Research Network and among the top 2.5% of scientists as per ResearchGate. He is credited with (i) the disintegrated melt deposition technique and (ii) the hybrid microwave sintering technique, an energy-efficient, solid-state processing method to synthesize alloys/micro/nanocomposites. He has published over 525 peer-reviewed journal papers and owns two US patents and one trade secret.His current h-index is 61, RG index is >47, and citations are greater than 14,000.Featured Application: This paper proposes a hybrid manufacturing process combining wire arc additive manufacturing with milling, which provides a cost-effective and efficient way to fabricate stiffened panels that have wide applications in aviation, aerospace, and automotive industries, etc.Abstract: This paper proposes a hybrid WAAM (wire arc additive manufacturing) and milling process (HWMP), and highlights its application in the fabrication of stiffened panels that have wide applications in aviation, aerospace, and automotive industries, etc. due to their light weight and strong load-bearing capability. In contrast to existing joining or machining methods, HWMP only deposits stiffeners layer-by-layer onto an existing thin plate, followed by minor milling of the irregular surfaces, which provides the possibility to significantly improve material utilization and efficiency without any loss of surface quality. In this paper, the key performances of HWMP in terms of surface quality, material utilization and efficiency are evaluated systematically, which are the results of the comprehensive effects of the deposition parameters (e.g., travel speed, wire-feed rate) and the milling parameters (e.g., spindle speed, tool-feed rate). In order to maximize its performances, the optimization is also performed to find the best combination of the deposition and the milling parameters. The case study shows that HWMP with the optimal process parameters improves the material utilization by 57% and the efficiency by 32% compared against the traditional machining method. Thus, HWMP is believed to be a more environmental friendly and sustainable method for the fabrication of stiffened panels or other similar structures.Featured Application: This research helps improve the capability of wire and arc-based additive manufacturing in fabricating thin-walled structures in terms of geometric accuracy, productivity, and microstructure.Abstract: Wire and arc-based additive manufacturing (WAAM) is a rapidly developing technology which employs a welding arc to melt metal wire for additive manufacturing purposes. During WAAM of thin-walled structures, as the wall height increases, the heat dissipation to the substrate is slowed down gradually and so is the solidification of the molten pool, leading to variation of the bead geometry. Though gradually reducing the heat input via adjusting the process parameters can alleviate this issue, as suggested by previous studies, it relies on experience to a large extent and inevitably sacrifices the deposition rate because the wire feed rate ...