Professor Zhang is an inspiring leader in marine biorefinery and bioproduct development technologies, and he has passionately pursued an overarching career driving translational research with industry impacts. 

An entrepreneurial academic champion, Wei’s vision to connect formerly disparate marine bioproducts research and commercial sectors led to growing Australia’s industry R&D capability and market impacts into a new 3rd-Gen marine bioproducts industry, sustainably utilising Australian untapped marine bioresources. 

He was the driving force behind ground-breaking work in functional foods, nutraceuticals, cosmetics and biomaterials, leading to the successful $270m Marine Bioproducts CRC. Wei’s advanced bio-refinery technologies allow Australia to use untapped unique marine bioresources sustainably, creating new sectors for Australia’s research ecosystem and economy.