Prof. Zhiyong Jason Ren (Linkedin:zjasonren) is a professor in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University. He serves as the center’s associate director for research and was the acting director in 2020-2021. He leads the Princeton WET (Water & Energy Technologies) Lab with research and teaching focusing on water sector decarbonization and digitalization. His group uses electrochemistry, microbiology, and data science tools to gain insights into the fundamental determining factors, and they develop models and technologies for resource recovery during environmental and chemical processes. (https://ren.princeton.edu). Prof. Ren has published more than 260 research articles, one book, and 10 granted or pending patents. He translated technologies from lab to the field and co-founded two startups with students. Prof. Ren received numerous prestigious awards including the 2024 Walter J. Weber, Jr. AEESP Frontier in Research Award, the 2021 Paul L. Busch Award, and the 2020 Walter L. Huber Research Prize. He is a Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry and the International Water Association. He is an associate editor for Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) and ES&T Letters. Ren received his Ph.D. in environmental engineering from Penn State University.

Honors, Awards, Distinctions (including awards to students)

2025 (Faculty Advisor) CAPEES-Elsevier Outstanding Graduate Student Award

2025 (Faculty Advisor) ACS Environmental Chemistry Graduate Student Award

2024 Walter J. Weber, Jr. AEESP Frontier in Research Award, The Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP)

2024 Fellow, International Water Association

2024 CAPEES Award for Environmental Application of AI/ML

2024 Innovate100 Leaders, Innovate New Jersey 

2024 (Faculty Advisor) Maeder Graduate Fellowship in Energy and the Environment (J. Jerry Jiang)

2023 Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry

2022 (Faculty Advisor) First Place Prize, Princeton Innovation Forum (S. Sean Zheng)

2022 Inaugural Excellence in Review Award, ACS ES&T Engineering

2022 Best Feature Article (co-author), Environmental Science & Technology

2021 Paul L. Busch Award, The Water Research Foundation

2021 Super Reviewer Award, Environmental Science & Technology

2021 First Place Prize, Intelligent Water Systems Challenge, The Water Research Foundation (w/Junjie Zhu, Clean Water Services)

2021 (Faculty Advisor) Best Poster Award, Andlinger Center Annual Meeting (Xi Chen)

2021 (Faculty Advisor) Best Poster Award, Andlinger Center Annual Meeting (Aaron Leininger)

2020 Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, American Society of Civil Engineers

2020 ISMET 2020 Innovation Award (w/Xi Chen)

2020 Top 10 hot article first quarter, Energy & Environmental Science

2019 CAPEES Founder’s Best Paper Award (w/Lu Lu)

2019 Best Reviewer Award, Environmental Science: Water Research Technology

2019 Best Paper Award (co-author), Environmental Science: Water Research Technology

2018 Inaugural RIO Fellow, University of Colorado Boulder

2017 Nanova/CAPEES Frontier in Research Award

2017 The Michael Kavanaugh’s Best Podium Award in AEESP2017 (non-student category)

2017 Research Development Award, Department of Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering, UCB

2017 (Faculty Advisor) Carollo Student Scholarship Award for AEESP2017 (Dianxun Hou)

2016 Top 16 News in 2016 (#3) by University of Colorado Boulder (Beer to Battery Research)

2016 (Faculty Advisor) DOE Argonne National Lab Accelerator Competition Winner (Tyler Huggins)

2016 Distinguished Service Award, Chinese-American Professor Association in Environmental Engineering and Science

2015 Top 10 Hottest Articles in Environmental Science:Water Research Technology in 2015

2015 New Inventor of the Year Award, University of Colorado Technology Transfer Office

2015 Research Development Award, Department of Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering, UCB

2014 (Faculty Advisor) 1st place in NSF ArlingtonI-Corps program review (Forrestal)

2014 (Faculty Advisor) 2nd place award on oral presentation at NA-ISMET conference (Haeger)

2013 (Faculty Advisor) Graduate School Outstanding Ph.D Dissertation Award (Wang)

2013 (Faculty Advisor) Department Outstanding Graduate Award (Wang)

2012 Excellence in Review Award, Environmental Science & Technology

2012 University Faculty Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Activities, UCD

2012 Outstanding Faculty in Research Award, College of Engineering and Applied Science, UCD

2012 Chang Junior Faculty Achievement Award, College of Engineering and Applied Science, UCD

2012  (Faculty Advisor) DOE Regional New Venture Challenge Competition 2nd Place Award (Forrest)

2012  (Faculty Advisor) Student Team Award in DOE National Sustainability Competition (Huggins)

2011  (Faculty Advisor) DOE Regional New Venture Challenge Competition 3rd Place Award (Forrest)

2007 Student Research Award, Pennsylvania Water Environment Association (PWEA)

 

Patents

Zhu, J., Ren, Z. J. Text Mining Method for Trend Identification and Research Connection, E20213BE21440004, 2021.
Zheng, S., Chen, X., Ren, Z. J. Modular 3D Evaporators for Water, Organics, and Mineral Recovery, E2021AMG12282981, 2021.

Huggins, M., Ren, Z., Biffinger, J., Love, C. Filamentous Organism-Derived Carbon-Based Materials, and Methods of Making and Using Same, 62/365,515, 2016

Huggins, M., Ren, Z., Whiteley, J., Lee, S., Fungal biomass as a template for the synthesis of carbon-based materials, 62/365,536, 2016

Ren, Z., Lu, L. Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Electrolytic Methods, 62/175,938, 2016

Jin, S., Fallgren, P., Ren, Z. Bioelectrochemical Devices for Enhanced In Situ Bioremediation, US20150353386 A1, 2014

Zuo, Y., Ren, Z., Jin, S. Bioremediation of Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soil, US9545652 B2, 2014

Ren, Z., Forrestal, C., and Xu, P, Modular Bioelectrochemical System and Method, PCT/US2012/055562, 2012

 

Synergistic Activities

Steering committee for the National Testbed Network for Energy Positive Water Resource Recovery

Chairman, President, President-Elect, Board Member of Chinese-American Professors in Environmental Engineering and Science (CAPEES)

Co-Chair and Member, Education Committee, Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP)

AEESP Student Service Committee

NSF IGERT Executive Committee

Denver Metro Wastewater Reclamation District CPG Committee

 

Journal Services

Associate Editor – Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) and ES&T Letters, by American Chemical Society 2023-

Topic Editor – Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) and ES&T Letters, by American Chemical Society 2022-2023

Associate Editor – Environmental Science: Water Research Technology, By Royal Society of Chemistry 2019-2022

Editorial Advisory Board – Energy & Environmental Science, by Royal Society of Chemistry

Editorial Advisory Board – ACS ES&T Engineering, by American Chemical Society

Editorial Advisory Board – Chemical Engineering Journal, By Elsevier

Editorial Advisory Board – Environmental Science & Ecotechnology, By Elsevier

Editorial Advisory Board – iScience, by Cell Press