Wim Thielemans is a Full Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering of KU Leuven, Belgium. He is also an International Chair member at the Université de Lille, France, and the Chair of the Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division of the American Chemical Society. He obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA, in 2004, working with Prof. Richard Wool on lignin use in bio-based composite materials. After 2 years as a postdoctoral researcher/Marie Curie research fellow working with Profs. Alain Dufresne and Naceur Begacem at Pagora, Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, France, he moved to the University of Nottingham, UK, in 2006 to start his independent career as a Lecturer in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in a joint appointment between the School of Chemistry and the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering. In 2013, Wim moved to KU Leuven, Belgium, with an Odysseus Fellowship from Research Foundation Flanders where he started the Sustainable Materials Lab, which he currently still leads. The Sustainable Materials Lab conducts both fundamental and applied research in the development of sustainable materials solutions, including the development of advanced materials from cellulose and starch nanocrystals, lignin-based polymers, and chemical recycling of (mixed) petroleum and bio-based polymers.