Dr. Helen Zha received her B.Sc. (2007) from MIT and her Ph.D. (2013) from Northwestern University in Materials Science & Engineering. After pursuing postdoctoral research at Eindhoven University of Technology and UC Berkeley, Helen started as a tenure-track assistant professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering in 2018. Work in the Zha Lab aims to develop new biomimetic materials for applications in healthcare and sustainability. Helen has received an NSF CAREER Award, published 22 peer-reviewed journal articles and awarded 2 patents to date, and currently sits on the Advisory Board of Materials Innovation Initiative, a non-profit organization aiming to fast-track the development of next-gen sustainable materials for the consumer goods industry.