Frank Zhu

Frank Zhu is currently a senior technology fellow at Honeywell UOP, where he has worked for 19 years. He has dedicated his career to research and applications in process development. Prior to joining Honeywell UOP, Zhu was a faculty member and served as a reader at The University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. Zhu has conducted pioneering work on molecular analysis for process synthesis and operation optimization based on multiscale modeling. His university research was sponsored by an industrial research consortium, including ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Honeywell UOP, and AspenTech, among others. At Honeywell UOP he initiated an Engineering Innovation Group for sustainable innovation focusing on improving process and equipment designs, which led to the most efficient designs for major refining and petrochemical processes in the world. His recent articles in Chemical Engineering Science, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, and Chemical Engineering Progress show his pioneering research in integrating quantum chemistry with molecular modeling and mathematical optimization to guide process development. He is the author of more than 100 research articles and more than 70 patents. He is also the author of three books on process development and one upcoming book entitled Digitalization and Analytics for Smart Plant Performance: Theory and Applications (2021), which are all under Wiley and endorsed by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). 

Zhu is the recipient of the AIChE Energy and Sustainability Award, the Honeywell UOP Technical Leadership Award, and the Honeywell UOP Most Valuable Patent Award. He has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Adelaide in Australia.