Welcome to the Complex Engineering Systems Lab at Stevens!
The research in the Complex Engineering Systems Lab, directed by Prof. Hao Chen, is in the areas of space systems and complex system design. Our research program mainly focuses on high-level space system development to significantly improve space mission affordability, comfortability, and reliability. Three main research thrusts of our lab are,
Thrust I: Space Systems Engineering:
- Key research areas:
- Space logistics
- Space resource utilization
- In-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (ISAM)
- Space commercialization
- Space debris remediation, management, and active removal
- Main application goal:
- make space mission affordable
Thrust II: Quantum Computing for Systems Engineering:
- Key research areas:
- Quantum computing for engineering systems
- Quantum algorithms
- Main application goal:
- make space mission reliable
Thrust III: Humans in Space:
- Key research areas:
- Human factors and behavioral performance in space
- Human-system integration in Isolated, Confined, and Extreme (ICE) environments
- Deep space habitats
- Spacesuit systems
- Main application goal:
- make space mission comfortable
Fully funded Ph.D. student positions for Fall 2025 are available in my lab, with a particular focus on research in quantum computing (for engineering design and optimization) and/or space logistics.
Director: Prof. Hao Chen
- Assistant Professor, Stevens Institute of Technology, Aug. 2021 – Present.
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Georgia Institute of Technology, Jul. 2021 – Aug. 2021.
Education
- Ph.D., Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2021.
- M.S., Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2016.
- B.S., Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Sun Yat-sen University, 2014.
Honors
- 2025 Graduate Student Community Award, Stevens Institute of Technology
- 2024 Excellence in Teaching as an Assistant Professor (SSE), Stevens Institute of Technology
- 2023 NSF Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) Award
- 2023 SSE Dean Research Incentive Award, Stevens Institute of Technology
- 2019 Luigi G. Napolitano Award, International Astronautical Congress
News
October 2025: Our research on exploring team dynamics for long-term space missions (read the paper) is picked for a press release. It has been featured on more than 20 news stories, including EurekAlert, Bioengineer.org, Phys.org, scienmag, etc.
June 2025: Our recent paper addressing lunar post-mission disposal is featured on Stevens news and Universe Today.
May 2025: Prof. Chen received the Graduate Student Community Award from the Graduate Student Council and the Office of Graduate Student Life on behalf of the Graduate class of 2025 at Stevens.
May 2025: Asaad Abdul-Hamid successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation! Congratulations!
May 2025: Evangelia Gkaravela successfully defended her master’s thesis! Congratulations!
December 2024: Our project team was invited to present our latest work on space logistics and space commercialization of orbital debris removal at the 2024 Space Sustainability Workshop at NASA Headquarters.
August 2024: Our recent paper discussing team dynamics in Mars settlement missions is featured on Stevens news.
March 2024: A current NASA project to conduct space logistics analysis and incentive design for the commercialization of orbital debris remediation is featured on Stevens news.
March 2024: Prof. Chen received the Excellence in Teaching as an Assistant Professor award from the School of Systems and Enterprises at Stevens.
July 2023: Prof. Chen received a grant from NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy & Strategy to address space debris. (NASA announcement).
May 2023: Prof. Chen received an Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) award from NSF to create new model representation methods for complex engineering systems (NSF award page).