PhD's name was called Chen Chen. It sounded like a gender-neutral name. People who have never seen her might assume her as male from the name alone.
There was no helping it. Professor Chen's work would always be laden with heavy sci-fi elements. It often left readers baffled but impressed. Of course, such faux-science would never fool the real experts. However, there was more than enough clueless outsiders to go around the world. Some diehard fans would treat the fabricated faux-technology in Professor Chen's work like the real thing…
Admittedly, Professor Chen's writing style took itself way too seriously. Who knows, she might be firmly convinced that her very own dark technology was the real thing as she got absorbed in writing. Having lost herself in those thoughts, she would introduce the technology in a dissertation paper. Readers would no doubt be impressed at the level of detail, even if they knew better than to believe it.
Tonicquill: Hua Chenyu is amazing. Try Youtubing for "Hua Chenyu - Wukong."