Prof. Leon L. Shaw received a B.S. in Materials Engineering and a Master of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Fuzhou University (China), as well as a Master of Science and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering with a Minor in Mechanics and Engineering Science from the University of Florida. He worked as a Research Scientist at Systran Corporation and as a Visiting Scientist at Air Force Wright Laboratory for 2 years before joining the University of Connecticut faculty in 1995.

Dr. Shaw's teaching and research interests are in processing and mechanical properties of nanostructured materials, solid freeform fabrication, and energy materials for hydrogen storage and fuel cell applications. He was the interim head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering from 2004 to 2005. He is a Fellow of ASM International, a Fellow of the Academy of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, Poland, and a Member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. Dr. Shaw has authored or co-authored 3 editorial volumes, 5 book chapters, and over 180 archival technical publications including 112 refereed journal articles. He has made 170 plus technical presentations including 40 invited talks or keynote presentations. He holds three US patents all of which are related to nanostructured materials. He is a guest editor for several journals including Metallurgical and Materials Transactions, Materials Science and Engineering, and Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance. He also serves as a reviewer for federal funding agencies (e.g., NSF, DOE, AFOSR and CRDF) and leading journals in the field. He is an executive committee member of ASM Nanomaterials Technology Task Force and the Chairman of ASM Materials Synthesis and Processing Committee. He is cited in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in Science & Engineering. He is also an award-winning faculty advisor to the UConn ASM/TMS Student Chapter from 1998 to 2004 with the following international awards.

ASM/TMS Chapters of Excellence for Technical Programming in 1999

ASM/TMS Chapters of Excellence for Technical Programming in 2001

ASM/TMS Chapters of Excellence for Promotion of the Field in 2003

The First Place Winner of the 2003 ASM, ISS, TMS World Materials Outreach Award

The First Place Winner of the 2004 ASM, ISS, TMS World Materials Outreach Award