Karen Lozano


Dr. Karen Lozano is a Mexican American researcher who is the department chair and Trustee Professor of Materials Science & NanoEngineering at Rice University. She studies carbon nanofiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites. She was elected Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2020 and the National Academy of Engineering in 2023.
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Early life and education

Lozano was born in Mexico. Her mother was a seamstress. She studied mechanical engineering at the University of Monterrey and the year she graduated, she was the only woman to earn a degree in mechanical engineering. Researchers from Rice University visited Monterrey as part of an outreach project, and recruited Lozano to join for a doctoral position. She was the first Latin American woman to earn a PhD from Rice University.

Research and career

Lozano joined the faculty at the University of Texas–Pan American, where she worked on new approach to mass-produce nano nanofibers. In 2009 she launched FibeRio, a company that could mass-produce nanofibers through a clean,cheap, and facile process coined Forcespinning. Fiberio makes use of Cyclone ForceSpinning Systems, which uses centrifugal forces to pull nanofibers for industrial and medical applications. She took part in a roundtable discussion with Barack Obama about entrepreneurs in the United States in 2013.
In 2009, Lozano was awarded a National Science Foundation award to build a partnership between the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and University of Minnesota to create a materials science research center. The center looks to train undergraduate and graduate students from Hispanic backgrounds to pursue careers in materials science.
In 2022, Karen Lozano and her team received a Lone Star Emmy Award for their work on the educational program Energía y Tú, which focuses on energy topics and sustainability.
In 2023, Dr. Karen Lozano, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley professor of Mechanical Engineering and Julia Beecherl Endowed Professor, was elected into the prestigious National Academy of Engineering. She is the first UTRGV professor ever to receive this honor and one of only three Texans in this year’s cohort of electees. The academy cited her “contributions to nanofiber research and commercialization and mentoring of undergraduate students from underserved populations.”
Karen Lozano became the Chair of the Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering at Rice University on January 1, 2025, succeeding Pulickel Ajayan.

Awards and honors

Selected publications

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