Dr. Jiahua Zhu joined the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Akron in  Dr. Zhu received his Ph.D. degree of Chemical Engineering from Lamar University in 2013 and received a Master's degree in Chemical Engineering from Nanjing University of Technology (2009) and a Bachelor's degree in Applied Chemistry from Yangzhou University (2006).

Dr. Zhu has coauthored more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, three book chapters and three patents. His work has been cited more than 4000 times with an h-index of 37. Dr. Zhu has actively served on the Materials  Science & Technology Society, Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers as symposium organizer and   session chair since 2011, and served as reviewer for more than 40 scientific journals.

Dr. Zhu was awarded the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad, Young Leader Development Award from Functional Material Division of TMS Society. Dr. Zhu’s current research interests cover the fundamental study of multifunctional polymer- and carbon-based nanocomposites and explore their applications in emerging fields such as thermal management, catalysis, lubrication, etc. His research efforts have been recognized through the NSF-CBET, ACS-PRF and Center for Tire Research.