Xiao Su is an Assistant Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He obtained his Bachelor in Applied Sciences in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo in 2011. He completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering from MIT in 2017, working under the supervision of Professor T. Alan Hatton from Chemical Engineering and Professor Timothy F. Jamison from Chemistry.
Since joining Illinois in 2019, his research seeks to develop new field-assisted separation processes through a combination of molecular design and process engineering. A particular focus has been on understanding and leveraging redox-electron transfer for achieving molecular selectivity in electrochemical separations, and the coupling of reaction and separations for process intensification. His team has tackled separation challenges ranging from chemical and biochemical manufacturing to materials recycling and environmental remediation.
Xiao has been the recipient of the NSF CAREER Award (2019), the ACS Victor K. Lamer Award (2020), the ISE-Elsevier Prize for Green Electrochemistry (2021), and the ACS Unilever Award (2023). Xiao has also recognized in the List of Excellent Teachers (2019, 2022), and the School of Chemical Sciences Teaching Award (SCS) in 2023.