Citizenship:          U.S. Citizen.

Education:

Post-Doctoral Research Associate: December 1993 to December 1995, Chemical Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Research Keywords: Biosorption material and separation technology; biomolecule-grafted hybrid polymeric materials for separation and biocatalysis applications; environmental bioremediation.

Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering: December 1993, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Idaho (Moscow).

Thesis research key words: Biodegradation, mathematical modeling of bioprocess,  bioreactor design, fermentation for cell cultivation and enzyme production, enzyme kinetics, biocatalysts (enzyme & cells) immobilization,  environmental bioremediation.

GPA: 4.0/4.0 (for courses in both Chemical Engineering and in Biochemistry & Microbiology Dept.)

M.S. in Chemical Engineering: May 1988, Center for Chemical Engineering Research, Nanjing University of Chemical Technology (NUCT), China.

Outstanding Graduate Student. Invited to stay as a faculty (Assistant Professor).

B.S. in Chemical Engineering: May 1985, Department of Chemical Engineering, NUCT.

Honor: exceptionally selected into graduate school under the direction of Professor Jun Shi, a member of Chinese Academy of Sciences, pioneering chemical engineering research and industry  in China.

Honors, Awards, and Fellowships:

·   Adjunct Professorship, since 1997, with Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Tennessee (Knoxville)

·   Honorary Guest Professorship, since 1999, with Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Physical Sciences and Technology, University of Maryland (College Park)

·   Year 2000 Significant Event Award, honored by UT/Battelle LLC and ORNL for recognition of Dr. Hu's significant contribution, advocation, and international leadership in nanostructured materials research

·   First-Place Winner, technical poster competition in 102nd annual meeting (St. Louis, April 2000) of The American Ceramic Society for Dr. Hu's research work on

·   Award of Merit, Scholarly/Professional Article in the year 2000 competition sponsored by the Society for Technical Communication, for article Nucleation and growth for synthesis of nanometric zirconia particles by forced hydrolysis

·   R&D 100 Award, nominated for year 2000 teamwork development of Electrohydrodynamic Mixing Reactor that overcome the technical limit of conventional sol-gel processing

·   Journal Cover Page, Journal of Materials Science, June 2000., for Dr. Hu's work on the low temperature soft chemical synthesis of nanocrystalline barium titanate.

·   Nominated for 1999 Presidential Young Scientist Award for his new initiative and establishment of a nanostructured materials research program at ORNL

·   First-Prize Award, from the American Ceramic Society in 1998 for research paper on nanoceramic materials and discovery of a new nanophase transformation pathway

·   Cover-Page Highlight,  High-Tech Materials Alert (John Wiley, February 1998), for work on development and understanding of the DTS synthesis of nanopowders and sol-gel processing

·   Considered for a MIT Faculty (Assistant Professor) Position in 1995.

·   Research Fellowship, for post-doctoral research at ORNL, 1993  

·   Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, from University of Idaho (Moscow),1990

Work Experience:

December 1995 to Present:   Development Staff Member (full time), Separations and Materials Processing Research Group, Chemical Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

1. Principal Investigator (PI) for a fundamental Materials Science Program, Basic Energy Science, US Department of Energy (DOE).

-          Conducted active research for chemical synthesis and characterization of nanostructured materials (ultrafine, monodispersed ceramic precursor particles for production of new generation of advanced structural and functional ceramic materials, nanocrystlas, thin films, coatings, fibers, and nanocrystalline inorganic membranes), using state-of-the-art techniques/facilities including Dynamic Light-Scattering, Small-Angle Scattering, High-Temperature X-ray Diffraction, FT-IR/Raman Spectroscopy, SEM, high resolution TEM, AFM, TGA/DTA, BET Surface and Pore Size Analysis, Zeta Potential measurements, ellipsometry, etc. 

-          Established internal and external research collaborations with academic peers and industries.

2. Some examples of various multidisciplinary R&D projects involved or in charged of:

·   Co-PI for a project on development of thin film and nanocrystalline materials for fuel-cell electrolyte and electrode applications. 

·   Co-PI for a ORNL/LDRD Seed Money project on development of nanostructured zeolite-based films and inorganic membranes

·   Conducted research as a Co-PI in the area of surface/interfacial science and engineering, for a DOE/Environmental Management Science Program aiming at fundamental droplet/particle-surface interaction dynamics, surfactant-based aqueous cleaning applications, and surface decontamination and decommissioning.

·   PI for an ORNL/LDRD-Seed Money project, in developing novel processes for growing micro/nanoscopic fibers via electrorheological phenomena and for fabrication (via gel-casting) of anisotropic monolithic porous materials designed for efficient DNA molecule sequencing or biomolecular separations. 

·   Co-PI for a ORNL/LDRD project, developed low-temperature solution depositon/growth of high quality inorganic thin films via self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) for optical nanowaveguide interconnect and molecular electronic applications. 

·   Participant of a NSF project led by Prof. M. DeGuire at the Case Western Reserve Univ., using small angle x-ray scattering technique to study the nanocluster evolution during film deposition on SAMs.

·   Collaborative project with Prof. J.-S. Lin at the Univ. of Cincinnati on the understanding of microstructural evolution in zeolite membranes during thermal processing.

·   Collaborated with Prof. N. Xu from the NUCT in development of perovskite-type ion-conducting ceramic membranes that have high oxygen permeability and high-temprature stability.

