Wei Xie
Assistant Professor
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Northeastern University

I am an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, a core faculty member in the Institute for Experiential Artificial Intelligence (IEAI), and an affiliated faculty member in the Biopharmaceutical Analysis Training Lab (BATL) at Northeastern University. My research interests focus on interpretable Artificial Intelligence (AI), optimal learning, computer simulation, data analytics, design of experiments, data-driven stochastic optimization, process analytical technology (PAT), systems and synthetic biology, and cyber-physical system (CPS) risk management with applications, including biopharmaceuticals and bio-drugs (i.e., monoclonal antibodies, cell/gene therapies, vaccines, and RNAs) manufacturing and supply chains, healthcare systems, and smart power grids with renewable energy. I serve as Associate Editor for "ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation" and "INFORMS Journal on Computing". I am also the Northeastern representative Technical Activity Committee (TAC) for "National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL)."

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    Recent News:

    • I am looking for Ph.D. students with strong math and statistics background. If you are interested in it, please contact me at w.xie@northeastern.edu.
    • I was interviewed by the news magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology, on challenges and opportunities of developing and using AI in bioprocessing; see the article entitled "Tackling AI Bottlenecks in Bioprocessing".
    • My proposal, entitled "Biomanufacturing Modeling and Machine Learning (ML) Ontology Platform" is selected to be funded by NIST. PI, $244,235. In this project, we focus on creating an innovative ontology platform on biomanufacturing process modeling, data analytics, and machine learning approaches that have been created by my research team to facilitate interoperable AI manufacturing systems integration and standardization development. Click here to see the article.
    • My Ph.D. student, Hua Zheng, successfully passed his dissertation defense in April 2024. Hua's thesis focuses on "Sample-Efficient Reinforcement Learning and Its Applications." Congratulation!
    • I was recently interviewed for a magazine article, see Northeastern Global News.
    • Dr. Xie received $800k funding on a project on intelligent Digital Twin and process analytical technology (PAT) for mRNA vaccine manufacturing - Phase I: "Development of an In-Silico Hybrid (mechanistic and empirical) Digital Twin for In Vitro Transcription Processes Used for Therapeutic mRNA Production," supported by industrial partner. PI (100%)
    • I received 2023 Constantinos Mavroidis Outstanding Translational Research Faculty Award from Northeastern University College of Engineering
    • My Ph.D. student, Hua Zheng, received: (1) the 2023 Yamamura Research Award; and (2) the 2020 John and Katharine Cipolla Ph.D. Merit Award
    • My proposal, entitled ˇ°NIIMBL PC6.1G-310: Advanced FISH Assay and Mechanism Hybrid Surrogate to Improve mRNA Vaccine Potency Assessment and Predictionˇ± has been selected for funding by the NIIMBL. Principal Investigator (PI), $851k. Click here for more details.
    • My proposal, entitled ˇ°NIIMBL PC5.2T: Advanced Bioprocess Sensor and Analytical Technologies for Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPSC) Culture Online Monitoring and Automation" (teaming with multiple academic and industry partners) is selected to be awarded. This project is supported by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (70NANB21H086) and Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC). Principal investigator (PI), $2M. Start from January 2023. Click here for more details.
    • My proposal, entitled ˇ°NIIMBL 4.1W: Modularized PAT Online Training Platform to Accelerate the Workforce Innovation in Biopharmaceuticals Manufacturing" (teaming with Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and industry partners, including Merck, Genentech, Janssen, and Sartorius) is selected to be awarded. Principal investigator, $2,124k. Start from September 2021. This project is selected as the representative workforce innovation project in the NIIMBL community (including more than 170 academic, industry, and government organizations). Click here for more details.
    • My Ph.D. student, Bo Wang, successfully passed his dissertation defense December 2020. Bo's thesis focues on "Simulation and Artificial Intelligent Methodologies for End-to-End Bio-Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Supply Chain Risk Management." Congratulations!
    • My Ph.D. student, Hua Zheng, received the 2020 John and Katharine Cipolla Ph.D. Merit Award. This award is to recognize the research excellence among Northeastern University Mechanical and Industrial Engineering graduate students. Congratulations! December 2020.
    • My Ph.D. student, Bo Wang, received a data scientist job offer from Microsoft (2019). Congratulations!
    • Successfully host the NIIMBL "Process Intensification" workshop at Northeastern University (Boston) in April 2019 (with Jared Auclair).
    • I was selected as Technical Activity Committee (TAC) for the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL). The TAC focus on ensuring that relevant and high-quality projects are being pursued to achieve NIIMBL objectives: Accelerate biopharmaceutical manufacturing innovation, support the development of standards that enable more efficient and rapid manufacturing capabilities, and educate and train a world-leading biopharmaceutical manufacturing workforce.
    • My students, Yuan Yi and Pu Zhang, received their Ph.D. degree from Industrial and Systems Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and graduated in August 2018. Dr. Yuan Yi's thesis focues on "Data-Driven Stochastic Optimization for Cyber-Physical System Reliability Management: Smart Power Grids with Renewable Energy." Dr. Pu Zhang's thesis focues on "Data Analytics and Simulation Methodologies for Adaptive Supply Chain Risk Management in Bio-Pharmaceutical Manufacturing."
    • My Ph.D. student, Bo Wang, received the 2017 INFORMS Best Student Paper Finalist Award from Quality, Statistics and Reliability (QSR) Section. This award is to recognize the research excellent among INFORMS student memebers.
    • My Ph.D. student, Pu Zhang, received a job offer from Goldman Sachs. Congratulations!
    • My Ph.D. student, Yuan Yi, is a single winner of 2017 RPI Industrial and System Engineering (ISE) research award. This award is to recognize the research excellent among RPI ISE graduate students.