A new $21 million gift from San Diego-based biotech leader and philanthropist Aiiso Yufeng “Jeff” Li and his wife, DongDong “Doreen” Li, honors unique efforts at the University of California San Diego to link chemical and nano engineering more strongly — in education and research.
The department that houses UC San Diego’s chemical and nano engineers will be named the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering.
This gift is one-half of two independent milestones for the nano engineers and chemical engineers at the Jacobs School of Engineering.
First, to reflect the department’s longstanding efforts to link its existing strengths in chemical and nanoengineering more strategically, the engineering terminology in the department name has changed from “NanoEngineering” to “Chemical and Nano Engineering.”
Second, these longstanding efforts at UC San Diego to better link chemical engineering and nano engineering inspired Li, a nanoengineer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, and his wife and their family, to pledge $21 million to the Jacobs School of Engineering.
The Li family’s gift will support education and research initiatives aimed at strengthening the ties between the two fundamentally complementary disciplines of chemical engineering and nano engineering within the department. The largest two research focus areas within the department are nanomaterials for human health and nanomaterials for sustainable energy.
“UC San Diego is proud to be at the forefront of engineering innovation, and the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering is a testament to our commitment to pushing boundaries and driving progress,” said Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla.
“By combining these two fields, we are poised to unlock new discoveries that will improve lives and transform industries. We are deeply grateful to Jeff and Doreen for their visionary support, which will accelerate our pursuit of breakthroughs and cement UC San Diego’s position as a global leader in engineering education and research.”
Li is the founder and chief strategy officer of CorDx, a global biotech company and leader in the inventing and manufacturing of in vitro diagnostics.
“I am inspired by the department’s vision to unite the disciplines of chemical engineering and nano engineering more fully, with the ultimate goal of benefiting humanity,” said Li. “A large part of our success at CorDx can be traced back to our desire and ability to integrate nano-scale science and engineering with chemical engineering. I believe this convergence of nano-scale engineering and chemical engineering represents a bright future for manufacturing in the U.S.”
In 2007, UC San Diego created the Department of NanoEngineering, which brought together new degree programs and emerging research efforts in nanoengineering with existing degree programs and research efforts in chemical engineering.
This initiative was driven by the fact that nanotechnology had become an important academic subject in terms of education and research. Also, a wide range of industries expressed growing nanotechnology workforce needs.
Aiming to bridge the gap between nanoscale discovery and scalable production and manufacturing, the university integrated its chemical engineering degree programs and research into the nanoengineering department.
Over the next 17 years, this visionary plan has enhanced the translation of nanoscale research into a wide range of practical applications.
Since that time, the department has made significant strides through interdisciplinary research that links experts from diverse fields, including chemical engineering, nanoengineering, materials science, biomedical engineering, chemistry, physics, biology, medicine, and more.