William P. King
William P. King, Ph.D. is an American academic, entrepreneur, and inventor. He is Professor and Ralph A. Andersen Endowed Chair at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, in the Departments of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Bioengineering. He has worked in advanced manufacturing, heat transfer, micro and nano technologies, and materials science.
Dr. King was co-founder and Chief Scientist at Fast Radius, a company recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Lighthouse Factory, one of the world’s best digital factories. Fast Radius was the first company in North America to receive this distinction. The Fast Radius technology scaled to more than 20,000 users. Fast Radius is now a division of Sybridge Technologies, the largest manufacturer of polymer components in North America.
Dr. King was also founder and Chief Technology Officer at the manufacturing institute MxD where he led a $100M portfolio of projects focused on digital manufacturing. MxD has worked with 600 companies, and its work has impacted more than 250,000 workers in the manufacturing industry.
As a Board member at EDM Intelligent Systems (EDMIS), he helped the company to develop metrology automation that is used by the aerospace industry. More than 4,000 jet engines (2,000 airplanes) flying today were manufactured using the EDMIS technology.
As co-founder at Hoowaki LLC, he developed micro-manufacturing technology that is used in athletic equipment, surgical materials, and other applications. The technology was used in the manufacturing of shoes worn by multiple teams in the 2026 World Cup. This same technology is being used for materials used in colon and esophageal surgery, with successful procedures on hundreds of patients.
Dr. King’s work on heat transfer is used for applications in the semiconductor and computer industries. Working with Anasys Instruments (acquired by Bruker) Dr. King developed technology for thermal measurements and materials characterization. This technology is used by hundreds of companies and research groups for microscopy, material property characterization, and thermal metrology.
Dr. King received the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. Dr. King’s awards include the PECASE award from the White House, the ASME Gustus-Larson Award for accomplishment in Mechanical Engineering, and the ASME Ennor Award for accomplishment in manufacturing. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Physical Society (APS), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), SME International (formerly Society of Manufacturing Engineers), and the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
Email:
wpk@illinois.edu
Research Engineers
 | Miles Bimrose Miles Bimrose received his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2026. His dissertation work focused on computer vision and deep learning for metrology, manufacturing science, and additive manufacturing. He is currently working on deep learning and agentic AI for manufacturing and metrology. Email: |
Postdoctoral Scholars
 | Hossein Kabir Hossein Kabir received his B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Sharif University of Technology in 2016, his M.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Toronto in 2019, and his Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois in 2025. His doctoral research focused on applying artificial intelligence and computer vision to automate and improve the durability assessment of cementitious materials. Hossein joined Professor King’s group in the Summer of 2025, where his work lies at the intersection of advanced manufacturing and computer vision, with a focus on high-precision inspection and automation. Email: |
 | Asif Rashid Asif Rashid received his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2025. His doctoral research focused on improving the microstructure and mechanical performance of components produced by metal additive manufacturing, while developing efficient Physics-Informed Machine Learning models for process optimization. Asif joined Professor King’s group in the Summer of 2025, where his research lies at the intersection of advanced manufacturing, 3D machine learning, and computer vision. His work aims to advance process understanding, quality control, and part traceability in additive manufacturing, while continuing to explore process–structure–property relationships in large-scale metal additive manufacturing. Email: |
PhD Students
 | Hyeongkeun Kim Hyeongkeun Kim received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering and a dual major in Bio and Brain Engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in February 2020. His undergraduate studies focused on lab-on-a-chip technology and robotic systems. He joined Professor King’s group in the Fall of 2020, where his project focuses on digital manufacturing of soft materials. Email: |
 | Christopher Conway Christopher Conway received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University in May 2022. His undergraduate research focused on the nonlinear dynamics of bolted joints. He joined Professor King’s group in the Fall of 2022. His current work focuses on applying machine learning methods to smart manufacturing. Email: |
 | Ilan Pinkus Ilan Pinkus received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institue in May 2023. His current work focuses on topology optimization for thermal management applications. Email: |
 | Woo Young Park Woo Young received his B.S. in Mechanical Science and Engineering from UIUC in 2019. Prior to joining the King's group, he worked on several projects in the semiconductor package industry with Samsung Electronics for 3 years. Woo Young is working on electronics cooling research, with a focus on interconnects and data centers. He is co-advised by Professor Nenad Miljkovic of Mechanical Science and Engineering. Email: |
