Xi Chen is an Associate Professor in the Nanoscience Initiative at the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC) and the Department of Chemical Engineering at the City College of New York. He grew up in China and earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Tsinghua University, followed by a Ph.D. from Stevens Institute of Technology. Chen then completed a postdoc in Biological Sciences at Columbia University. Chen is recognized as a leader in hygroscopic materials. He is the recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, was a finalist for the Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists, and has been recognized as a World Economic Forum Expert in the Future of Energy and Water and a Future Leader in the Science and Technology in Society (STS) forum. His current research focuses on deciphering powerful and efficient evaporation-induced mechanical deformations in biological systems and replicating these mechanisms outside the biological context for application in water-responsive locomotion, green chemistry, and evaporation energy harvesting.