Dr Guangnan Chen is currently an Associate Professor in agricultural engineering at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. He graduated from the University of Sydney with a PhD degree in 1994. Before joining the University of Southern Queensland in early 2002, he worked for two years as a post-doctoral fellow and more than five years in a private consulting company based in New Zealand.

Dr Chen teaches and researches in the subjects of agricultural machinery, agricultural materials and post-harvest technologies, agricultural soil mechanics, and sustainable agriculture. He has so far published more than 100 papers in various international journals and conferences, including two edited books and 10 invited book chapters. He is currently also the Secretary of Board of Technical Section IV (Energy in Agriculture), CIGR (Commission Internationale du Genie Rural), which is one of the world's top professional bodies in agricultural and biosystems engineering.