 | Omar Zaki Omar received his BSc with High Honors from Cairo University in 2019 while being the valedictorian of his class. He also received his MSc from Cairo University in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on heat transfer and air conditioning. His research focuses on additively manufactured heat exchangers and heat exchanger design automation. Email: |
 | Wonjun Jung Wonjun Jung received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Seoul National Universtiy in 2024. He is working on a two-phase heat transfer analysis and its application to the heat exchanger. Email: |
 | Yuanning Liu Yuanning Liu received her B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology in December 2023. Her research focuses on manufacturing science, machine learning, and computer vision for cancer tumor model growth. Email: |
 | Bertug Celebi Bertug Celebi received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering as a salutatorian in 2022 and his MS in 2024 from the Middle East Technical University (METU). His master’s research focused on hybridizing concentrated solar thermal, geothermal, and biomass. His research focuses on electronics cooling using phase change materials and heat exchangers. Email: |
 | Tillman Dillon Tillman Dillon received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University in May 2024. His research focuses on manufacturing automation for seeding and tissue dissociation for cancer tumor model growth. Email: |
 | Kunhak Lee Kunhak Lee received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Seoul National Universtiy in 2024. His research focuses on additive manufacturing, energy absorbing structures, and computer vision. Email: |
 | Weixuan Zheng Weixuan Zheng received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois in May 2024. His research focuses on manufacturing science and computer vision. Email: |
 | Alireza Bakhshi Alireza received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering in 2021 at the Sharif University of Technology in Iran. His current research focuses on developing a Universal Flow Boiling Rig to advance 3D reconstruction techniques utilizing computer vision and machine learning. He is co-advised by Professor Nenad Miljkovic. Email: |
 | Austin Martin Austin received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Mechatronics from the University of Washington in June 2025. His undergraduate research was focused on self-driving labs and sustainable material optimization. He joined the King group in September 2025 where his research focus is on manufacturing automation and quality control. His interests are in manufacturing, controls, machine learning and computer vision. Email: |
 | Charlie Whealton Charlie received his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Data Science from the University of Delaware in May 2025. His current work focuses on the application of machine learning to additive manufacturing for process-product optimization. Email: |
 | Zachary Alsup Zachary received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Dallas in May 2026. His undergraduate research was focused on additive manufacturing of ceramic materials. He joined the King group in Fall 2026 where his research focuses on computer vision and quality control in inkjet manufacturing. Email: |
 | Ava Yarandi Ava Yarandi received her B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran. She started her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in January 2024. Her research focuses on architected and lattice structures, with an emphasis on energy absorption, computational mechanics, and finite element modeling. Email: |
 | Ryan Turnbull Ryan received his B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri in May 2026. His work focuses on manufacturing automation and robotic systems to support cancer tumor model growth. Email: |
 | Lixing Jiang Lixing Jiang received his Bachelor of Arts from Churchill College, University of Cambridge in July 2025. He joined the King group in Fall 2026 where his work focuses on metrology of additively manufactured parts. Email: |
 | Adrian Jackson Adrian received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University in May 2026. His undergraduate research focused on in-situ defect correction of 3D printing systems. His current research focuses on computer vision and 3D reconstruction. Email: |
 | Jouan Yu Jouan received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in May 2025 and his M.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in October 2026 from Rutgers University–New Brunswick. He is a recipient of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and the MechSE Distinguished Fellowship. He joined the King Group in Fall 2026, where his research focuses on additive manufacturing, metrology, and automation. Email: |
Masters Students
Alumni
Ph.D. Alumni
Bikram Bhatia received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 2014. His dissertation was “Nanometer-Thick Oxide Films for Pyroelectric Energy Conversion.” He is currently on the faculty at the University of Louisville.
Andrew Cannon received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 2009. His dissertation was “Investigating Wetting Characteristics on Microstructured Surfaces for Superhydrophobicity and Metal Microcasting.” He is currently with 1900 Engineering, a company that he founded.
Joseph L. Charest received the Ph.D. degree from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2007. His dissertation was “Topographic and Chemical Patterning of Cell-Surface Interfaces to Influence Cellular Functions.” He is currently with Biogen.
Sihan Chen received the PhD Degree from the University of Illinois in 2019. His dissertation was, “Tip-Based Nanolithography and Application to Molybdenum Disulfide Devices.” He is currently on faculty at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Elise Corbin received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 2013. Her dissertation was “Detection of Mass, Growth Rate, and Stiffness of Single Breast Cancer Cells using Micromechanical Sensors.” She is currently on the faculty at the University of Delaware.
