The Grainger College of Engineering

Na Wei

Na Wei
Na Wei
  • Associate Professor
(217) 333-1965
3215 Newmark Civil Engineering Building

For More Information

Research Interests

  • The overarching theme of our research is to understand and manipulate microbial systems at the molecular level for beneficial applications towards environmental sustainability. Our research lies at the interface of environmental engineering and synthetic biology, specific areas of reseach are below.
  • Plastic degradation and upcycling (biocataslyst engineering, AI-driven enzyme discovery)
  • Resource recovery from waste streams (e.g., recovery of rare earth elements, phosphorus recovery)
  • Renewable biocatalysis for water reclamation and reuse
  • Disease control to protect public health

Research Areas

Journal Editorships

  • Editor, Journal of Hazardous Material
  • Associate Editor, Critical Reviews in Biotechnology

Honors

  • NSF CAREER Award (2017)
  • CAPEES Founding President Best Paper Award (2017)
  • American Chemical Society C. Ellen Gonter Research Paper Award (2023)

Teaching Honors

  • List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent (2023)
  • List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent (2024)

Recent Courses Taught

  • CEE 330 - Environmental Engineering
  • CEE 440 - Fate Cleanup Environ Pollutant
  • CEE 444 - Env Eng Principles, Biological
  • CEE 595 G - Environmental Engr Seminar
  • CEE 598 EMB (CEE 598 EMO) - Environ Molec and Synth Bio

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