Zhi-Gang Chen is currently a Professor of Energy Materials in the University of Southern Queensland (USQ). He received his Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Science, in 2008. After his Ph.D., he had worked at the University of Queensland for seven years before moving to USQ, in 2016. His research concentrates on smart functional materials for thermoelectrics and nanoelectronics from synthesizing materials to understanding their underlying physics and chemistry.