Leading materials scientist joins Asia's sixth-best university from US's Georgia Tech

The Italian-born materials scientist has been appointed Dr William M W Mong Professor of Nanotechnology and Chair Professor in HKUST's newly established Department of Materials, the university announced in a social media post on Oct. 1. HKUST ranked sixth in Asia in the QS Asia University Rankings 2026, which assessed more than 1,500 institutions.

The university expects him to advance research into materials used in electronics and energy technologies, while strengthening collaboration with academic institutions and industry partners.

Facchetti specializes in developing materials for flexible displays, wearable sensors, solar cells and energy storage devices.

Yuanyuan Zhou, acting head of the department, said in the university announcement that his experience in turning scientific discoveries into commercial technologies would help establish new research directions and train future engineers and materials scientists.

Before joining HKUST, Facchetti had been a professor and Hightower Chair at the Georgia Institute of Technology's School of Materials Science and Engineering since 2022.

He was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 2025 for developing electronic materials and devices suitable for commercial production. Membership is considered one of the highest professional honors for engineers in the U.S. According to Georgia Tech, he has published more than 600 research papers and holds more than 120 patents.

Materials scientist Antonio Facchetti. Photo courtesy of Georgia Institute of Technology

Facchetti earned a chemistry degree and a doctorate in chemical sciences from the University of Milan in Italy before pursuing research in the U.S.

Alongside his academic career, he has helped bring advanced electronic materials to market. In 2005, he co-founded Polyera, a technology company that became Flexterra in 2017, and has served as its chief technology officer. The company develops flexible thin-film transistors, tiny electronic switches that control electrical signals and can be used in bendable screens, including electronic paper and OLED displays.

His research also extends to bioelectronics, which combines electronic devices with living systems. One project explores integrating electronic circuits with growing plants to monitor biological processes. Facchetti shifted his focus toward academic research as Flexterra increasingly concentrated on customers and mass production in Asia, according to a Georgia Tech profile.

His work has earned recognition from several international scientific organizations, including the National Academy of Inventors, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Materials Research Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry.

He was recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher from 2014 to 2024 and named among the world's top 100 materials scientists for 2000–2010 by Thomson Reuters. He was also inducted into the Advanced Materials Hall of Fame in 2019.