Academic Credentials
  • Ph.D., Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, 2021
  • M.S., Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, 2018
  • B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), 2016

Dr. Mao is skilled in various characterization techniques that are used to understand the surface and bulk properties of polymer materials used for consumer electronics, including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasma — optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). 

Before joining Exponent, Dr. Mao was a graduate researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, and her research focused on precious metal catalysts for automotive catalytic converters. Dr. Mao specializes in the synthesis and characterization of thin-film materials. She has extensive experience in preparing sub-nanometer films using atomic layer deposition (ALD) on porous/flat surfaces for applications of automotive catalytic converters, industrial reactions, and semiconductor industries.