Prof. Xu received his first PhD degree in metallurgical engineering from University of Science and Technology Beijing, China in 1998 and his 2nd PhD degree in chemical and biochemical engineering from the University of Western Ontario, Canada in 2004. After obtaining his first PhD degree, he was offered a prestigious postdoctoral fellowship from Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) to carry out postdoctoral research at Tohoku University, Japan, in 1998-2000, followed by a Research Associate appointment by Tohoku University. After obtaining his 2nd PhD degree, he spent one year as a postdoctoral fellow at University of Alberta and Syncrude Canada Research Center till July 2005, when he joined Lakehead University, Canada as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in chemical engineering and was promoted quickly to a tenured Associate Professor in 2008. He moved to Western University (formerly The University of Western Ontario) to take up the NSERC/FPInnovations Industrial Research Chair in Forest Biorefinery in 2011 and became a tenured Full Professor in 2014. He served Associate Chair – Undergraduate of the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering (2016-2017) and Associate Director of Institute for Chemicals and Fuels from Alternative Resources (ICFAR) of Western University (2021-2023). He joined City University of Hong Kong as a Chair Professor in July 2023.

With nearly 20-year research experience in biorefinery for biomass and biowastes valorization, Professor Xu has profound and world-leading expertise in research, innovations and industrial applications of high-value bioproducts from renewable resources, particularly in development of biofuels and bio-based chemicals and materials from forestry/agricultural residues and biowastes. He has authored/edited 3 books on biorefinery and resources recovery from wastes, and published 20+ book chapters and 300+ papers in peer-reviewed journals and delivered over 100 invited seminars/keynote/plenary lectures worldwide. According to Google Scholar, his work has received over 17,000 total citations with an H-index of 72 to date and been continuously ranked among the 100,000 most-cited scientists in the world and the top 2 percent of their sub-fields in recent years. With 16 PCT/US/Canadian/Chinese Patents issued/pending, Dr. Xu has made outstanding contributions to applied science and engineering practice, He is a founder of Western Maple Bio Resources Inc., incorporated federally in Canada, currently in the process of commercialization of various clean technologies and green products, e.g., bio-based formaldehyde-free adhesives for wood panels (plywood, OSB, particleboard, fiberboard). Prof. Xu is co-Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering (IJCRE) and Associate Editor of two Elsevier journals: (1) Biomass and Bioenergy, and (2) Resources Chemicals and Materials, and has contributed to training of 180+ highly qualified personnel including 100+ PhD/master’s students since 2005.

Prof. Xu has a demonstrated track record in establishing and leading large research programs/teams to deliver world-class impactful research, having served as Project Coordinator/Theme Leader in several multidisciplinary/multi-institutional large projects, including an Ontario Research Fund-Research Excellence (ORF-RE) program for the development marketable products from agricultural solid residues, an Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Foods and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) program for the development of innovative biorefining technologies for valorizing agricultural biomass, the Canada’s Networks of Centers of Excellence (NCE) on biofuels (BioFuelNet), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Strategic Partnership program on lignin valorization (Lignoworks), and the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)’s  Agri-Sci Cluster-BioMass Canada, etc.

His research accomplishments and leadership have been recognized through prestigious awards including an Outstanding Young Scientists Award in 1999 from Japan Institute of Energy, the 2011 Syncrude Canada Innovation Award and the 2019 Award in Design and Industrial Practice from Canadian Society of Chemical Engineering. He was elected Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada (FCIC) in 2018, Fellow of Canadian Academy of Engineering (FCAE) in 2019 and Fellow of Engineering Institute of Canada (FEIC) in 2023.

Prof. Molly Meng-Jung Li is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Materials at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where she leads research in heterogeneous catalysis and sustainable energy conversion. Her work spans catalyst design, reactor development, system scale-up, and advanced synchrotron-based characterisation, with a focus on translating catalysis and green chemistry into practical low-carbon technologies. She has published more than 80 papers in leading journals, including Nature Energy, Nature Catalysis, Advanced Materials, Nature Communications, ACS Catalysis, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Chemical Engineering Journal, and Applied Energy. She also brings strong translational and industry experience through collaborations with partners such as Johnson Matthey and Sinopec, as well as patented and licensed catalytic and energy technologies for real-world applications.

