Assoc. Prof. Boxin Zhao, The Department of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Canada

Assoc. Prof. Boxin Zhao is a tenured associate professor in chemical engineering at the University of Waterloo. He is also affiliated with Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology and Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology. Dr. Zhao obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering from McMaster University in 2004. Before joining the University of Waterloo, Dr. Zhao had worked as a NSERC postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara. At Waterloo, Professor Zhao has established the Laboratory of Surface Science and Bio-nanomaterials, working on both fundamental and applied research to meet the growing need of bio-nanotechnologies in advanced manufacturing, e.g. multifunctional green and smart materials and processes, additive manufacture or 3D printing. He have 145 publications in total; 69 are peer-refereed papers on the top journals including Macromolecules, Langmuir, J. Materials Chemistry, Carbon, Advanced Materials, and Advanced Functional Materials. His research work has been well recognized in the field and has been invited to deliver talks and lectures to Celestica, Xerox and Magna and other national and international conferences. He was awarded the Early Researcher Award from the Province of Ontario in 2012 and was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Visiting Research Chair at UCSB from Fulbright Canada in 2015. The current research interests of his group are in the areas of interfacial technologies and surface science, biomimetic adhesion and adhesives, biopolymers, molecular and surface forces, nanotechnology, nanocomposite materials, colloidal and nano particles, interfacial phenomena and contact dynamics (e.g., wetting, adhesion, friction, lubrication, wear, fracture) in polymers and biological systems.