Luna Lu

Background

About Luna Lu

An academic leader, innovator, and entrepreneur who is passionate about bridging academia and industry to create impactful, real-world solutions. Executive Leadership in Higher Education As Vice President of Industry Partnerships at Purdue University, I am spearheading university-wide strategic initiatives to cultivate collaborations between Purdue and global industry leaders across all sectors, driving innovation, research, corporate philanthropy, workforce development and economic growth. My seasoned executive leadership experience, gained as Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs of College of Engineering, has enabled me to champion academic excellence and faculty development. My operational expertise was honed while serving as the Acting Head of Civil Engineering and Director of Co-op/ internship program, successfully growing the program, enhancing student success, and significantly boosting industry engagement. Entrepreneurship and Startup Skills My core expertise in entrepreneurship is creating enterprise value while leading high-growth innovation, exemplified by my role as Founder, Chairman of the Board, CEO/CTO of Wavelogix. This venture-backed, high-growth company successfully translated advanced research into market-disrupting intelligent infrastructure technology within 3 years. My dual experience as a founder-executive and proven expertise in scaling deep-tech ventures are continuously leveraged to mentor other startup companies in fundraising, venture scaling, strategic growth and technology commercialization. Academic Research and Innovation As an endowed chair Professor in Civil Engineering, my research centers on the discovery of functional nanomaterials with tunable properties for civil infrastructure applications. I have worked across diverse research fields developing an interdisciplinary research program that integrates elements of material science, electrical engineering, and civil engineering. Such approach has led to many technological advances and innovations, including IoT sensors for infrastructure monitoring; nanosilica for high durability concrete, high temperature thermoelectricity for waste heat harvesting, and advanced composites materials. My research has garnered national and international recognitions, receiving a number of prestigious awards and honors, including the 2014 NSF CAREER award, 2021 ASCE GameChanger recognition, 2022 ASCE Alfred Noble Prize, the best invention of 2023 by Time Magazine, 2024 Edison Award and 2024 R&D 100 finalist. In 2023, I was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).