UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Huanyu (Larry) Cheng, assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics (ESM) and Dorothy Quiggle Career Development Professor in Engineering at Penn State, was recently named to the 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 in Science list.

Forbes identified the 28-year-old Cheng among young, outstanding scientists from a wide variety of fields, from astronomy to mathematics to neuroscience.

“I am deeply honored by this award, particularly by its past recipients,” said Cheng. “In addition to a recognition for my past achievement, it’s inspiring, as I feel I have a long way to go so I can live up to the standard set by previous recipients.”

Cheng’s research focuses on mechanics design and manufacturing of biologically-inspired electronics with applications in robotics, biomedicine and energy. Recent research efforts by Cheng and his team center on developing a durable and robust wearable technology platform that could be used for sensing and monitoring various physical signals (e.g., temperature, deformation, hydration, UV exposure, bio-potential such as EEG/ECG/EMG) or even chemical signals that include metabolites (e.g., glucose and lactate) and electrolytes (e.g., sodium and potassium ions). Measurements taken by these devices could prove useful for diagnosing diseases and treatments.

An additional project of Cheng’s, which he began as a Research Fellow at Northwestern University and a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and is continuing at Penn State, is the development of wearable electronic tattoos that can eventually dissolve in the human body and are capable of detecting heart rate and temperature.

Cheng joined the ESM faculty in August 2015 and was a finalist for Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in Manufacturing/Industry in 2016. He has co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, was the recipient of the 2012 International Institute for Nanotechnology Outstanding Researcher Award and was selected for membership in the Global Young Academy in 2016.

While overseeing student researchers on his team from 11 different departments in three Penn State colleges, Cheng also leads a multidisciplinary team of researchers from Penn State and UIUC to develop hands-on teaching modules on wearable electronics for undergraduate STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) classes.

Now it its sixth year, the Forbes 30 Under 30 list offers the opportunity to honor 30 innovators and game-changers in 20 categories all under 30 years old. This year’s competition had more than 15,000 applicants for 600 total spots, resulting in a less than 4 percent acceptance rate.