Zhiwu ‘Drew’ Wang awarded Elizabeth and James E. Turner ’56 Faculty Fellowship
Zhiwu “Drew” Wang, associate professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech, has been honored with an Elizabeth and James E. Turner ’56 Faculty Fellowship by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
Four Turner Faculty Fellowships were established with a generous gift from Elizabeth and James E. Turner Jr. ’56. Two of the faculty fellowships are in the College of Engineering and two are in the Department of Biological Sciences and Engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The faculty fellowships enable Virginia Tech to recognize faculty excellence.
A member of the Virginia Tech community since 2015, Wang has excelled in research and scholarship in the field of biotech engineering. The goal of his work is to develop sustainable biotechnologies to convert wastes to high value bioproducts. His collaborative research has been supported by more than $6 million in new external funding under his administration over the past three years.
Wang’s Extension program is unique in its industry-based focus and its success in rapidly translating research results to acceptance and implementation in practice. He is the director of the Center for Applied Water Research and Innovation, which provides more than $2 million in funding to 17 applied research projects across Virginia and the mid-Atlantic. Together with colleagues in multiple colleges and departments, Wang has been instrumental in forging a new partnership with Dongsung Chemical Company Ltd., which has subsequently led to research support for his program and to the licensing of technology developed under his leadership.
Working with BioMADE, a nonprofit consortium funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, Wang formed an additional partnership with Capra Biosciences that is supporting the integration of distributed manufacturing, student training, and accelerated translation to industry adoption.
He has published 21 book chapters and 108 peer-reviewed scientific papers, including 39 in the past three years, in outlets that include his profession’s most influential journals.
Wang received his bachelor’s degree from Harbin Institute of Technology in China and his Ph.D. from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
