Xi Chen is an Associate Professor in the Nanoscience Initiative at the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC) and the Department of Chemical Engineering at the City College of New York. He grew up in China and earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Tsinghua University, followed by a Ph.D. from Stevens Institute of Technology. Chen then completed a postdoc in Biological Sciences at Columbia University. Chen is recognized as a leader in hygroscopic materials by Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists and the NSF CAREER Award. He also serves as a World Economic Forum Expert in Future of Energy and Water. His current research focuses on deciphering powerful and efficient evaporation-induced mechanical deformations in biological systems and replicating these mechanisms outside the biological context for application in evaporation-powered locomotion, green chemistry, and electricity generation.