Portrait of Yian ChenYian Chen

Assistant Professor

Contact information

1048 Seaton Hall
785-532-2919
yian@k-state.edu

Education

  • Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, 2022
  • B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, 2017

Professional experience

Yian Chen earned both her bachelor's and doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where her research focused on the synthesis and nanostructuring of high-performance membrane materials for water desalination and purification. In addition to her work in material science, she gained hands-on experience in deploying membrane technologies in real-world applications, including process scale-up for commercial membrane fabrication and treatment of wellhead water and emerging contaminants to provide safe drinking water for remote and underserved communities.

After completing her doctorate, she joined the Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) as a postdoctoral researcher. There, she developed and scaled up in situ downstream bioseparation processes to support the cost-effective production of sustainable aviation fuels. She also contributed to multiple DOE-funded collaborative projects focused on biomass conversion, waste-to-energy systems, resource recovery, waste valorization and process decarbonization.

Chen later served as an assistant professor of bioprocessing at the Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) before joining Kansas State University in 2025 as an assistant professor in the Carl and Melinda Helwig Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering.

Research

Chen’s current research is centered on advancing economically viable and environmentally sustainable biomanufacturing processes to support the transition toward a circular bioeconomy. She leads an interdisciplinary research group that focuses on developing innovative solutions at the interface of bioprocessing, separation science and systems engineering. Her team’s ongoing efforts include:

  • Simultaneous fermentation and downstream separation: Designing integrated processes that combine microbial production and product recovery to improve efficiency, reduce costs and minimize energy input.
  • Downstream process integration, simulation,and intensification: Developing and modeling streamlined downstream operations to enable scalable, high-throughput recovery of bioproducts, with an emphasis on modularity and adaptability for various feedstocks and end-products.
  • Smart manufacturing: Applying automation, process analytics and digital tools to enable real-time monitoring, control and optimization of biomanufacturing systems.
  • Advanced separation material synthesis: Creating novel materials such as solvent-resistant membranes and functional biomaterials tailored for selective and robust performance in complex bioprocess streams.
  • Fundamental separation mechanistic modeling: Investigating and modeling mass transfer and separation mechanisms at multiple scales to inform rational design and optimization of separation technologies.

Through these research directions, Chen aims to bridge fundamental science and industrial application, with the broader goal of accelerating the commercialization of sustainable bio-based products and energy solutions.

Research keywords

Bioseparations, downstream bioprocessing, green chemistry, biomanufacturing, material science, surface science, renewable resources and enabling, sustainable engineering

Academic highlights

Chen has led or co-led numerous research projects in areas such as biomass pretreatment, chemical and biological conversion, microbial upgrading, plastic upcycling and sustainable biomanufacturing. She has been an active contributor to both national and international collaborations, advancing interdisciplinary solutions to challenges in renewable energy and resource recovery. Her research findings have been widely published in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals, including Green Chemistry, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, Journal of Membrane Science, Separation and Purification Technology, and Desalination. Chen’s work has been supported by major federal funding agencies, including the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Her academic excellence, research contributions and leadership have been recognized through multiple prestigious awards, including First Place in the National Academic Achievement Award from the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the NREL Director’s Award, the NREL Key Contributor Award and Employee of the Month honors.