Rate My Professor Zhiwu Wang

Zhiwu Wang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). He earned a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, in 2007, and a B.E. in Environmental Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology, China, in 2000. Wang joined Virginia Tech in 2015 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, advancing to Associate Professor in Biological Systems Engineering in 2024 with a 50% research and 50% extension appointment. Previously, he was Director of the Renewable Energy Program at The Ohio State University (2014-2015) and Visiting Assistant Professor there (2011-2014), following postdoctoral research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (2009-2011) and Washington State University (2007-2009). Since 2017, he has served as Co-Director and Director of the Center for Applied Water Research and Innovation at Virginia Tech, fostering graduate research collaborations with utilities and industry partners.

Wang's research specializes in bioenergy and bioproducts, water and wastewater treatment, nutrient removal and recovery, and upscaled bioprocessing. His work advances biotechnologies for resource recovery, including bioprocess intensification, thermal hydrolysis-enhanced anaerobic digestion, biological nutrient recovery, and conversion of waste to biofuels and bioplastics. Key publications include "Carbon-Efficient Nutrients Removal from Real Municipal Wastewater Under Conditions of Highly Variable Influent Quality and Low Temperature" (Chemical Engineering Journal, 2024), "Anhydrous volatile fatty acid extraction through omniphobic membranes by hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents" (Water Research, 2024), "State of the Art of Aerobic Granulation in Continuous Flow Bioreactors" (Biotechnology Advances, 2018), and the book chapter "Bioconversion of methane to chemicals and fuels by methane oxidizing bacteria" (Advances in Bioenergy, 2020). He has earned the 2025 Saied and Parynaz Mostaghimi Excellence in Applied Research Award and the 2026 CAPEES-Starlight Innovation Award. Wang contributes to the field as an editorial board member for Water Environment Research and Journal of Environmental Sciences.