Professor Wei Gao, ONZM, FRSNZ, FEngNZ is a materials scientist and Professor at the University of Auckland, where he leads the Advanced Materials and Nano-Technology Research Centre. He received his D.Phil. from the University of Oxford, UK, and worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, for five years before moving to New Zealand.

Professor Gao is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand (FRSNZ, 2001) and a Fellow of Engineering New Zealand (FEngNZ, 2003). His research spans a broad range of areas, including metals and metal processing technologies, nanostructured materials, energy materials, photocatalysis and environmental applications, semiconducting oxides and electronic thin films, advanced coating and surface technologies, light metals and alloys, high-temperature corrosion and oxidation, high-temperature superconductors, electronic ceramics, photoluminescent materials, titanium-based alloys and composites, intermetallics, rapid solidification, amorphous alloys, electron microscopy and microanalysis, and computational modelling and AI applications in materials processing and performance.

Over a distinguished academic and research career spanning more than 40 years, Professor Gao has published over 700 journal papers, 16 books and book chapters, 16 patents, and more than 200 conference papers. He has chaired or co-chaired ten international conferences and delivered keynote or panel presentations at over 30 international events. He has led and completed more than 20 major research projects, including both government-funded and industry-supported programs.

As a principal supervisor, Professor Gao has supervised more than 80 PhD students and over 50 Master’s students. His research outcomes have been successfully translated into industrial applications, including the establishment of companies to commercialise new technologies. He also maintains extensive international collaborations with colleagues and universities across China, Australia, the USA, Japan, the UK, Korea, Singapore, and many other countries.

Professor Gao’s outstanding contributions to materials science have been recognised by numerous prestigious fellowships, medals, and awards, including:

• Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) – 2016
• Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand (FRSNZ) – 2001
• Fellow of Engineering New Zealand (FEngNZ) – 2003
• R.J. Scott Medal, Royal Society of New Zealand – 2001
• Shorland Medal, Royal Society of New Zealand – 2015
• Cooper Medal, Engineering New Zealand – 2013
• James Cook Research Award – 2004–2005
• Marsden Fund Research Grants – 2001, 2009, 2010
• Li Xun Lectureship Award, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences – 2006
• Outstanding Chinese Materials Scientist Award, National Natural Science Foundation of China – 2009
• Royal Society Visiting Fellowship (UK) – 1986–1987
• Fellowship of the UK Science and Engineering Association – 1986–1988