Prof. Guangzhao Mao

Prof.  Guangzhao Mao is Chair Professor of Materials Engineering and Head of the School of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh—a role she assumed in September 2024 following her tenure as Head of the School of Chemical Engineering at UNSW Sydney (2020–2024).

Mao earned her BSc in Chemistry at Nanjing University and her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. An internationally recognised leader in nanotechnology, she leads two major research streams: nanosensor manufacturing via seed-mediated electrocrystallisation, enabling scalable gas‑sensor fabrication for medical diagnostics and environmental monitoring; and nanoconjugate drug‑delivery systems that bypass the blood‑brain barrier via retrograde transport proteins for central nervous system therapeutics. Mao has received prestigious honors including a U.S. NSF CAREER Award, a Fulbright Senior Scholarship, an ELATE Fellowship, and election as Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). With a distinguished record spanning academia, leadership, and translation of nano‑engineering into real‑world applications, she is shaping the future of materials science at the intersection of engineering and health.