Biography
Wai Lee Chan is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Engineering Product Development (EPD) pillar at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). Driven by a passion in aircraft theories in junior college and recognition of his calling in engineering, he enrolled in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan (U-M) in 2008. He received his degrees of BSE, summa cum laude and MSE in 2011 and 2012, respectively, both in aerospace engineering. In 2016, he obtained his PhD in aerospace engineering from U-M for the analyses and development of combustion models, as well as simulations of turbulent reacting flows and high-speed propulsive engines. Subsequently, he had a short stint as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Stanford University, before returning to Singapore to join Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore as an assistant professor in 2017, a position that he held for more than 8 years before moving on to SUTD. His core research interest is in aerospace flow modelling and simulations but, as an advocate of research interdisciplinarity, he has led diverse project topics ranging from energy sciences (energetic material experimentation and modelling, hydrogen safety, thermoacoustics) to bio-medical engineering (computational biofluid dynamics) to machine learning and AI (physics-based artificial intelligence) to pedagogy (engineering communication). More specifically, he has years of experience characterizing and optimizing the performance of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and very low Earth orbit (VLEO) satellite and hence proud to identify himself as a true Aero(+)Space researcher.
Education
- 2016: PhD in Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- 2012: MSE in Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- 2011: BSE, Summa Cum Laude, in Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Research interests
- Aerospace flow modelling and simulations
- Air/Spacecraft aerodynamics design
- Physics-based artificial intelligence
- Combustion modelling
- Computational biofluid dynamics
- Engineering communication
Selected professional activities
- Founding treasurer, Singapore Section of The Combustion Institute, Singapore, 2024 鈥 present
- Scientific advisory board member, NING Research, Singapore, 2024 鈥 present
- Chair, High-Performance Computing User Committee, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 2023 鈥 2025
- Executive director, Dyson鈥揘TU Studio, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 2023 鈥 2025
- Co-chair, Local Organizing Committee for 15th Asia-Pacific Conference on Combustion, Singapore, 2024 鈥 2025
Selected patents
- Conduit, B., Jessica, L.S.E., Arafat, N.A., Kong, W.K.A., and Chan, W.L., 鈥淔luid Flow Simulation,鈥 Application # 2312389.6, Publication # GB 2623618 B, Filed 14 Aug 2023.
- Lim, C.W.J., Chan, W.L., Tran, A.T., and Ho, W.K.D., 鈥淒irected Energy Deposition Apparatus and Method,鈥 Application # PCT/SG2024/050329, Filed 17 May 2024.
Selected key publications
- Lim, W.X., Jessica, L.S.E., Lv, Y., Kong, W.K.A., and Chan, W.L., 鈥淎ccelerating Fluid Simulations with Graph Convolution Network Predicted Flow Fields,鈥 in Aerospace Science and Technology, vol. 164, 110414, Sep 2025.
- Lee, C.P.J. and Chan, W.L., 鈥淐o-teaching in a Singapore Engineering Classroom: Students鈥 Perceptions and Learning Outcome in Speaking and Writing,鈥 in Pedagogies: An International Journal, Apr 2025.
- New, T.H., You, R.G.Y., and Chan, W.L., 鈥淎 Numerical Study on Supersonic Starting Jets Impinging Upon Hemispherical Concavities,鈥 in Physics of Fluids, vol. 37, 036104, Mar 2025.
- Ramesh, S.S., Elhadidi, B., Khoo, B.C., and Chan, W.L., 鈥淎erodynamic Force and Moment Computations for Very Low Earth Orbit Satellites Using a TPMC Model,鈥 in Acta Astronautica, vol. 228, p. 88鈥100, Mar 2025.
- Di Fede, S., Elhadidi, B., Magarotto, M., and Chan, W.L., 鈥淪atellite Surface Charging in LEO with ProPIC,鈥 in Acta Astronautica, vol. 226(1), p. 458鈥468, Jan 2025.
- Jessica, L.S.E., Arafat, N.A., Lim, W.X., Chan, W.L., Kong, W.K.A., 鈥淔inite Volume Features, Global Geometry Representations, and Residual Training for Deep Learning-based CFD Simulation,鈥 Spotlight-Designated Paper in Proceedings of the 41st International Conference on Machine Learning, PMLR 235:21555鈥21576, May 2024.
- Lim, W.X., Chan, W.L., Elhadidi, B., 鈥淎 Domain Decomposition Technique for Acoustic Wave Interactions and Scattering,鈥 in Computers and Mathematics with Applications, vol. 152, p. 129鈥142, Dec 2023.
- Lee, J.M. and Chan, W.L., 鈥淎 Coupled SPH-EBG Numerical Model for Deformations of MCF7 Cancer Cell in a Microchannel Flow,鈥 in International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids, vol. 95, 1821鈥1845, Dec 2023.
- Lim, C.W.J., Zhang, Y., Huang, S., and Chan, W.L., 鈥淎 Dimensionless Analysis to Select Directed Energy Deposition Process Parameters for Proper Clad Formation,鈥 in The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, vol. 125, p. 947鈥963, Dec 2022.
- U S Vevek, B. Elhadidi, and Chan, W.L., 鈥淎 Domain Decomposition Technique for Small Amplitude Wave Interactions with Shock Waves,鈥 in Journal of Computational Physics, vol. 437, 110326, Jul 2021.