Professor
Email: chrisli@drexel.edu
Office: LeBow 443
Phone: 215.895.2083
Education
- Ph.D. (Polymer Science) The University of Akron, Akron, OH 12/1999
Topic: Structure and Phase Behavior of a Series of Main-Chain Chiral Liquid Crystalline Polyesters
Advisor: Prof. Stephen Z. D. Cheng - B.S. (Polymer Chemistry) University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, P. R. China 06/1995
Topic: Synthesis and Characterization of Dimers of Biphenyl Derivatives
Professional History
- Professor
Drexel University
2011 – present - Visiting Associate Professor
Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research
02/2010 – 07/2010 - Associate Professor
Drexel University
2007 – 2011 - Assistant Professor
Drexel University
01/2002 – 2007 - Visiting Assistant Professor
Air Force Research Laboratory
6/2004 – 8/2004 - Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Akron, Akron, OH
1/2000 – 12/2001
Research Interests
- Structure and morphology of polymeric materials;
- Soft matter (polymers, liquid crystals) and hybrid materials:
develop novel methods to synthesize polymer / low-dimensional materials
complexes and study their electrical, mechanical and optical responses; - Polymer single crystal enabled nanoparticle functionalization and patterning;
- Block copolymer hierarchical self-assembly: structure, morphology and applications;
- Multifunctional polymeric photonic crystals using hierarchical nanomanufacturing (holographic polymerization and self assembly);
- Nanotailored polyurethane: structures, morphology, properties and applications;
- Electro-spinning of polymer/nanocomposite nanofibers: nanoscale functional fibers;
- Polymer thermal analysis: sophisticated thermal analysis techniques for nanostructured materials characterization.
Honors and Awards
- Outstanding Alumni Award, University Akron, Department of Polymer Science, 2017
- Inaugural Provost’s Award for Outstanding Mid-Career Scholarly Achievement, 2016
- Outstanding Research Award, College of Engineering, Drexel University, 2016
- North American Thermal Analysis Society, President, 2016
- North American Thermal Analysis Society, Fellow, 2014
- Editorial advisory board member, Macromolecules, ACS Macro Lett, 2014–2017
- Editorial advisory board member, Chinese Chemical Letter, 2014 –
- Outstanding Service Award, Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University 2014
- Editorial advisory board member, Materials Research Express, 2013 –
- American Physical Society Fellow, 2012
- Invited Attendee, National Academy of Engineering Japan-America Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, 2012
- Outstanding Research Award, College of Engineering, Drexel University, 2012
- International Advisory Panel, Materials Research Express, 2012 –
- National Science Foundation Creativity Award 2011
- Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers 2010
- Outstanding Research Award, Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University 2010
- Editorial advisory board member, POLYMER, 2010–
- Outstanding Teaching Award, Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University 2007
- Invited attendee, Interdisciplinary, globally leading polymer science and engineering, NSF Polymer workshop, 2007
- NSF-CAREER Award 2003-2008
- ASM Bradley Stoughton Award for Young Teachers 2006
- DuPont Young Faculty Award 2005-2007
- Outstanding Oversea Young Scientist selected by National Science Foundation of China 2006-2009.
- Outstanding Research Award, Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University 2006
- PERKIN ELMER – ICTAC (International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry) Young Scientist Award 2004
- NRC/US (National Research Council/US) AFOSR (Air Force of Scientific Research) Summer Faculty Fellowship Award 2004
- Mettler -Toledo Thermal Analysis Educational Turi Award 2003
- 3-M Non -Tenured Faculty Award 2003-2005
- The Excellence Award from the North Coast Thermal Analysis Society (NCTAS) 1999