·   Collaborative project with Prof. S. Bhaduri at the Univ. of Idaho in development of dense nanocrystslline ceramics via auto-ignition synthesis and microwave condensation.

·   Collaborative work with Prof. M. Harris at the Univ. of Maryland on computer simulation (population balance modeling) of of nanoparticle nucleation and growth in wet chemical synthesis systems.

·   Worked on a joint project with Bioprocessing R&D Center for the development of a novel bioprocessing fermentation reactor system for biofuel (ethanol) production from renewable biomass feedstocks

·   Accomplished a computer modeling/simulation for a soil chemical leaching process, a joint project with Engineering Development Section.

3. Other academic activities:

·   Directed graduate students thesis and advised post-doctoral's research.

·   Appointed as an Adjunct Professor (since 1997) with Chemical Engineering Department at University of Tennessee Knoxville. Instructed a graduate-level course ChE/MSE 505 "Advanced Engineering Analysis".

·   Invited as a Guest Professor (since 1999) with Chemical Engineering Department at University of Maryland at College Park (position pending).

November 1993 to December 1995: Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Biotechnology and Bioprocessing Research, Chemical Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

1. Acting Project Leader for two R&D projects. Developed biomolecule-grafted hybrid polymer materials, biosorbent materials, and biosorption separation technology for environmental remediation applications. 

2. Conducted pilot-plant scale fermentation for microbial cell cultivation, engineering process development and set-up, and ion-exchange/chelation resin or biosorbent chromatography column operation and mathematical modeling.

3. Developed techniques of biocatalyst immobilization in organic polymeric and inorganic sol-gel beads.

4. Initiated a new research on the development of ligand-grafted polymeric materials for separation and biocatalysis applications.

5. Filed two patent applications and published several papers on biosorption in peer-reviewed journals.

6. Interacted with project industrial partners such as Scientific and Commercial Systems Corporation. 

7.  Drafted mid-term and final project reports to U.S. Department of Energy, successfully renewed research funding for FY 1995. Prepared two research proposals.   

January 1990 to November 1993: Research Assistant in Chemical Engineering Department. Worked on interdisciplinary research projects in Institute for Molecular and Agricultural Genetic Engineering (IMAGE) at University of Idaho (Moscow).

1. Carried out pilot-plant fermentation for enzyme production and purification. 

2. Designed a novel bioreactor, studied mass transfer and reaction kinetics. 

3. Learned hands-on microbiology and biochemistry laboratory techniques,  used various computer-controlled lab equipments and instruments, such as fermentation facilities, UV/visible Spec, HPLC, GC, AA, ICP, HPLC-GC-MS, Liquid Scintillation Counter, et al. 

4. Helped Prof. Roger Korus teaching courses such as Biochemical Engineering, Polymer Science and Engineering.

5. Research projects involved:

·   Design and characterization of a dynamic bed bioreactor with immobilized b-D-galactosidase.

·   Lignin peroxidases production from white-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium.

·   Deactivation kinetics and catalytic properties of lignin peroxidases from P. chrysosporium.

·   Enzymatic degradation of azo dyes by manganese-dependent peroxidase from P. chrysosporium.

·   Biodegradation and adsorption of pentachlorophenol by immobilized Flavobacterium.

·   Mass transfer studies and modeling of  solute through an adsorbing porous media.

·   Anaerobic biodegradation of TNT in a slurry bioreactor for bioremediation of soil at Missouri.

May 1988 to January 1990: Research Staff in Center for Chemical Engineering Research and Assistant Professor in Chemical Engineering Department of NUCT, China.

1. Instructed undergraduate courses: unit operations, transport phenomena, chemical reaction engineering, biochemical engineering.

2. Conducted chemical engineering research in following areas:

·   Oxygen mass transfer studies in a columnar fermenter with bubble breaking agitators.

·   Improvement of fermentation and alcohol precipitation processes to enhance xanthan gum productivity (In cooperation with a biotechnology company in Jiangsu province).

·   Large-scale cultivation of plant (ginseng) cells in an air-lift loop bioreactor system. (In collaboration with Microbiology Laboratory at Nanking Pharmaceutical University).

·   Design, set-up and testing of a continuous, mechanically stirred dryer and cyclone powder recovery system for drying terramycin pastes (A contract development for Nanking Pharmaceutical Co.).

3. Directed undergraduate research thesis: Process for organic synthesis of para-hydroxyl benzaldehyde.

4.  Supervised engineering students' industrial training in Nanking Pharmaceutical Company and Wuxi Enzymes and Antibiotics Manufacturing Corporation.

September 1985 to May 1988: Chemcial Engineering M.S. thesis work, plus one-year Process Engineer internship.

1. Studies and measurements of the rheological characteristics of highly concentrated slurry suspensions (non-homogeneous, non-Newtonian fluids). 

2.  Power consumption and mixing characteristic studies of stirred reactors with impellers for highly viscous non-Newtonian fluids (A cooperative project with a branch company of the Chinese Chemical & Petroleum Industrial Ministry in Shandong Province, which produces molecular-sieve catalysts).

September 1984 to September 1985: Undergraduate design, internship, and thesis research.

Thesis research: A statistical approach to the factors affecting the acidic extraction of elements (N, P and K) from the Yili minerals in Sichuan Province. 

Undergraduate design: Computer calculations and mechanical drawings of absorption and distillation columns. 

Industrial internship: Three months in Shanghai Chemical Industrial Co. and one month in Nanking Synthetic Ammonia Plant.