Award Opportunity

Dr. Yun Hang Hu is the University Professor and the Charles and Carroll McArthur Endowed Chair Professor at Michigan Technological University. He is an international leader in research of advanced materials and processes. He has made groundbreaking contributions to advanced catalysts, novel materials and innovative processes for clean energy and renewable energy. He is also a leading scientist in physical chemistry, pioneering research into the defect structures of carbon nanomaterials and discovering new chemical reactions of alkali metals. He has published more than 320 papers in high-impact journals and delivered over 200 invited talks, including 60 plenary/keynote talks to national and international conferences. Prof. Hu received 15 national and international awards and honors, including the election to the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the fellows of 6 major societies (AAAS, ACS, APS, AIChE, ASM, and RSC), the Rudolph A. Erren Award from the International Association for Hydrogen Energy, the Outstanding Science & Innovation Award from Chinese Association for Science and Technology in USA, and the Distinguished Service Award from ACS Energy and Fuels Division. He has served as chair of the ACS Energy and Fuels division and is currently the editor-in-chief of Energy Science & Engineering, a Wiley journal. Additionally, he is a member of the editorial advisory board for eight other journals published by Nature Group, ACS, RSC, Wiley, Elsevier, and Springer.

Dr. Xiaozhou (John) Zhang is a distinguished scientist and leader in the field of applied microbiology and biotechnology. As the president of the East Chapter of the Chinese American Chemical Society (E-CACS) and Director of Communication of National CACS, he has made significant contributions to the organization's growth and development, including building a new website, designing event flyers and a new logo, and organizing the first Strategic Planning Workshop and Youth Science Fair. Dr. Zhang earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Microbiology and Environmental Engineering from Nanjing Agricultural University and has since held various research and leadership positions, including roles at Georgia State University, Virginia Tech, Gate Fuels Inc., and Locus Solutions LLC. At Locus Solutions, he led a team in establishing a microbial-enhanced oil recovery platform with successful commercial applications. Currently, he serves as a Senior Technical Staff member at ExxonMobil, focusing on biocatalysis and applied biotechnology, where he is recognized as a Subject Matter Expert in various areas including synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and petroleum biotechnology. His groundbreaking work on biomarkers for microbial corrosion detection, published in Scientific Reports and outlined in a patent application, has led to industry-wide collaborations and recognition, including the 2021 R&D Excellence Award from ExxonMobil. In 2022, his work on engineered yeast for specialty chemical production was featured on the cover of ACS Synthetic Biology. With >50 peer-reviewed journal articles and numerous patents to his name, Dr. Zhang continues to be an active contributor to the scientific community, serving as a session chair for the Society of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (SIMB) and as a mentor for the ACS BIOT Mentoring program.

Lin Li is a consulting research engineer at Chevron Technical Center, Richmond, CA, where he leads a broad range of projects to address technical challenges in areas that are strategically important for both Chevron’s future growth such as CCUS, renewable fuels and hydrogen, and core business such as processing challenging feeds and developing new assets. He received his BS, MS and Ph. D. degree in Chemical Engineering from Tianjin University (Tianjin, China) in 1983, 1986 and 1989, respectively, and then started his academic career at Tsinghua University (Beijing, China), with growing responsibilities in teaching, research and administrations. He moved to the US in 1998, and after research experience at Princeton University and UC Berkeley he started industrial career at UOP (Des Plaines, IL) in 2001.He has published 2 books, over 50 journal articles, and ~35 granted and pending patents. He has been volunteering for CACS since 2003, and currently serves a CACS board member. He is Fellow of AIChE, and his service to AIChE includes served as Chair of Northern California local section (NorCal) and currently serving as ABET program evaluator (Chemical Engineering).

Dr. Xiaomao Wu is the Founder and Executive Director of Knowledge Exchange Forum, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the best use of human resources on the world’s utmost challenges. He worked at Abbott Laboratories as a scientist for 30 years, with research, development, manufacturing, and on-market support experiences for medical device products.  Dr. Wu received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Texas at Arlington and both BS and MS degrees from the Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. He finished his post-doctoral research at National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.  Dr. Wu has been actively involved in various professional organizations, including volunteering for the Great Lakes Chapter of the Chinese American Chemical Society in the last 20 years.

Dr. Dupeng Liu is a technology innovator, aspiring entrepreneur, and advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. He currently serves as a Sr. Process Engineer at Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL), where he spearheads process development projects to expedite the commercialization of advanced biofuels and bioproducts. Dr. Liu has authored 10 journal papers and has been granted 5 patents. In addition to his technical work, he is an ambassador for LBNL’s diversity outreach programs and serves as a professional mentor for the Department of State's TechWomen initiative. Dr. Liu holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from China University of Petroleum, a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Kansas and is currently pursuing an MBA at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.

Dr. Meng Jing is a Research Scientist at the Analytical Sciences Department of the Dow Chemical Company. She has rich experiences in utilizing a variety of analytical separation techniques to provide innovative solutions for product launch and tackling challenging M&E and TS&D issues. Meng is a subject matter expert in developing LC-MS methods for identification and quantitative analysis of a broad range of small and oligomeric molecules. Meng has been leading the 2D-LC technology to boost its applications in characterizing dispersants, rheology modifiers, and polysaccharides in chemical industry. Meng also leads the capillary electrophoresis capability for complicated colloid system characterization including colloidal particle surface, particle-surfactant, particle-polymer, and particle-particle interaction through coupling with size-based separation technique. Meng got her B.S. degree in Chemistry from University of Science and Technology of China and her Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Meng has authored or co-authored in 15 peer-reviewed journal articles, 1 book chapter, 11 patent applications and 1 granted patent, and has 19 conference presentations.