He obtained his Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon University. His research focuses on conjugated polymer and composites for energy conversion and storage, and polymer derived ceramics. He is a recipient of NSF CAREER Award and a Scialog Fellow. Please contact Dr. Zhai by e-mailing him at lzhai@ucf.edu. Dr. Zai, and his student Scott Mathews, presented their STEM Research at the Fall 2011 Illustration class, and some of the STEAM artifacts created by the students in the class are inspired by their research.