Prof Ranil Wickramasinghe obtained his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Melbourne, Australia. He obtained his PhD, also in Chemical Engineering, from the University of Minnesota. After obtaining his PhD Professor Wickramasinghe worked in the biotechnology industry. He joined the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Colorado State University in 1998. In 2011 moved to the University of Arkansas. He is a professor and the holder of the Ross E Martin Chair in Emerging Technologies in the Department of Chemical Engineering.