Paul Braun, PhD CTO, Co-Founder

Professor Braun is the Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering, has co-appointments in both the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Chemistry, and is the Director of the Materials Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is also co-founder and CTO of Xerion Advanced Battery Corporation, is a co-founder of Autonomic Materials Inc., a company that uses biomimetic design strategies to create polymers which self-heal, most recently co-founded TearDx.

Dr. Braun’s research group uses materials chemistry and self-assembly to generate exceptional chemical, electrochemical, thermal, and optical properties. He also has a long track record in creating materials for sensing of chemical and biochemical agents including photonic sensors for detecting glucose in blood, electrochemical sensors for detecting nerve agents at ultra-low concentrations, and sensors for the detecting trace metal ions in aqueous solution.

Professor Braun currently serves as the PI for a NSF Center on Future Manufacturing and the PI or co-PI on other NIH, NSF, DOE, DOD, and company funded efforts.