Lin Li (engineer)
# Lin Li (engineer)

Lin Li, FREng, CEng, FIET, FLIA, FCIRP (Chinese: 李林; pinyin: Lǐ Lín), is a professor of laser engineering at the University of Manchester.

## Early life

Li earned his BSc in control engineering from Dalian University of Technology in 1982 and his PhD in laser engineering from Imperial College, London in 1989.

## Career

Li worked as a postdoctoral research associate in high power laser engineering at the University of Liverpool from 1988 to 1994. He joined UMIST in 1994, where he established the first high-power laser processing research laboratory and its associated research group. He became a full professor in 2000. He invented the microsphere super-resolution optical nanoscope with a 50 nm resolution and has 47 patents in the field of laser processing and photonic science. His current research relates to the use of graphene in welding.

He is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Engineering and Technology, the Laser Institute of America, the International Academy for Production Engineering, and a Chartered Engineer.

In 2017 it was announced that the LIG Nanowise, a spin-off company from the University of Manchester chaired by Li, had invented new microscopy techniques that can quadruple the resolution of optical microscopes.

## Awards

His awards include:

* Arthur Charles Main Award from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in 2001 for work in laser based nuclear decommissioning technology
* Sir Frank Whittle Medal from the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2013 for achievements in engineering innovations in manufacturing
* Wolfson Research Merit Award of the Royal Society for his research into laser nano-fabrication and nano-imaging, 2014.
* Researcher of the Year in Engineering and Physical Sciences at The University of Manchester in 2014.
