Active now. Dr. Yuexiao Shen is seeking 2 highly motivated Ph.D. students to join his research group at Texas Tech University in Spring or Fall 2026. Please see details in Join us. 

August 2025. We are pleased to see our nanofiltration membrane 3D tomography work published in Journal of Membrane Science.

August 2025. Graduate student Manish Kumar successfully defended his thesis and officially got his Ph.D. degree in August 2025. Congratulation! Dr. Manish Kumar!

June 2025. Dr. Yuexiao Shen has been awarded the Whitacre Engineering Research Award by the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering. This award recognizes his excellence in research over the past five years. Dr. Shen's commitment to research is invaluable to the department!

June 2025. Dr. Yuexiao Shen was recognized by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES) as one of the 2025 40 Under 40 Rising Stars in Environmental Engineering and Science.

May 2025. Our group has led a groundbreaking study revealing, for the first time, the 3D nanostructure of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes in their hydrated state, a major advancement for global water treatment technologies. We used cryo-electron tomography to visualize the nanoscale structure of RO membranes under conditions that mimic real-world water treatment environments. The findings were recently published in the journal Science Advances.

April 2025.  We are pleased to congratulate George Hana on being awarded the Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship (DDCF) at Texas Tech University. This prestigious fellowship recognizes his outstanding research contributions and supports the successful completion of his doctoral studies.

April 2025.  We are delighted to congratulate Yilang Sun on receiving the TWRI USGS Graduate Scholarship. This prestigious award recognizes his academic excellence and commitment to advancing research in water resources.

February 2025.  We are pleased to announce our 3D membrane tomography review article published in Environ. Sci. Technol. 

February 2025. Dr. Shen’s group is proud to have joined the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering team, led by Prof. Mahdi Malmali, on a $3.3 million dollar grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. This initiative aims to catalyze economic growth and job creation in the Gulf Coast and Permian Basin regions by identifying and evaluating resource opportunities. Dr. Shen’s team contributes expertise in separation technologies and resource recovery to support the project’s broader goals.

August 2024.  We are pleased to announce the publication of our research on nanofiltration for lithium extraction from brine in Journal of Membrane Science. 

May 2024. Dr. Shen’s group joined a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), led by Texas Tech University colleague Dr. Mahdi Malmali. This initiative represents a strategic investment in enhancing domestic supplies of water and minerals. Dr. Shen’s team contributes expertise in separation technologies to support sustainable resource recovery and strengthen national resilience in water and mineral supply chains.

August 2022. Dr. Shen’s group launched a $1.1 million project funded by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP). Led by Dr. Shen at Texas Tech University, in collaboration with Virginia Tech and Geosyntec Consultants, the project focuses on integrating sorbent and thermal treatment technologies to remove and mineralize PFAS from drinking water sources.

May 2022. Dr. Shen was invited to publish a perspective article entitled ‘Beating natural proteins at filtering water’ in Science.

September 2022. We are pleased to congratulate Ms. Ricki Kuvach on being awarded an NIH Supplement under Dr. Shen’s NIEHS R01 project.

October 2020. Dr. Shen’s group initiated a $1.4 million R01 project funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Co-led by Dr. Shen at Texas Tech University and Dr. Youneng Tang at Florida State University, in collaboration with Geosyntec Consultants, the project focuses on enhancing bioremediation of legacy groundwater contaminants, chlorinated solvents and 1,4-dioxane, through the use of highly selective sorbents.