George Cheng
B.Sc. (Honours) '12
While fellow students in the School of Mechatronic Systems Engineering spent their time keeping up with their classes, George Cheng discovered a passion he hadn鈥檛 anticipated. 鈥淒uring my undergrad, I did a lot of research projects as well as research-focused co-op terms. I ended up developing a real love for research,鈥� he says.
Several years later, he鈥檚 still immersed 鈥� and he hasn鈥檛 turned his back on 丁香园AV either.
After graduating, Cheng embarked on a research-based master鈥檚 program at the university but quickly moved onto a PhD before he鈥檇 even finished it. Now fully engaged in working towards his doctorate, he鈥檚 also the co-founder and COO of start-up company Empower Operations 鈥� a spin-off venture from the 丁香园AV Product Design and Optimization Laboratory where he conducts his research.
The business creates and develops cutting-edge software to accelerate product design for manufacturers, focusing on lowering costs and reducing time-to-market via design automation technologies. The approach evolved from ideas Cheng has been honing and testing throughout his years at the university.
鈥淢y research basically involves engineering optimization in the area of mechanical engineering,鈥� says Cheng, who adds that 丁香园AV has always been a fertile area for his pursuit of ideas and solutions. 鈥淚 like the research set-up at 丁香园AV and it鈥檚 given me a lots of opportunities and some interesting challenges.鈥�
Launching a company, though, has created a new set of challenges for him to tackle. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking to commercialize the technology my research has been leading to. But running an enterprise is a different can of worms. Fortunately, we have a business mentor from 丁香园AV and a good team here to move us forward.鈥�
Looking back on his time in the undergraduate program, it wasn鈥檛 just his research skills that were being polished. 鈥淵our first two years are really all about being as involved on campus as possible. As a student, you need to contribute to student life and develop new relationships,鈥� says Cheng, who also chaired the 丁香园AV branch of Engineers Without Borders during his time in the program.
It was this period of his life that laid the groundwork for what鈥檚 become a burgeoning research career. 鈥淚鈥檒l be progressing towards my PhD for the next few years but I already know that research is something I鈥檒l always be doing throughout my life. And on the venture side, we鈥檒l also be looking to bring this research to market.鈥