 
Co-Chair: Prof. Haijia SU
Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing
suhj@mail.buct.edu.cn

Prof. Jun ZHAO is an Associate Professor at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) and Director of the Applied Research Centre for Pearl River Delta Environment (ARCPE). He earned his Ph.D. from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, and led the Biomass and Bioenergy Laboratory at HKBU since 2019. Prof. Zhao is a leading expert in green catalysis and sustainable chemical engineering, specializing in turning municipal solid waste and plastics into green hydrogen, clean fuels, and value-added chemicals via low-energy catalytic pathways. He has authored over 150 high-impact papers in elite journals such as Energy & Environmental Science, Advanced Materials, and Nature Communications. Standing among the "World's Top 2% Scientists" (2023–2025), he is also a Vebleo Fellow and a recipient of the 2025 IAAM Scientist Medal. He contributes widely to the academic community as a member of ACS, CCS, and CSES, and as an editorial board member for journals including Environmental Technology and Energy, Ecology and Environment.

Co-Chair: Prof. Guoqing GUAN
Hirosaki University, Japan
guan@hirosaki-u.ac.jp 

Prof Jason LAM is an Associate Professor in the School of Energy and Environment at City University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on electrochemistry and electrocatalysis. He has led projects on electrochemical reduction of biomass-relevant substrates, and catalytic oxidation of biomass‑derived feedstocks such as HMF to FDCA, often in close collaboration with industrial partners in Hong Kong and the region. Prof Lam has published extensively in leading energy and environmental science journals and actively serves as a reviewer and advisor for funding agencies and research programs. He is committed to translating fundamental electrochemical insights into practical, scalable technologies that support decarbonization and sustainable resource management.

Prof. Shao-Yuan (Ben) LEU obtained BSc/MSc degrees in Forestry from National Taiwan University (1993-97), and MPhil/PhD on Civil Engineering at UCLA (2003-09). He was a lecturer at UC-Riverside (2010-11); registered Professional Engineer in California (2011-present), and Postdoctoral Fellow in the USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, WI (2011-2013). Prof. Leu’s research interest is in developing urban biorefinery to convert waste into biofuels and chemicals, including Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). He established the BioEnergy Lab at PolyU, aiming to construct a solution-/solid-state NMR platform for characterizing the secondary plant cell wall structure of nature and engineered woods. He also designs new pretreatment methods to fractionate lignocellulosic biomass into functional monomers. Since 2013, Prof. Leu has secured more than HK$43.8 million research grants from the academia, governmental, and industrial sectors, such as RIF, GTF, GRF, ECF, ITF, etc. He has published 110 peer-reviewed articles in representative journals such as Green Chemistry and Biotechnology for Biofeuls, filed 4 patents, edited 1 book, and received multiple awards, including Outstanding Reviewer Award in ACS Environ. Sci. & Tech. (2015) and Gold Medal in Geneva Invention Exhibition (2017). 

Co-Chair: Prof. Changwei HU 
Sichuan University, China
changweihu@scu.edu.cn 
Co-Chair: Prof. Xuebing ZHAO
Tsinghua University, China
zhaoxb@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
 

