Embodying The Mission: Research
By Cassie Montgomery
Jin Wang, the Walt and Virginia Woltosz Professor of chemical engineering, was named the 2022 recipient of the Creative Research and Scholarship Award, Auburn’s highest research honor for faculty. The award recognizes those faculty members who have distinguished themselves through research, scholarly works and creative contributions. Wang’s award is in the sciences, biomedical sciences, engineering and agriculture category.
With an innovative focus on process identification and control, systems biology and biochemical engineering, her research portfolio in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering has blossomed over the past 16 years. Projects under Wang’s leadership have included studies on smart manufacturing, biogas conversion and the process of turning organic agricultural waste into bioplastics.
Wang’s research has received funding from a wide variety of sources, including the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Transportation and the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.
As one of the few female faculty to have received the Creative Research and Scholarship Award, Wang hopes she is setting a positive example for female students at Auburn.
“I am really thrilled. It’s validation, not just for myself, but for my students in the past and present,” she said.
“And if you look in the past, not many female researchers have received this award, so I hope that I can be an encouragement to others,” she added.
Researchers