Professor Shih’s current research and teaching focus is in biomedical design and manufacturing and the application of advanced design and manufacturing technology to advance medical devices, healthcare operations, and patient safety. He works closely with collaborators in the Medical School and is a founding member of the Medical Innovation Center of joint research on aging-society-related assistive device design and manufacturing, 3D printing / additive manufacturing in orthosis and prosthesis, clinical simulators, ultrasound and bioimpedance for non-invasive diagnosis, bio-heat transfer in clinical procedures, and advanced needle and needle devices. He continues to conduct research in machining of advanced materials.

Professor Shih is an ASME and SME Fellow and the recipient of 1999 ASME BOSS Award, 2000 NSFCAREER Award, 2004 SAE Ralph Teetor Education Award, and a 2009 Fulbright Scholar. He is the associate editor of the SME Journal of Manufacturing Processes and was the associate editor of ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering and served as the guest editor for the special issue of Biomedical Manufacturing. He also served on the Board of Directors and Scientific Committee of NAMRI/SME and the review committee of the International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture. He has five US patents and over 230 publications, including over 130 journal papers.