Yi Chen

Sr Manager, Advanced Manufacturing @ Meta Platforms Ltd

About

Experienced engineering manager with over 10 years at Apple, leading teams in developing advanced materials and scalable manufacturing processes for flagship consumer electronics. Spearheaded the successful development and qualification of multiple key materials and technologies for functional and cosmetic applications. Committed to cross-functional collaboration, project management, and team leadership, with a focus on enabling scalable, cost-effective, and innovative solutions. Dedicated to influencing product architecture and design decisions while driving strategic development in materials and process optimization.

Country

City

United States

Industry

Consumer Electronics

Skill

Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Project Management, Team Leadership, Technical Leadership, Collaborative Leadership, Cross-team Collaboration, Resource Management, Resource Allocation, Performance Appraisal, Risk Management, Continuous Improvement, Engineering Management, Management Professional, Engineering Leadership, Chemical Vapor Deposition, Physical Vapor Deposition, Thin film deposition, Sputtering, CVD, PVD

Experience

Sr Manager, Advanced Manufacturing

Meta Platforms Ltd

2026-2 - Present · 8 mos

• Spearheaded advanced manufacturing development for metals, brittles, and plastics at scale. • Developed innovative coatings and surface finishes to enhance product durability and performance. • Collaborated with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless execution of manufacturing processes.

Engineering Manager

Apple

2015-9 - 2026-2 · 10 yrs 6 mos

Cupertino, CA

Engineering Manager, Manufacturing Design, Apple Inc, Cupertino, CA 09/2015 - now -Lead an engineering team developing advanced materials and manufacturing processes -Spearheaded the development and qualification of multiple key materials and processes for both functional and cosmetic applications, enabling new features for multiple Apple flagship products -Directed end-to-end product development for multiple product generations, successfully scaling 50+ process technologies from concept through high-volume production -Influence product architecture and design decisions by evaluating manufacturing feasibility, enabling scalable and cost-effective solutions from early stages with cross-functional engineering teams -Collaborate cross-functionally with product design, reliability, supply chain, and operations teams to deliver seamless product execution, reducing NPI and production issues -Applied DFM principles to optimize manufacturing processes, improving yield for extremely high-volume production -Partnered with contract manufacturers to develop and qualify state-of-the-art production processes and components meeting Apple’s stringent performance, cost, and reliability benchmarks -Deliver innovative solutions in materials, processes and mechanical structures across multiple product lines (iPhone, Watch, iPad, Mac etc)

Sr. Staff Engineer/Principal Engineer

2010-4 - 2015-9 · 5 yrs 6 mos

San Jose, CA

Drive process development for HDD media from concept to high-volume manufacturing.

Process Engineer III

Applied Materials

2008-4 - 2010-4 · 2 yrs 1 mo

Santa Clara, CA

Lead wafer fab process R&D and optimization for 32nm and beyond nodes. Responsible for research and development of next-generation barrier, spacer and hard-mask thin films using plasma-enhanced and thermal CVD for FEOL and BEOL applications.

Research Assistant

Stony Brook University

2002 - 2008 · 6 yrs

Conducted R&D of thin film, coating and bulk material deposition/growth and characterizations. Carried out vacuum and deposition system set-up, trouble-shooting and maintenance. Responsible for process optimization and improvement.