Lilo Pozzo

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

2018 Education Award Winner

Lilo Pozzo is a Professor of Chemical Engineering and the Boeing–Roundhill Endowed Professor for Excellence in Engineering, as well as an Adjunct Professor of Human-Centered Design and Engineering, at the University of Washington. From 2021 to 2023, she served as interim chair of the Materials Science department. She leads the Pozzo Research Group, which focuses on control and optimization of material structures for applications in alternative energy, synthesis, separations, medicine, and more. 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. In addition to her own research and lectures, Pozzo mentors and advises both graduate and undergraduate students conducting independent research projects, leads efforts teaching technology entrepreneurship to engineering students, and has been actively involved in the successful launches of three student-led technology ventures. Pozzo 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. Pozzo has been honored with several awards, including the Anne Mayes Neutron Scattering Award (2022), the University of Washington College of Engineering Distinguished Teaching Award (2018), and the U.S. Department of Energy Early Career Award (2013). Together with her research group, she has authored nearly 100 research publications, including two book chapters, and holds two U.S. patents. She serves on the editorial board of the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Digital Discovery. Pozzo holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez.