Chao Zhao Wins Prestigious Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers

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Chao Zhao, an Associate Professor in the UMass Amherst Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Biomedical Engineering Departments, received the Composites Area Mid-Career Professorship Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), sponsored by the Engineered Science Society (ESS), at that organization’s annual meeting in early November. According to AIChE, the purpose of the award is “to recognize a middle-career professor in [the field of] composites for sustained, field-shaping scholarship, significant leadership/service to AIChE in the past five years, and impactful mentoring and community building.” 

Zhao joined UMass Amherst in August of 2025 after serving for seven years as an Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama. 

Zhao’s Research Group develops novel polymeric biomaterials for various biomedical applications, with emphasis on drug delivery and tissue engineering. As he says, “The projects are driven by developing new technologies for the treatment of specific diseases, polymeric vectors for gene therapy, and biomimetic scaffolds to enhance tissue regeneration.”

Zhao explains that his overall research goal is to “find engineering solutions to human health problems.”

In that context, Zhao’s pioneering research has resulted in six U.S. patents, 72 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, with 10 more currently under review or in preparation, and some 50 presentations at scientific conferences.

Zhao received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Akron in 2013. Afterwards, he served as a postdoctoral associate in the laboratory of Professor Peter X Ma at the University of Michigan from 2013 to 2016 and in the laboratories of Professors Daniel Kohane at Harvard Medical School and Robert Langer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2016 and 2018. 

Zhao also holds a B.E. degree in Polymer Materials and Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology in China and an M.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Zhejiang University in China. Before coming to UMass Amherst, he joined the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Alabama as an Assistant Professor in July of 2018. 

Among many other awards, Zhao has been honored by the Journal of Materials Chemistry B, which published one of his papers in its Emerging Investigators Collection. He has also received the Prestigious ChemStress Award from the College of Engineering at the University of Akron and has accrued several honors from the University of Alabama, including the Office of Research and Economic Development Award from the Faculty and Staff Innovation Pitch Competition, the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering Outstanding Research Impact Award, and an award from the university’s Research Grants Committee. 

Zhao’s work has been broadcast on Boston 25 News and highlighted by more than 30 national and international news agencies. Among other funding, his laboratory is currently supported by a National Institutes of Health R01 Award, an Alabama Transportation Institute grant, and a grant from the U.S. Department of Education Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need. (November 2025)