Biography
Cheng-Yu Lai earned his Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from Iowa State University (Ames, IA) in 2004, and continued his scientific training as a Postdoctoral Fellow at The Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, CA) from 2005 to 2007. Following his postdoctoral appointment, Lai joined DuPont Central Research and Development at the Experimental Station in Wilmington, DE, as a research scientist in the Division of Materials Science and Engineering. In 2012, he transitioned to academia, joining Delaware State University (DSU) in Dover, DE as an Associate Professor, and moved to Florida International University (FIU) in 2018. At FIU, Lai continues to focus on developing advanced functional materials with various applications and on building research infrastructure that facilitates student hands-on training. In 2021, Lai received a Secondary Appointment in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at FIU. His scholarly output includes more than 45 peer-reviewed journal articles, 28 presentations and conference proceedings, one book chapter, and seven granted patents. Since joining FIU, Lai has secured over $5 million in funding as Principal Investigator (PI) and has served as Co-PI on collaborative projects totaling more than $20 million, with funding support from NASA, DoD, NSF, and USDA. Currently he serves as PI and Director of the FIU NSF NRT Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE) program and the FIU NASA-funded High Volume Manufacturing program.
Awards & Honors
- 1. 2024 Faculty Awards in Research, College of Engineering and Computing, FIU
- 2. 2023 Departmental Research Excellence Award, Mechanical and Materials Engineering
- 3. 2022 Departmental Teaching Excellence Award, Mechanical and Materials Engineering
Education
- Ph.D. 2004
- Master’s Degree 1996
- Bachelor’s Degree 1994