Shaowei Chen finished his undergraduate studies in China in 1991 with a BS degree in Chemistry from the University of Science and Technology of China, and then went to Cornell University receiving his MS and PhD degrees in 1993 and 1996 respectively. He is currently a Professor of Chemistry and the Faculty Director of the UCSC COSMOS program. In addition, he serves as the Associate Editor of Energy and Environment Focus and Science of Advanced Materials; as well as being a member of the Editorial Boards for the Journal of Nanoengineering and Nanosystems and Journal of Electrochemistry.