Dr. Zhenglong LI, Qiushi Chair Professor of Zhejiang University, National High-Level Talent, Recipient of Zhejiang Top Talent Program, Director of Sustainable Aviation Fuels Division, State Key Laboratory of Biobased Transport Fuel Technology, Director of the Research Center for High-Value Biomass Utilization, and Director of the Institute of Biobased Chemicals, Quzhou Research Institute & Quzhou Industrial Research Institute of Zhejiang University. In response to China’s national strategies of carbon peaking, carbon neutrality and sustainable development, Professor Li’s research team focuses on the high-value utilization of low-carbon resources including biomass, carbon dioxide and waste plastics, with two core research priorities: biobased liquid fuels and biobased materials.
The team has undertaken more than ten national, provincial and ministerial research projects, covering National Key R&D Programs, National Natural Science Foundation of China, national high-level talent funding projects, and major provincial talent programs. Members have published numerous high-impact research papers in top-tier journals such as Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Nature Communications, and PNAS. Over 30 invention patents have been filed and granted at home and abroad, among which several have been licensed for technology transfer. The team is currently advancing the industrialization and commercialization of core key technologies including sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and biobased materials.

Co-Chair: Prof. Karen Wilson
Griffith University, Australia
karen.wilson6@griffith.edu.au 

Dr. Jianliang ZHANG is a professor at at the School of Metallurgy and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, and an Excellent National Science and Technology Worker, receiving a special allowance from the State Council of China. He is also an Excellent Metallurgical Science and Technology Worker, a specially hired professor at the Beijing Jianlong Heavy Industry Group Co., Ltd. In recent years, he has won 13 science and technology awards from the provincial government and Ministries, including 3 first-class awards, 4 second-class awards and 6 third-class awards. He has published more than 500 articles, including more than 200 SCI and EI indexed journal papers, many of which are in Q1 top journals in the area of low-carbon metallurgy. In addition, he has more than 20 granted patents and authored 3 monograph books.

Co-Chair: Prof. Runsheng XU
University of Science and Technology Beijing, China
xurunsheng@ustb.edu.cn 
Co-Chair: Prof. Rufei WEI
Anhui University of Technology, China
weirufei@ahut.edu.cn 

Dr. Yulong WU is a professor at the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University. He has been selected as a national high-level leading talent and serves as the chief scientist for National Science and Technology Major Project and National Key Research and Development Program. His main research areas include the thermal chemical conversion of low-rank carbon resources (such as biomass, sludge, and low-rank coal), and industrial catalytic technologies. He leads over 30 research projects, including key national research and development projects and seven National Natural Science Foundation projects (one of which is a Major Project). He has published more than 190 SCI papers in journals such as Energy & Environmental Science, JACS, Applied Catalysis B, and AIChE Journal, with over 8,800 SCI citations. He serves on the editorial boards of Carbon Resources Conversion (IF=7.5) and as a vice-chairman of the Expert Committee of the China Energy Society, as well as a committee member of three specialized committees of the Chinese Chemical Society. He has won multiple awards, including the HouDebang Chemical Innovation Award, the Engineering Thermochemistry Innovation Award, and the First Prize of the 'Invention and Innovation Award' from the China Association for Inventions, all as the first recipient.

Co-Chair: Prof. Zhidan LIU
China Agricultural University, China
zdliu@cau.edu.cn 
Co-Chair: Prof. Donghai Xu
Xi’an Jiaotong University, China
xudonghai@mail.xjtu.edu.cn 

Prof. Dehua LIU is an International Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and the Director of Institute of Applied Chemistry, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University. He’s also the Director of Tsinghua-UFRJ China-Brazil Center for Climate Change and Energy Technology Innovation and China-Latin America Joint Laboratory for Clean Energy and Climate Change.
Prof. LIU Dehua has expertized in the field of biochemical engineering with specific focus on renewable resources, bio-energy engineering, fermentation technology, bioreaction engineering, and metabolic engineering. He has published more than 200 papers and held more than 60 patents.
As director of Tsinghua-UFRJ China-Brazil Center for Climate Change and Energy Technology Innovation (CCBCE), with the support from both governments, for 16 years Prof. LIU Dehua has been cooperating with Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, promoting mutual technology transfer between China and Brazil. With the successful experience with Brazil, CCBCE has created a cooperation model when collaborating with other Latin American countries.
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Co-Chair: Prof. Xuebing ZHAO
Tsinghua University, China

zhaoxb@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn