Assist. Prof. Dr. Lechen Li | Signal Processing | Best Researcher Award 

Assist. Prof. Dr. Lechen Li, Hohai University, China

Lechen Li is an Assistant Professor at the College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, China. He received his Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from Columbia University in 2023, where his research focused on smart grid development, data-driven system control, and computational structural dynamics. Prior to that, he earned an M.S. in Data Science from Columbia University, supported by the Robert A.W. and Christine S. Carleton Scholarship, and a B.S. in Engineering Mechanics from Sichuan University, where he won the First Prize in the Zhou Peiyuan National Mechanics Modeling Contest. His current research spans infrastructure intelligent monitoring, data-driven seepage analysis, computational dynamics, and renewable energy optimization. Dr. Li has presented award-winning work at major international conferences such as the 8th World Conference on Structural Control and Monitoring and has collaborated on interdisciplinary projects involving smart electricity networks and structural health monitoring.

Professional Profile:

SCOPUS

🏅 Summary of Suitability for Best Researcher Award

Dr. Lechen Li is a highly promising and accomplished early-career researcher whose interdisciplinary work spans Engineering Mechanics, Data Science, and Infrastructure Monitoring. His exceptional academic background, innovative research in intelligent structural control, and impactful contributions to renewable energy systems make him an excellent candidate for the Best Researcher Award.

🎓 Education

• Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics
  Columbia University, USA (09/2019 – 06/2023)
  🔍 Research: Smart Grid, Structural Dynamics, Signal Processing
  📊 GPA: 3.889/4.0

• M.S. in Data Science
  Columbia University, USA (09/2018 – 08/2019)
  💡 Focus: Neural Networks, Dynamical Systems
  📚 Robert A.W. and Christine S. Carleton Scholarship
  📊 GPA: 3.917/4.0

• B.S. in Engineering Mechanics
  Sichuan University, China (09/2014 – 06/2018)
  🧠 Strong foundation in Mechanics & Modelling
  📊 GPA: 3.6/4.0
  🥇 First Prize in Zhou Peiyuan National Mechanics Modeling Contest (2017)
  🏅 First Prize Scholarship (Twice between 2014–2016)

🧑‍🏫 Current Position

• Assistant Professor
  College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, China (06/2023 – Present)
  🌊 Research: Infrastructure Intelligent Monitoring, Seepage Control, Computational Dynamics, Renewable Energy.

🧪 Research & Projects

• Structural Control & Health Monitoring
  Columbia University (2021 – 2023)
  🤖 Developed a Generalized Auto-Encoder (GAE) for damage detection
  🎙️ Presented at 8WCSCM, awarded Best Conference Paper (2022) 🏆

• Smart Grid for Residential Buildings
  Columbia University (2019 – 2020)
  ⚡ Built ConvLSTM neural network for intelligent load control
  📈 Improved forecasting accuracy by 16%

💼 Industry Experience

• Data Research Analyst
  CICT, Colombo, Sri Lanka (12/2017 – 03/2018)
  🚢 Applied ML for port logistics & road paving optimization
  🔁 Designed reinforcement learning system for transportation planning

• CAE Analyst
  National Institute of Water, Energy & Transportation, China (06/2016 – 08/2016)
  🏗️ Simulated pile-soil stress using XFEM
  🔍 Assessed 70% lateral pressure effects on platform-supported pile groups

🏅 Achievements, Awards & Honors

• 🥇 Best Conference Paper Award, 8WCSCM (2022)

• 📚 Robert A.W. and Christine S. Carleton Scholarship (2018)

• 🧠 First Prize, Zhou Peiyuan National Mechanics Modeling Contest (2017)

• 🎖️ Sichuan University First Prize Scholarship (2014–2016, twice)

Publication Top Notes: