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THE 2023 ASPIRE NOMINEES
The APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research, and Education (“ASPIRE”) is an annual award sponsored by Wiley and Elsevier that recognizes young scientists who have demonstrated a commitment to excellence in scientific research and collaboration with scientists in the region. This year, ASPIRE received 16 nominees contributing to the ASPIRE theme of “Inclusive Science, Technology, and Innovation for a Resilient and Sustainable Environment.”
 Australia
Dr Ma is an environmental scientist whose research is dedicated to energy harvesting and storage. His work is focused on renewable solar energy utilization and carbon capture utilization and storage, researching and developing high-performing batteries and energy storing devices. He and his fellow research collaborators have been published in a wide range of peer-reviewed journals, papers, and other publications. He is currently leading the Carbon Neutrality Group at RMIT University, where he continues to advance renewable energy technologies and carbon neutrality. | ||||||
 Canada
Dr Tutolo is a geochemist whose research is dedicated to mineralogy and geochemistry. His work has been focused on understanding clay mineral growth rates and their implications for geochemical modeling, and advanced calculations of the thermodynamic properties of geological species. He and his fellow research collaborators have been published in a wide range of peerreviewed journals, papers, and other publications. He is a Science Team Member for the Mars Science Laboratory at NASA. | ||||||
 China
Dr Xu is an electrical engineer whose research is dedicated to renewable energy and solar cells. His work has focused on the development of low-cost materials and devices to harness full-spectrum solar energy, making significant advancements using infrared colloidal quantum dots, perovskite, and silicon, with the goal of enhancing the range and efficiency of solar cells. He and his fellow research collaborators have been published in a wide range of peer-reviewed journals, papers, and other publications. He is an Advisor of Future Scientist Exchange Program (FuSEP) of the University of Science and Technology of China. | ||||||
 Hong Kong, China
Dr Lu is a material science engineer whose research is dedicated to understanding material design principles for clean energy storage and conversion. Her work is focused on electrode and electrolyte design for high energy aqueous batteries, metal-air and metal-sulfur batteries, redoxactive components, and solution chemistry for redox-flow batteries. She and her fellow research collaborators have been published in a wide range of peer-reviewed journals, papers, and other publications. She is a founding member of the Hong Kong Young Academy of Sciences. | ||||||
 Indonesia
Dr Ulhaq is a post-doctoral fellow whose research is dedicated to inclusive science, technology, and innovation. His work has been focused on sustainable environment, water pollution, and the impacts on human health. He and his fellow research collaborators have been published in a wide range of peer-reviewed journals, papers, and other publications. He is a Junior Expert Researcher for the Center for Preclinical and Clinical Medicine Research. | ||||||
 Japan
Dr Yamazaki is a civil engineer whose research is dedicated to hydrology, geodesy, and earth system sciences. His work is focused on global-scale surface water dynamics, developing models that simulate local-scale flood plain inundation and basin-wide river flow, and datasets on global river topography. He and his fellow research collaborators have been published in a wide range of peer-reviewed journals, papers, and other publications. He is a member of the Japan Society for Hydrology and Water Resources. | ||||||
 Republic of Korea
Dr Lee is an epidemiologist whose research is dedicated to public health and epidemiology. His work has been focused on utilizing mathematical models to predict the prognosis of COVID-19 in patients, environmental effects on asthma patients, and the susceptibility of psychiatric patients in locked wards to a COVID-19 infection. He and his fellow research collaborators have been published in a wide range of peer-reviewed journals, papers, and other publications. He was Chief of Goseo Public Health Center, Korea. | ||||||
 Malaysia
Dr Lai is a nanotechnology scientist whose research is dedicated to photocatalysis oxidation technology. His work is focused on designing nanosized photocatalysts that are able to minimize the loss of energy and to extend the ability of photocatalysts to be activated at visible range by utilizing the in-situ solvothermal method. He and his fellow research collaborators have been published in a wide range of peer-reviewed journals, papers, and other publications. He is a Foreign Expert/Professional for Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. | ||||||
 New Zealand
Dr Hultquist is spatial data scientist whose research is dedicated to developing computational approaches on physical and human systems for decision making during disasters. Her work is focused on remote sensing, data fusion, and modeling to understand environmental hazards, climate justice, and issues in food security. She and her fellow research collaborators have been published in a wide range of peer-reviewed journals, papers, and other publications. She is a co-chair of the Committee on Data (CODATA) Participatory Mapping task group of the International Science Council and Secretary of AGU Natural Hazards section. | ||||||
 Peru
Dr Teran is a biotechnologist whose research is dedicated to technological development, innovation, and product development. His work has focused on the utilization of agricultural residues, sustainable processes for effluent treatment, and the scaling of innovative technologies. He and his fellow research collaborators have been published in a wide range of peer-reviewed journals, papers, and other publications. He is a journal reviewer for Bioresource Technology, among other journals. | ||||||
 The Philippines
Dr Dagamac is an environmental scientist whose research is dedicated to biodiversity and conservation. His work is focused on assessing ecological patterns of slime molds in various forest habitats, modeling of invasive plant species, and myxomycetes. He and his fellow research collaborators have been published in a wide range of peer-reviewed journals, papers, and other publications. He is the Program Leader of Integrated Floristic Assessment on Vulnerable Coastal Communities of the Philippines. | ||||||
 The Russian Federation
Dr Postnikov is an organic chemist whose research is dedicated to designing functional materials to prevent, minimize, and recycle exotoxins. His work has been focused on preventing pollution by developing monitoring devices for the detection of ecotoxicants, and development of light-active catalytic systems to minimize energy consumption. He and his fellow research collaborators have been published in a wide range of peer-reviewed journals, papers, and other publications. He is the Associate Editor of the Chemistry Africa Journal. | ||||||
 Singapore
Dr Liu is a physicist whose research is dedicated to 2D materials and their applications. His work has been focused on enhancing semiconducting electrocatalysts and photocatalysts for sustainable energy, electronic device development and fabrication, and integrated Al. He and his fellow research collaborators have been published in a wide range of peer-reviewed journals, papers, and other publications. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Materials Today Catalysis journal. | ||||||
 Chinese Taipei
Dr. Yang is a microbiologist whose research is dedicated to nematology and plant pathology. Her work has focused on investigating the biology, behavior, physiology, and genetics of parasitic nematodes for crop management strategies. She and her fellow research collaborators have been published in a wide range of peer-reviewed journals, papers, and other publications. She is a Consultant for BAPHIQ Plant Quarantine Risk Assessment. | ||||||
 Thailand
Dr Butburee is a chemical engineer whose research is dedicated to a resilient and sustainable environment. His work has been focused on developing catalysts and catalytic systems for clean energy, conversion of greenhouse gases into valuable products, water treatment for the removal of contaminants, solar-harvesting technologies, and energy storage technologies. He and his fellow research collaborators have been published in a wide range of peer-reviewed journals, papers, and other publications. He is an Editor Reviewer for the Journal of Materials Chemistry A. | ||||||
 United States
Dr Halpern is a theoretical physicist whose research is dedicated to quantum thermodynamics. Her work is focused on exploring the foundations of thermodynamics in the light of quantum information theory and the popularization of these concepts through steampunk-themed products. She and her fellow research collaborators have been published in a wide-range of peer-reviewed journals, papers, essays, and other publications. She is the founding Director of the Maryland Quantum Thermodynamics Hub. |