Lab: Qilin Li

Dr. Yunyi (Jason) Zhu joined Professor Qilin Li’s group at the Rice WaTER Institute in April 2026. He earned his BEng (First Class Honours) and PhD from the University of New South Wales under the supervision of Profs. T. David Waite and Yuan Wang.

His doctoral research translated digital water innovations into full-scale and field-deployed systems by developing digital twins that integrate mechanistic modeling, machine learning, and Internet of Things technologies for membrane-based water and wastewater treatment processes. He deployed digital twins at multiple full-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR) plants for real-time fouling prediction and automated cleaning recommendations, as well as in Aboriginal communities in remote Australia for the monitoring, operation and optimization of membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) systems. These developments have led to several registered software copyrights and an ongoing patent application.

At Rice, Jason investigates reverse osmosis and electrodialysis for treating high-salinity produced water. His broader research interests combine membrane technologies, process modeling, and artificial intelligence to develop more reliable, scalable, and cost- effective water treatment systems.

Labs: Raul Hernandez, Rafael Verduzco, Menachem Elimelech
RiCeMe Fellow

Holly earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Purdue University in Environmental and Ecological Engineering. She then went on to earn a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Environmental Sciences and Engineering, advised by Dr. Orlando Coronell. During her master’s, she studied the role of disinfectants on reverse osmosis membrane performance. Her PhD research focused on organic solute transport mechanisms in ion exchange membranes for applications of resource recovery, energy storage, and contaminant remediation. Specifically, she investigated the role of ion exchange membrane properties on volatile fatty acid recovery and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances capture from diverse feedwaters. Holly’s current research interests include the development and application of next-generation membranes for selective contaminant remediation and simultaneous desalination. Outside of the lab, she enjoys practicing yoga, embroidering, and reading.

Labs: Haotian Wang & Qilin Li
RiCeMe Fellow

Hongbin Xu, received his undergraduate degree from Fudan University, where he conducted research under the supervision of Prof. Renbing Wu. He earned his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), advised by Prof. Ju Li, while also collaborating with Prof. Yuriy Roman and Prof. Yang Shao-Horn. He also worked in the research group of Prof. John Goodenough in 2019 at UT Austin (Nobel Prize in Chemistry). His research focuses on energy storage and conversion, including the development of high-performance energy materials, investigation of electrochemical mechanisms, and device optimization through integration with AI.

Labs: Bezawit Getachew & Yimo Han
RiCeMe Fellow

Dr. Chenhao Yao completed his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 2018, after which he joined the University of Texas at Austin as a graduate researcher under the guidance of Profs. Manish Kumar and Nathaniel Lynd, and earned his Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering in 2025. His research focuses on developing novel materials and fabrication methods to expand the use of conventional polyamide desalination membranes to the field of gas and ion purification. He is among the first to use cryo-TEM tomography technique to generate 3D structures of close-to-functional commercial polyamide membranes, advancing the understanding of their transport mechanism and structure-performance relationship. Chenhao’s long-term research aims to develop next-generation membranes for the precise recovery of critical materials, such as clean water and valuable ions, to overcome the challenges of current separation technologies including high energy consumption, unsatisfactory selectivity, and complexity in manufacturing and operation.

Labs: Michael S. Wong & Pedro Alvarez
RWI Fellow

Dr. Matthew Sima joined Professor Michael Wong’s group and the Rice WaTER Institute in August 2025. With a background in pollution remediation in the soil and water environments, Dr. Sima’s interdisciplinary work at Rice will encompass 1) exploring PFAS remediation technologies specifically in the field of photocatalytic systems and nanomaterials as part of the second phase of the US. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) pitch to pilot (P2P) program, 2) understanding the interactions of PFAS in the environment, and 3) providing recommendations for domestic and international PFAS policies and legislation.

Dr. Sima received his Ph.D. in May 2025 from the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University under Professor Peter Jaffé. There, he focused on understanding the kinetics and application of PFAS bio-defluorination by Acidimicrobium sp. Strain A6 in both contaminated soil and water. For his work, Dr. Sima received multiple awards, recognitions, and scholarships from Princeton, academic societies, and industry partners.

Dr. Sima was also a Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy (STEP) Fellow through the Princeton School of Public and Internation Affairs (SPIA) where he worked with Professor Denise Mauzerall to understand the future of PFAS remediation both domestically and internationally by evaluating global policies surrounding PFAS. There he investigated the PFAS environmental policies and regulations in three major regions of PFAS production and consumption, i.e., US, EU, and China, and proposed viable solutions to address PFAS as a global environmental contaminant.

Lab: Qilin Li
RWI Fellow

Yuxuan Huang is a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia University, under the supervision of Dr. Ngai Yin Yip. Yuxuan received his Master’s in Environmental Engineering at Columbia University and Bachelor in Energy Science and Engineering at City University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on separation technologies and ion-exchange membranes (IEMs), where he aims to advance two frontiers of the current IEM field: conductivity-permselectivity tradeoff and limitations on specific ion selectivity. The work contributes to rational development of more advanced membranes and their efficient deployment in water, energy, and environmental domains.

Lab: Menachem Elimelech
RWI Fellow

Dr. Jishan Wu joined Dr. Menachem Elimelech’s group in January 2025. His research focuses on advancing polymeric composite membranes for resource recovery and waste valorization, with an emphasis on sustainable material cycles and clean energy applications.

Prior to joining Rice University, Jishan earned his Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UCLA under Dr. Eric Hoek. His doctoral research focused on ultrahigh-pressure reverse osmosis (UHPRO) membranes for sustainable desalination, with a patent pending. He later completed a one-year postdoctoral appointment at UCLA, where he further developed the UHPRO process and integrated computational modeling to explore fundamental transport phenomena and behaviors of the polymeric membranes.

Jishan specializes in polymeric composite membranes for desalination, resource recovery, and brine mining. His research integrates computational modeling, environmental-eco evaluations, and nano-composite development for advanced membrane applications. He also employs in-operando characterization techniques such as X-ray computed tomography (XCT) and focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) to analyze membrane structures.

At Rice University, Jishan focuses on advancing membrane processes for critical resource recovery, particularly lithium, nickel, manganese, and cobalt, to support sustainable industrial applications and clean energy solutions.

Lab: Michael S. Wong

Dr. Youngkun Chung graduated with his Ph.D. in August 2022 from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Dr. Chung was awarded the Best Paper at KAIST in 2022 for his Ph.D., and selected as an outstanding Ph.D. Candidate in 2021 and Global Postdoctoral Fellow in 2023 from the Korean National Research Foundation (NRF), respectively. Before joining the WaTER Institute in August 2024, Dr. Chung made substantial contributions at Rice and the Testbed team of NEWT Center with Professor Michael Wong as a postdoc through managing several projects related to PFAS, funded by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP), the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) for pitch to pilot (P2P) program, and the Korean NRF for Global Research Collaborations with KAIST.

Dr. Chung has 17 published and soon-to-be-published papers and 5 pending/issued patents in the environmental field. His research focuses on developing advanced water treatment processes using ceramic membranes incorporated with heterogeneous catalysts, with a particular interest in environmental and energy applications that promote green and sustainable chemistry innovations. He has in-depth knowledge and skills, including synthesis of nanomaterials and inorganic membranes, analysis of micropollutants by LC/MS with various extraction methods, and the holistic design/operation of water treatment modules at laboratory- and pilot-scale