OUR STORY
Materials Nova
We are a dynamic, cutting-edge technology company dedicated to pioneering innovative materials solutions to tackle pressing challenges encountered by people, ranging from point-of-use water treatment to advanced biomedical diagnostic devices.
MEET THE TEAM
Get to Know Us
Founder, CEO and CTO
Dr. D. Emma Fan
Dr. Donglei “Emma” Fan is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, an affiliated Professor in the Department of Electric and Computer Engineering, and a core faculty member of the Materials Science and Engineering Program of the Texas Materials Institute at The University of Texas at Austin. Among her various honors, Prof. Fan is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2021) and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) (2024), where she was elected to the Board of Directors (2025) by a vote of over 2,000 Fellows. In 2025, she was named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors, and has served as an Official Nominator for the Japan Prize since 2017. In recognition of her contributions to engineering and mentorship, she was selected as the 2022 Ilene Busch-Vishniac Lecturer at Johns Hopkins University; the lectureship “features outstanding women in engineering and highlights the intellectual contributions of the lecturers while serving to inspire young women to pursue degrees and careers in engineering”.
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Dr. Fan’s research exploits fundamental materials science, physics, and chemistry for innovative design, manufacturing, and applications of materials in robotics, biomedicine, and environmental remediation devices. She is an inventor of the patented “3D Electrokinetic Tweezers” technique that can precisely manipulate longitudinal nanoscale materials in aqueous suspension by combined AC and DC electric fields at a precision of 20 nm in positioning and 0.5 degree in angle under a standard optical microscope. Her team also discovered the effect of light-semiconductor-electric-field interaction that can be applied to realize multimodal reconfigurable nanodevices. Prof. Fan’s research has spurred a series of publications in leading journals, including Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Communications, Science Advances, the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, Physical Review Letters, and Advanced Materials. She is an inventor of 9 granted patents, 8 pending patents and disclosures, four of which licensed/optionally licensed to companies.​
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Prof. Fan received two prestigious awards from the National Science Foundation: the NSF Mid-Career Advancement Award in 2022 and the NSF CAREER Award in 2012. Prof. Fan’s work on the bottom-up assembling of artificial nanoelectromechanical devices was included in Science Year by Year, DK Smithsonian in 2017 and selected as the #3 of “10 discoveries that will shape the future in 2014” by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Focus magazine. She received the Texas Health Catalyst Consulting Award in 2020 and was honored as a Recognized Mentor by the Siemens Foundation in 2012. She is an invited member of the Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society, since 2020, and one of 30 young US engineers, invited to attend the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) 2013 EU-US Frontier of Engineering Symposium in France. She is a finalist of the Beckman Young Investigator Award (24 finalists nationwide, 2013), a finalist of the 2015 SXSW Interactive Innovation Award, and a featured scientist by “Woman in Nanoscience” an NSF-supported scientific blog highlighting achievements of woman scientists in the US.
Chief Operating Officer
Dr. Frank Zhu
Dr. Frank Zhu earned his Ph.D. in Physics from The Johns Hopkins University, and he brings a wealth of expertise to our team. With a strong background in advanced materials engineering, computer technology, and entrepreneurship, Dr. Zhu has accrued over a decade of experience in high-tech industries spanning magnetic storage devices, artificial intelligence, data science, and business management.
Research Scientist
Dr. Huaizhi Li
Dr. Huaizhi Li is a distinguished scientist specializing in nanomaterials fabrication, manipulation and assembly, chemical functionalization, biochemical sensing and devices. His research leads to publications in leading journals, including Nature Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials, ACS Nano, and Applied Physics Letters. Dr. Li received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
Specialties:
Synthesis of nanostructures, surface functionalization and assembly
Electric-field nanomanipulation, electrokinetics
Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering spectroscopy and biosensing
Microchip design and fabrication
Optical and electromagnetic numerical simulation
Semiconductors
Research Scientist
Dr. Hyungmok Joh
Hyungmok Joh is a distinguished research scientist specializing in sensor design, fabrication, and performance optimization. With 19 publications in top-tier journals such as Nature Communications, Science Advances, Advanced Materials, Small, and Chemistry of Materials, he has established himself as a leader in the field. Hyungmok's work focuses on a broad range of cutting-edge technologies, including thin-film manufacturing, flexible sensor development, and solution-based nanomaterial synthesis. Hyungmok Joh is also highly skilled in Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS), fluorescence microscopy, electrochemical and electric-assisted techniques, with extensive expertise in processing and analyzing biochemical samples.
Hyungmok Joh combines technical excellence with innovative approaches to drive impactful research and technological advancements.
Research Scientist and Product Manager
Dr. Biao Liu (incoming)
Dr. Biao Liu is an accomplished analytical chemist with more than a decade of industry experience in method development, validation, and advanced chemical analysis to support regulated manufacturing. His career spans leadership roles in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical R&D, quality control, and laboratory operations, where he has built and managed analytical teams, implemented GMP-compliant workflows, and delivered high-impact technical solutions that accelerate product development and ensure manufacturing quality.
Before joining Materials Nova, Dr. Liu spent over 10 years as an Analytical Chemist and Quality Control Manager at Premier Research Labs, where he developed and validated chromatographic and mass-spectrometric methods, authored technical documents, and ensured regulatory-grade data integrity essential for commercial product release. Earlier, as Section Manager at PharmaForm, he led analytical R&D efforts to support pre-clinical and clinical drug development, troubleshooting complex analytical challenges and guiding method transfer in FDA-regulated environments.
Dr. Liu also brings significant entrepreneurial and organizational strength, demonstrated through his leadership in building laboratories from the ground up, optimizing workflows, and driving cross-functional coordination—skills that directly support Materials Nova’s rapid prototyping and product-development goals. His ability to integrate rigorous scientific methodology with operational efficiency makes him a strong contributor to a startup environment where innovation must align with manufacturability, scalability, and regulatory readiness.
With a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the City University of New York and a research background that includes pioneering electrochemical imaging and over a dozen peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Liu adds deep technical expertise in electrochemistry, method development, and materials characterization—core scientific pillars of Materials Nova’s sensing and purification platforms.
At Materials Nova, Dr. Liu contributes to analytical method design, device testing, quality systems development, and technology translation from laboratory innovation to market-ready products.
Business and Administrative Manager
Emma E. Chu
Ms. Emma Chu oversees budgets, optimizes processes, and maintains seamless communication with both internal teams and external partners and customers.
CAREERS
Join Us
As a growing Technology Company, we are always looking for new team members. Whether you’re interested in business or have something innovative and unique to bring, we’d love to see if you’re a good fit for Materials Nova. Send us your CV today and we will get back to you as soon as we can.