
His team in China develops technology for industries ranging from health care to wind turbines and other power distribution equipment to jet engines. 
 
Chen is an expert in industrial laser applications, with more than 40 technical publications and seven patents on the subject. 
 
In 2010, he was presented with the Chairman’s Award for Initiative, one of GE’s highest honors. In 2012 he was named one of China’s Top 50 Innovative Entrepreneurs. And in 2015 he was included as one of Fast Company’s “Top 100 Most Creative Business People in China.”
 
In April, Chen came back to campus to be presented with MechSE’s Distinguished Alumni Award for 2016. He spoke about his transition from life in China to life as a student at his beloved Illinois, and how his education and hard work have paid off throughout his career at GE.
 
MechSE: What are some of your memories from your time here? 
Xiangli Chen: “I really loved the campus life. Just driving down Green Street brought back a lot of memories. I love sports. The Flying Illini were huge when I was on campus and it was incredible. I went to a lot of different games for different sports because I love sports. Being at a school that had all the high-level Division I sports made it a lot more interesting on campus, at least for me. 
 
Another memory was having a very interdisciplinary research group on campus. For my advisory group for my PhD thesis, I had my primary advisor from mechanical engineering, and then the other three committee members were all from different departments. One electrical engineering, one physics, and one chemistry. That’s a reflection of the diversity and that I was able to reach out to the whole campus. 
 
The type of work we were doing with my professor was very exciting too. It was a cross-section of many different disciplines—metallurgy, materials, physics, optics. It was the late 1980s, early 90s, and most of the early work we did back then really formed the foundation for what we now call 3D printing. At that time it was called laser assisted material prototyping. We used lasers to build something up from medal powder, while looking at the mechanism with optics and sensors so that we could control the entire process. 
 
There was a lot of interdisciplinary activity going on in the research area and we were encouraged to reach out and take classes in different departments. To be honest, I think I only took mechanical engineering classes to satisfy my qualifying exam. All my other interesting classes I took were in either physics, chemistry, materials or electrical engineering.”
 
Photo courtesy of GE.
Photo courtesy of GE.
It seems like you moved up the ranks at GE pretty quickly. Do you have any advice for our students? 
“I think I had a few good breaks. It was either the right time, the right background or the right preparation. The kind of preparation I had at Illinois really helped me because it was multi-disciplinary and I was able to extend my curiosity and really grow my sensitivity to the different things that could help in my ability to influence people to work together. I think that was a big deal for me. 
 
I benefitted a lot from having a graduate experience in a very diverse campus here where interdisciplinary research is encouraged and where I could get help from experts in different areas. It was the same way when I went to my first job in the Research Center at GE, where I had to reach out to get support from my colleagues and from people in different companies and universities. I think that made me stand out among people with four or five years of experience. 
 
It was Jack Welsh, also an alumnus of Illinois, who was GE’s chairman at the time, who had the foresight to globalize GE’s operations, including research. He was first in Bangalore, India, which at the time was a hotbed for a lot of software development and outsourced research and analytics software. 
 
I was five years into my job at GE and a group of us who have roots in China, who grew up in China, and who had some collaborations with Chinese universities—we thought GE should have an operation in China as well. And at GE, if you have a good idea, if you have data behind it and you can prove that it’s feasible you might get a chance to try it. Eventually we got the go-ahead to open an operation in Shanghai in 2000, and I was appointed as the first director for the research center. 
 
The company took a chance on me because by that time I had very little management experience. I had project management experience but I never managed a big group or anything like that. It was a startup within a company and there was very little risk because we asked for only $200,000 for the first year. 
 
Then, around that time, quite a few things happened. China became a member of the World Trade Organization, and China’s economic growth and openness to the rest of the world was at the early stages and it was growing very fast. There was a big demand for technology support in the region for our business, for our customers, and also for our suppliers. We had a big supply chain there. All the things were working in our favor during that time. I had the advantage of spending a few years in the U.S. and knowing the network and knowing how things work and the culture of the company. And now I’m in the culture I grew up in, globalizing and tapping into the big market in China and building up a good business and a basis to grow for us in China. 
 
We’ve continued the journey from China being a market, to China as a manufacturing base, to China becoming an innovation base for new technology and for new products. Not just China but globally. It has been a great journey and I would not be able to do it without my Illinois experience.”
 
On receiving the MechSE Distinguished Alumni Award:
“When I think about the University of Illinois, this is where I began my career. When I look back at the time that I had here, coming here from China, what made a big difference is the people in this room and the community. The community of professors, faculty, fellow students and the Champaign-Urbana community in general really made me welcome in a new country and a new culture. 
 
I enjoyed immensely the diversity that this town and this university has to offer—both the academic diversity and cultural diversity. This was a beautiful place to learn and experience a different culture.
 
When I talk to students on campus, I always tell them to take full advantage of the diversity they have. This great university offers opportunities where interdisciplinary research is the name of the game and is fully encouraged. If students have the curiosity they will be able to find a way to satisfy that curiosity and do great things with help from the faculty and the university and the community.
 
I thank both the MechSE Department and the University of Illinois community for giving me the right start to my career, and giving me the education as well as the tools, to learn diverse cultures and be effective as a leader in my career. I owe a lot to the university. I will forever be an Illini.”
 
 
 
 

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This story was published June 2, 2016.