Lilo Pozzo

Weyerhaeuser Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Member Faculty of the Clean Energy Institute, University of Washington

2018 Education Award Winner

Lilo Pozzo is an Associate Professor at the University of Washington. She also conducts research relevant to the University’s Clean Energy Institute, which supports the advancement of next-generation solar energy and battery materials and devices, as well as their integration with systems and the grid. Her research interests include developing new polymeric, colloidal, and nanoscale materials for use in the conversion and storage of clean energy. Since joining the University in 2007, she has mentored 12 PhD students and advised over 60 bachelor’s and master’s degree students conducting independent research projects in areas spanning from polymer-based solar cells to novel membrane and electrolyte materials for redox flow batteries. Pozzo also leads efforts teaching technology entrepreneurship to engineering students at all levels (graduate and undergraduate) and has been actively involved in the successful launches of three student-led technology ventures. She also led a research and service project in Jayuya, Puerto Rico, initiated in October 2017; the objective was to document the impact of extended power outages, such as those encountered after Hurricane Maria, on the health of rural patients suffering from chronic medical conditions. Her team’s efforts included performing extensive on-site patient interviews and installing 17 small-scale solar nanogrids for on-field performance evaluation. Together with her research group, she has authored over 60 research publications, including two book chapters, and holds two U.S. patents. Before joining the University of Washington, Pozzo was a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Center for Neutron Research. She obtained a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico and a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University.