Professor Raffaele MEZZENGA

Raffaele Mezzenga received his master degree (Summa Cum Laude) from Perugia University, Italy, in Materials Science and Engineering, while actively working for the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) and NASA on elementary particle-polymer interactions (NASA Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS91). In 2001 he obtained a PhD in Polymer Physics from EPFL Lausanne, focusing on the thermodynamics of reactive polymer blends. He then spent 2001-2002 as a postdoctoral scientist at University of California, Santa Barbara, working on the self-assembly of polymer colloids. In 2003 he moved to the Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne as research scientist, working on the self-assembly of surfactants, natural amphiphiles and lyotropic liquid crystals. In 2005 he was hired as Associate Professor in the Physics Department of the University of Fribourg, and he then joined ETH Zurich on 2009 as Full Professor. In 2016 he founded BluAct Technologies, an ETH Spinoff exploiting a revolutionary technology for water purification, where he currently serves as Chief Scientific Officer. His research focuses on the fundamental understanding of self-assembly processes in polymers, lyotropic liquid crystals, food and biological colloidal systems. Prof. Mezzenga has been a visiting Professor from Helsinki University of Technology (now Aalto University), a Nestlé Distinguished Scientist, and recipient of several international distinctions such as the 2011 AOCS Young Scientist Research Award, the 2013 Dillon Medal and the 2017 Fellowship of the American Physical Society, the Biomacromolecules/Macromolecules 2013 Young Investigator Award of the American Chemical Society, and the 2004 Swiss Science National Foundation Professorship Award.