Dr. Taofang Zeng received the Sc.D. in mechanical engineering with a thesis in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1998. He then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California at Los Angles, where he conducted research on thermoelectrics and micro devices. He then worked with Axcelis Inc., a semiconductor equipment company, in the field of rapid thermal processing. He joined NC State University in 2001 as an assistant professor. His research areas include nanoparticle heat transfer, synthesis and application of nanomaterials in energy systems and chemical-mechanical polishing.