Danqing Liu
Interactive Polymer Actuators & Devices at Project Lead
Research profile
With her broad background in various disciplines (electric, mechanical and chemical engineering), Danqing Liu is a materials scientist. She develops ‘human interactive materials’ where the materials sense, feel and communicate with human or machines. The approach is fill the field between molecular sciences, such as synthetic organic chemistry, and the dimensions of the more macroscopic materials including morphology and shape control. Special in the approach is the transfer or even amplification of the responsive (dielectric-, ferroelectric-, piezoelectric-, and/ or photo-chemical) effects of a single molecule to the macroscopic level of a device. This is realized by incorporating the functional molecules into suitable and cooperative host materials, such as liquid crystals.
Academic background
Danqing Liu received her master degree in Electrical Engineering in 2009 at the Delft University in The Netherlands. She joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands for her PhD research. She developed polymer responsive surfaces based on hydrogels and liquid crystal polymers. She received her PhD degree in 2013. In the same year she joined the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry at the same university working as postdoctoral student on new mechanisms of surface activation. In 2015 she was Research Fellow at the Institute of Complex Molecular Systems in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. In 2019 she is appointed as Assistant professor (Tenured), in 2023 she is appointed as Associate professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology. In 2020 she has received Michi Nakata Prize for Early Career Achievements from International Liquid Crystal Society. In 2021, she is appointed as Visiting professor at South China Normal University, P. R. China. Since 2015, she has received funding >7 million euros to support her research, including NWO Veni, OTP, Startup, Marie Curie ITN.