Dr. Jinwen Zhang will bring his expertise in biobased polymer materials to bear on the Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance project. He has conducted research in the synthesis of new biobased polymers, polymer toughening and reinforcing, microcellular foaming and novel fiber spinning technology. He has won competitive grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Energy, the United Soybean Board and the Washington Technology Center and Industry.
Currently, Dr. Zhang is an associate professor in the Composite Materials and Engineering Center at Washington State University. Previously, he was a research associated at the Institute for Plastics Innovation at UMAA Lowell & Metabolix in Cambridge, Mass., and a consulting chemist at Bio-Crystals, Corp. in Boston.
He earned his Ph.D. in polymer science from the University of Massachusetts in 1997.