Jonathan Felts received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 2013. His dissertation was “Tip-Based Nanomanufacturing and Metrology of Heterogeneous Nanostructures.” He is currently on the faculty at Texas A&M University.
Patrick Fletcher received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 2011. His dissertation was “Electro-Thermal Nanoprobes for Nanometrology and Nanofabrication.” He is currently with Seagate.
Kyle Grosse received the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois in 2014. His dissertation was, “Nanometer-Scale Temperature Measurements of Phase Charge Memory and Carbon Nanomaterials.” He is currently with the Raytheon Company.
Siva Gurrum received the Ph.D. degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2005. His dissertation was “Compact Models for Interconnect-level Thermal Management.” He is currently with Texas Instruments.
Huan Hu received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois in 2014. His dissertation was, “Tip-based Nanofabrication for Nanoelectromechanical Systems.” He is currently on faculty at Zhejiang University.
Hoe Joon Kim received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 2015. His dissertation was “Advanced Materials Integration and Thermal Operation of Heated Microcantilevers and Microcantilever Arrays.” He is currently on the faculty in the Department of Robotics Engineering at Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST).
Soonwook Kim received the Ph.D. degree from University of Illinois in 2024. His dissertation was “Transient Thermal Phenomena in Phase Change Materials Integrated Electronics Cooling.” He is currently on the faculty at Kyung Hee University.
Beomjin Kwon received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 2013. His dissertation was “Development of Microcantilever Mid-Infrared Detectors and Sources and their Application in Infrared Spectroscopy.” He is currently on the faculty at Arizona State University.
Jungchul Lee received the Ph.D. degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2007. His dissertation was “Fabrication, Characterization, and Application of Multifunctional Microcantilever Heaters.” He is currently on the faculty at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
Nicholas Maniscalco received the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois in 2014. His dissertation was “Design and Performance Characterization of High Power Density Air-Cooled Compact Condenser Heat Exchangers.” He is currently with the Raytheon Company.
Davis McGregor received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 2022. His dissertation was “Metrology Automation and Geometric Analysis for Additive Manufacturing.” He is currently on the faculty at the University of Maryland.
Hyunkyu Moon received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 2020. His dissertation was “Design and Performance Characterization of Novel Heat Exchanger Geometries Enabled by Additive Manufacturing.” He is currently with the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials.
Brent A. Nelson received the Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2007. His dissertation was “Nanoscale Thermal Processing using a Heated Atomic Force Microscope Cantilever Tip.” He is currently on the faculty of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Northern Arizona University.
Sezer Ozerinc received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 2015. His dissertation was “Microscale Mechanical Characterization in Extreme Environments.” He is currently on the faculty at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs.
Keunhan Park received the Ph.D. degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2007. His dissertation was “Thermal Characterization of Heated Microcantilevers and a Study on Near Field Thermal Radiation.” He is currently on the faculty in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah
James Pikul received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 2015. His dissertation was “Design and Fabrication of Higher Power Microbatteries and High Specific Strength Cellular Solids from Bicontinuous Microporous Hierarchical Materials.“ He is currently on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin.
Natalya Privorotskaya received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 2009. Her dissertation was “Microcantilever Sensors for Biochemical Detection and Analysis.” She is currently with Intel.
Matt Rosenberger received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 2016. His dissertation was “Probing local thermal, mechanical, and optical properties utilizing dynamic cantilever response in contact mode atomic force microscopy.” He is currently on the faculty at Notre Dame.
Harry Rowland received the Ph.D. degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2007. His dissertation was “Thermomechanical Manufacturing of Polymer Microstructures and Nanostructures.” He was the founder and CEO at Endotrinix Inc., a biomedical device company that was acquired by Edwards Lifesciences.
Suhas Somnath received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 2014. His dissertation was “Fundamentals of Heat Transfer and Thermal-Mechanical Control for Improved Atomic Force Microscopy.” He is currently at Nvidia.
Patricia Weisensee received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 2016. Her dissertation was “Droplet interactions with micro-and nanostructured surfaces for advanced heat transfer applications.” She is currently on the faculty in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Washington University in St. Louis.
