Wil is the Charles Victor Schelke Endowed Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering. He leads the Living Materials Lab, which explores innovative bio-inspired building materials and living architecture. To date, Wil has received $14.5 million in sponsored research funding as principal investigator and $13.2 million as co-PI or senior personnel. He is the author of more than 100 technical journal papers, book chapters, and conference proceedings. A sample of his recognitions include the NSF CAREER Award, Engineering News Record Top 25 Newsmakers, and Schmidt Science Polymath Award. He is also a co-founder of three startups — Prometheus Materials, Minus Materials and Aureus Earth.
The associate dean for innovation and entrepreneurship is a new role that will be supported by gift funds over the next four years. We look forward to having Wil define this position and lead our growth in translational research across the college.