I build systems that move hard technology from idea to impact.
Chemical engineer and startup operator, working where factories, frontier research, and AI meet.
B.S. Chemical EngineeringUniversity of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignUrbana, IL
Impact
- Projected manufacturing savingsProjected
- $4M+
- CPU-hours of DFT computation
- 73K
- Hackathon participants convened
- 400+
- QA intern, P&G North America
- #1
Selected work
Recent systems
Turning 1,200+ operating parameters into a factory control system
Procter & Gamble, Tabler Station
May – Aug 2026
Turned operating knowledge scattered across machines, teams, and memory into one control system the floor can run.
- Projected savings supported by the controlled-state roadmapProjected
- $4M+
- Machine centerlines consolidated and analysed
- 1,200+
- Annual scrap-cost reduction from the shelf-life SOP
- $300K+
Compressing a multi-month innovation workflow into under five minutes
Illinois Business Consulting
Sep 2025 – Present
Rebuilt a corporate innovation process that took months so it runs as a structured workflow in under five minutes.
- Structured process runtime, down from a multi-month workflow
- < 5 min
- Built as a running, client-ownable system
- n8n
- Separate M&A screening engagement in manufacturing
- Fortune 500
Screening catalyst surfaces at 73,000 CPU-hour scale
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Sep 2024 – Present
Screened catalyst surfaces for hydrogen fuel cell applications at a scale where the setup has to be right before the compute is worth spending.
- CPU-hours of DFT computation
- ~73,000
- aMOC surface configurations built and screened
- 40+
- Computational stack for construction and calculation
- ASE / VASP
Building infrastructure for hundreds of student founders
Founders: Illinois Entrepreneurs
Dec 2024 – Present
Built the recurring infrastructure — programming, partnerships, a matching platform — that outlasts any single cohort of student founders.
- Participants at Keywords, with Y Combinator
- 400+
- Startups convened at Forge
- 25+
- Investors and mentors engaged at Forge
- 30+
How I operate
One method, three layers
Select a capability to see where it shows up
Physical
Constraints that don't negotiate.
Intelligence
Turning state into decisions.
Human
Where systems actually get adopted.
Where it shows up
Background
Roles and explorations
Roles
2023 – 2024
Argonne National Laboratory
Converting science into commercial feasibility
2024 – Present
UIUC Research
Modeling materials and supply chains
2025
Credence Cleantech · LoopEra
Translating research into company direction
2025 – Present
Illinois Business Consulting
Structuring strategic and AI-enabled decisions
2026
Procter & Gamble
Deploying systems on a real manufacturing floor
2024 – Present
Founders: Illinois Entrepreneurs
Scaling teams, communities, and opportunities
Explorations
Capacitive de-ionization for biofuel separation
Argonne National LaboratorySep 2023 – Apr 2024
Stacked-electrode capacitive de-ionization design and techno-economic analysis for biofuel separation, translating lab data and 10+ studies into a feasibility report.
Polymer supply-chain Sankey analysis
University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignSep 2024 – Present
Sankey mapping of high-performance polymer supply chains, identifying where sustainable BTX alternatives could create economic value.
Concentrated solar power technical direction
Credence Cleantech SolutionsApr 2025 – Aug 2025
Two technical whitepapers defining the company's concentrated solar power direction. Sourced investment leads for a $1.5M round.
Fashion-tech strategy and life-cycle analysis
LoopEraJun 2025 – Aug 2025
Planned Chicago's first Fashion Tech Summit — 210+ participants — and ran life-cycle analysis on textile fibers to position the company.
About
Zuyu Liu

- Degree
- B.S. Chemical Engineering
- School
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- GPA
- 3.69 / 4.00
- Graduation
- May 2028
- Location
- Urbana, IL
I work where hard technology, AI, and company building meet. The problems worth having are the messy ones that cross technical and organizational lines — where the answer has to hold up on a factory floor, not in a deck.
Looking for industrial AI, advanced manufacturing, robotics, and energy teams where I can own problems end to end.
Open to 2027 internships and project work.
Recognition
Y Combinator Startup School
Summer 2026 — top 5% of applicants
2026
U.S. Presidential Scholar
1 of 161 selected nationally from 3.8M U.S. high school graduates
2024
Chancellor's Scholar
Top 125 students of 8,300 in the UIUC class
2024
Contact