Tianyu Yang received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 2021. Her dissertation was “Controlling Heat Transfer in Electronic Packaging using Thermal Switches and High Power Thermal Buffers.” She is currently on the faculty at Arizona State University.
Samuel Tsai received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 2025. His dissertation was “Twisted and Coiled Polymer Actuator (TCPA) for Soft Robotic Applications.” He is currently with Lam Research.
Robert Stavins received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 2026. His dissertation was “Fundamentals of Dynamic Phase Change Materials on Extended Surfaces.” He is currently with BioForge.
M.S. Alumni
Kelly Chicas received her M.S. in in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois in 2026. She is currently with Fermilab.
Animesh Singh received the M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois in 2025. His thesis was “Two-Dimensional Computer Aided Design Drawings Interpretation.” He is currently with Amazon Robotics.
Mehmet Aydin received the MS Degree from the University of Illinois in 2020. His thesis was, “Microfluidic Diagnostics from Continuous Liquid Interface Production Additive Manufacturing.”
Mete Bakir received the M.S. degree from the University of Illinois in 2014.
Jangho Choi received the M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois in 2014. His thesis was “Pyroelectric Emission from PZT Emitter Coupled with a Silicon Heater.”
Marcus T. Eliason received the M.S. degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2007. His M.S. thesis was “Combined Micro and Nano Patterning for Cell Substrates.”
Andrew T. Gardner received the M.S. degree from the University of Illinois in 2008.
Fabian T. Goericke received the M.S. degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2008. His thesis was “Design and Fabrication of Piezoresistive Cantilevers”
Tanya L. (Wright) Haberman received the M.S. degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2005. Her thesis was “Fabrication and Testing of Heated Atomic Force Microscope Cantilevers.” She is currently with Southwest Research Institute.
Patrick Harrell received the M.S. degree from the University of Illinois in 2009. His thesis was “Design and Optimization of Moldable Microstructures for Structural Color Generation.”
Matthew Kasper received the M.S. degree from the University of Illinois in 2010. His thesis was “Nanothermal Analysis with Heated Microcantilevers.”
Youngjoon Koh received the M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois in 2014. His thesis was “Modeling of Joule Heating and Thermoelectric Transport in Thin Film Silicon for SJEM Measurement.”
Joseph Liu received the M.S. degree from the University of Illinois in 2013. This thesis was “Heated Atomic Force Microscope Cantilever with High Resistivity and Improved Temperature Sensitivity for Nanotopography Sensing.” He is currently with Texas Instruments.
Ryan McLaren received the M.S. degree from the University of Illinois in 2009. His thesis was “Thermal Conductivity Anisotropy in Molybdenum Disulfide Thin Films.” He is currently with Globe Motors.
Ashwin Ramesh received the M.S. degree from the University of Illinois in 2012. His MS thesis was “Friction Characteristics of Microtextured Surfaces under Hydrodynamic Lubrication.” He is currently with Lam Research.
Jessica Remmert received the M.S. degree from the University of Illinois in 2007. Her M.S. thesis was “Nano Thermal and Contact Potential Analysis with a Heated Atomic Force Microscope Tip.”
Shubham Saxena received the M.S. degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2006. His thesis was “Nanolithography on Thin Films using a Heated Atomic Force Microscope Cantilever Tip.”
Katarina Struckmann received the M.S. degree from the University of Illinois in 2016. Her MS thesis was “The influence of internet-enabled devices on manufacturing: collaboration and cybersecurity.”
Eduardo Torrealba received the M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois in 2013. His thesis was “Droplet Repellency of Microfabricated Surfaces in Saturated Environments.”
Postdoctoral Alumni
Hanna Cho received the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois in 2012. During the period 2012-2013 she was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois. She is currently on the faculty at Ohio State University.
Zhenting Dai received the Ph.D. degree in Physics from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2006. During the period 2007-2010 he was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois. He is currently with Intel.
Kyoung Joon Kim received the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland College Park in 2006. During the period 2006-2007 he was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois.
Byeonghee Lee received the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Seoul National University in 2010. During the period 2011-2012 he was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois.
Myunghoon Seong received his Ph.D degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2009. He worked on parallel topography imaging with large heated cantilever arrays as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois.
Fuzheng Yang received the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Connecticut in 2002. During the period 2005-2007, he was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois. He is currently with Caterpillar.
Yan Wu received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois. During the period 2007-2009, she was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois. She is currently on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.