Jinghao Li
Western Michigan University
1903 W Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5462 USA
- Ph.D., Materials Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2016
- M.S., Materials Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2014
- M.S.E., Structural Engineering, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, China, 2012
- B.S., Civil Engineering, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, China, 2009
- Unit operations (heat transfer)
- Environmental engineering
- Advanced composite materials
- Biopolymers and sustainable materials
- Transformative approaches for developing multifunctional sustainable materials and composites
- Innovative valorization of biomass and industrial wastes
- Multi-scale design, manufacturing, testing, and evaluation of hierarchical porous/fiber composite structures and materials
Dr. Jinghao Li is an associate professor in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Western Michigan University, where he leads the Sustainable Materials Advance Resource Transformation (SMART) Lab in the Department of Chemical and Paper Engineering. Before joining WMU, Dr. Li worked as a senior scientist in energy, environmental science and chemical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. He earned his Ph.D. in materials science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2016, followed by a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He later worked at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory and Texas A&M University before transitioning to Washington University in St. Louis in 2022.
As an interdisciplinary researcher, Dr. Li's expertise spans both engineering and scientific disciplines. His primary research interests focus on the design, manufacture, testing, and evaluation of sustainable materials and products, particularly those derived from agricultural and forest resources, as well as industrial waste. His work emphasizes the relationship between structure and material properties and incorporates a design-application feedback system to optimize the conversion of raw materials into high-value products. His approach integrates physical treatments, chemical reactions, and biological processes to achieve transformative sustainable design and manufacturing.
Dr. Li is dedicated to advancing the development of multifunctional materials and products from renewable resources, including biodegradable packaging materials, renewable engineering materials, bio-derived carbon storage materials, microbe-derived composites, functionalized lignocellulose, hierarchical porous/fiber materials, and bio-inspired structural composites. His work aims to promote environmental sustainability, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and enhance economic efficiency.
In addition to his research, Dr. Li serves as a reviewer for over 30 journals in the fields of sustainable materials and technology. He has authored more than 50 publications in high-impact journals such as Nature Communications, Matter, Chem, Energy & Environmental Science, and Trends in Biotechnology. He also holds 10 patents in his field.