Mohini M Sain
(PhD, P. Eng, Dr.hc. FRSC (UK), FACE)
Currently Chair Professor of Ford Motor Canada in Sustainable Materials and Director of the Centre for Biocomposites and Biomaterials Processing, and former Dean of the Faculty of Forestry at the University of Toronto. Dr. Sain specializes in advanced bionanotechnology, functional renewable energy materials and CO2 capture and utilization for chemicals and plastics, lightweight and functional carbon materials and nature-inspired advanced devices at the the University of Toronto’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. He is a fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry, U.K., and a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering.
Biosketch
Prof. Sain is known globally for his pioneering work on the Biocar Initiative: in 2009, an issue of Toronto Life magazine featured his idea as second best among 25 World Changing Ideas from the Smartest Torontonians. Dr. Sain holds several awards: A few recent ones are the North American Entrepreneurship Award, the Plastic Innovation Award and the KALEV PUGI Award for innovation and contribution to industry. He is the author of more than 550 peer-reviewed papers and is designated as a highly-cited researcher. A talent professor in Brazil approved by CNPq (Brazil’s largest government funding organization) and winner of SPARK project. His google citation in past five years is averaged over 2500 per year. He is also a team member of C4X team, and a Carbon XPrize finalist for his work on CO2 conversion to lightweight and foamed nanocellluose based lightweight composites. He has more than commercial 30 patents which are licensed to cleantech and biomanufacturing companies. He is world-renowned for his expertise in renewables in transforming research ideas into commercialization. He initiated a number of successful start-up companies that are spin-offs from his research findings. A few examples are GrenNano Technologies Inc; Natures Affinity Inc., C4X Technologies Inc, and Greencore Composites Inc. To date he has made more than 70 technology transfers to industries and has helped create new companies for making products including biomedical devices, packaging solutions, flexible electronics, and building and transportation materials.
Prof. Sain’s research activities have been documented by global television networks, magazines and radio interviews. He is the co-author of the world’s first book on cellulose nanocomposites, and has co-edited seven books and book series ranging from enzyme derived biological materials to advanced nanobiomaterials. He is involved in many global strategic research policy developments, standardizations, and research-funding strategic councils in an advisory role. He is a highly acclaimed engineering consultant in materials engineering, and works with close to 100 companies worldwide and holds advisory positions in clean tech companies. Prof. Sain is a leader in creating non-profit organizations that are highly meaningful to our society. He is the founding member of the Canadian Natural Composites Council, the Ontario BioAuto Council, and the Ontario-Jianshu Nano-Innovation Centre in Suzhou, among others. He has championed the global WPC industry by actively pursuing his global vision for this important and emerging green industry, and has helped grow this industry to an over 9-billion-dollar market.