Rate My Professor Wen Li

Wen Li is an Associate Professor in Manufacturing in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Melbourne, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. He earned his PhD from the University of New South Wales in 2012, a Master's degree (coursework) from the University of New South Wales, and a Bachelor's degree from Tongji University. His research focuses on energy and eco-efficiency of manufacturing processes and systems, life cycle analysis of emerging technologies, industrial IoT for cleaner production and supply chain, material and resource efficiency and criticality, and life cycle engineering. He leads the Sustainable Manufacturing and Life Cycle Engineering research group and serves as Course Coordinator for the Master of Industrial Engineering.

Prior to his current appointment, Wen Li was a postdoctoral fellow in the Sustainable Manufacturing and Life Cycle Engineering research group at the University of New South Wales and contributed to the Joint German-Australian Research Group with Technische Universität Braunschweig in Germany. He has collaborated with industries including Baxter Healthcare, Alcoa, Volkswagen, and Suez on research projects and engaged entrepreneurially with startups such as Rayven, FactoryOne, and iCafe. Wen Li received the Leo Award for the Best Paper at the 21st CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering in 2014 and at the 23rd CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering in 2016. His key publications include 'A physical allocation method for comparative life cycle assessment: A case study of repurposing Australian electric vehicle batteries'; 'The hidden environmental footprint of fashion’s smallest parts' (Sustainable Horizons, 2026); 'Sufficiency-based absolute sustainability position assessment for passenger vehicles' (Cleaner Environmental Systems, 2026); 'Identifying Opportunities to Repurpose Decommissioned Products Using Large Language Models' (Journal of Mechanical Design, 2026); 'Identifying feasible repurposing opportunities in decommissioned complex systems' (Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 2026); 'Comparative life cycle assessment of recycling nickel slag in various production industries' (Cleaner Environmental Systems, 2026); 'Modelling microplastic fibre emissions from synthetic textiles: An Australian case' (Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2026); and 'Understanding the effects of mining and processing parameters on Life Cycle Assessment of Greenbushes Spodumene production' (Sustainable Production and Consumption, 2025). His work advances sustainable manufacturing practices through academic and industry partnerships.