Join us for “Valorization of Sustainable Resources for Multi-industry Decarbonization”, a keynote presentation by Dr. Xianglan Bai, College of Engineering Mechanical and Aerospace, ChBME, MizzouForward faculty candidate.  Dr. Bai will present on her research for approximately 40-minutes with a 20-minute question and answer session to follow.

Dr. Xianglan Bai is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Chemical and Biological Engineering (a courtesy appointment) at Iowa State University (ISU). She is serving as the Associate Chair for Research of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and an Entrepreneurship Fellow at ISU College of Engineering. Dr. Bai is an Executive Board member and the Topic Area Leader for the DOE’s Multi-University Center for Chemical Upcycling of Waste Plastics. She is also a core member of ISU’s Bioeconomy Institute, the Polymer and Food Protection Consortium, and the NSF Center of Bioplastics and Biocomposites. Dr. Bai is an Associate Editor of Advances in Polymer Technology and an Editorial Board member of Carbon Neutrality, Springer. Dr. Bai received her BS and MS in Aerospace Engineering from Beihang University (BUAA), China, and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tokyo, Japan. After working as a postdoc at Michigan State University and a research engineer at Sukra Helitek LLC, Dr. Bai joined ISU as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 2013 and was promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure in 2019. She has been recently approved for promotion to the rank of Full Professor with an official starting date of July 1, 2024.

Dr. Bai’s research interests include renewable energy and sustainability, especially on biobased products, upcycling of waste plastics, and CO2 utilization. Her research can be categorized into four thrust areas: 1) thermochemical conversion of biomass; 2) chemical upcycling of waste plastics and co-mingled solid wastes; 3) electrified conversions by non-thermal plasma and joule heating; and 4) synthesis and manufacturing of biobased materials. She has developed a unique research program to tackle grand challenges in energy and environmental sustainability via interdisciplinary approaches. So far, Dr. Bai’s research program has received over 30 grants from federal agencies and industrial sponsors with a total funding amount of over $13M. Dr. Bai has published 3 book chapters, 60 journal articles, and 80 conference papers and delivered over 20 invited seminars with an H-index of 32. She is also the inventor of 6 US patents and invention disclosures. Dr. Bai is currently leading several federally funded multi-million-dollar projects with research teams involving academia, national labs, and industries. She aims to develop transformative decarbonization technologies and advance scientific understanding by employing integrated system approaches and combining interdisciplinary expertise. In this seminar, Dr. Bai will present examples of her work in developing novel conversion technologies to transform non-edible plant biomass and waste plastics into sustainable chemicals and carbon materials.

You can access Dr. Bai’s CV via OneDrive here: 

CV Xianglan Bai 2024.pdf  (University log in required to access)

After the keynote, please provide candidate feedback with our brief survey.