{"id":239534,"date":"2025-12-22T18:01:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T23:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=239534"},"modified":"2025-12-23T09:07:46","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T14:07:46","slug":"uconn-ims-alumna-and-external-advisory-board-member-weina-li-honored-by-sase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/12\/uconn-ims-alumna-and-external-advisory-board-member-weina-li-honored-by-sase\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn IMS Alumna and External Advisory Board Member, Weina Li, Honored by SASE"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) has honored Weina Li<\/a> with its Career Achievement Award<\/a>.<\/strong> Li is a materials scientist whose pursuit of her Ph.D. led to her doctoral research at the University of Connecticut\u2019s Institute of Materials Science<\/a> (IMS) and a career that now spans more than two decades of impact across aerospace, energy, and manufacturing.<\/p>\n

Li serves as a technical fellow in materials and chemistry at Carrier\u2014and is the first woman to hold the title of fellow<\/em> at the company. In that role, she guides research and development strategy, strengthens engineering practices, and invests in developing early\u2011career talent. She has reinforced her commitment to her alma mater by serving as a member of the IMS External Advisory Board, where she helps steer academic\/industry partnerships and workforce development.<\/p>\n

\"UConn
Weina Li (contributed photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Launching her career from the IMS laboratories under the advisement of IMS Director Steven L. Suib, Li built expertise in nanomaterials and translated that foundation into technologies that reach the marketplace. She helped secure $1.2 million in public funding to design lightweight, lower\u2011impact materials for aerospace, coordinating efforts among corporate teams, universities, and suppliers. In the energy sector, she has advanced flow\u2011battery systems through government-supported programs and commercial deployments, work that supports decarbonization goals and grid resilience.<\/p>\n

Before being named a fellow, Li led suppression chemistry programs at Carrier, managing a global network of collaborators. The program improved coordination, sharpened execution, and reduced costs in suppression\u2011agent manufacturing while accelerating more sustainable product lines. A consistent theme across her roles is aligning research milestones with customer needs and business outcomes.<\/p>\n

In additions to holding 14 U.S. patents, Li has served as a mentor to many aspiring engineers with an emphasis on preparing women and youth for success in the STEM field. Within Carrier, she champions cultural awareness and inclusivity that strengthen belonging. In the community, she volunteers in schools and language programs, encouraging young people to value cultural diversity and to explore STEM.<\/p>\n

Weina Li\u2019s career reflects the qualities SASE highlights with its Career Achievement Award: sustained technical leadership, successful cross\u2011sector collaboration, and a deep commitment to opening doors for others. For UConn, her trajectory\u2014from campus research to external advisory board service and industry leadership\u2014illustrates how the University\u2019s research enterprise and partnerships prepare scholars to deliver tangible impact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carrier Technical Fellow and UConn IMS External Advisory Board member recognized for leadership in materials, energy storage, and mentorship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":207303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,2429],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1902],"class_list":["post-239534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-awards-scholarships"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-09 20:39:06","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239534"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":239547,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239534\/revisions\/239547"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/207303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239534"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=239534"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=239534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}