Liu has been awarded the 2010 Early Career Faculty Fellow Award from the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society.

Liu earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in materials science from the University of Science and Technology in Beijing.

He followed in the footsteps of a friend of one of his professors, joining him on the faculty at WVU in 2000.

Since then, he has collaborated in nearly $15 million of externally funded research.

An assistant professor Liu sees his research as helping improve the use of coal.

“Except for West Virginia and Wyoming, everybody hates coal,” he joked.

“Everybody says, ‘Oh, renewables, renewables.’ But there’s not much you can do with renewables,” he said.

“Based on any reasonable assumption, by 2030, coal’s supply of electricity will drop from 49 percent to 46 percent — which means we will still have almost half of the supply coming from coal.”

In one project, Liu and his students are contributing to research coordinated by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory to help develop a new type of coal-fired power plant, the Integrated Gasification Fuel Cell system.

IGFC builds on the Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle, or IGCC, the next-generation technology in coal-fired power that will allow for easy capture of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

IGFC puts a solid oxide fuel cell between the coal gasifier and the steam turbine, boosting power output, Liu explained.

Liu and his team developed a new electroplating method that makes connections among multiple fuel cells more efficient. That contributes to high efficiency in the system overall.

With carbon capture, IGCC systems are about 40 percent efficient, while IGFC system efficiency might go well over 50 percent, according to a NETL analysis published earlier this year.

The technology could be ready for commercial use in a decade, Liu said.

In other work, Liu is researching superalloys for steam turbine blades and — his latest interest — advanced battery technologies.

At just 37 years old, Liu has published 33 papers in peer-reviewed journals and 32 conference papers, and he has submitted two patent applications.

Liu maintains his high productivity even as the father of a one-year-old boy.

“Before my son was born, I think I stayed (at the office) every day until 9 o’clock,” he said. “Now we put him to sleep around 9:30 — then my wife and I work until midnight.”

But he doesn’t take all the credit.

“Also, I have very good students,” he said. “I have a big group, and they are doing excellent work.”

Liu works closely with the students he recruits to his lab — currently three post-doctoral, four doctoral and three undergraduate students.

Liu was named the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources Outstanding Researcher in 2008 and 2009.

“He’s been a very successful and valuable young faculty in the department,” said interim department Chairman Jacky Prucz.

“Every faculty member is expected to contribute in three areas — research, teaching and service — and he’s been doing in all areas what he was expected to do,” Prucz said. “In research, he actually exceeded the expectations significantly.”

Liu would like to see West Virginia profit more from its resources.

“We can do not only mining but use that as our strength, try to develop high-value products from there,” he said. “It’s a shame to just ship our valuable coal to help other people make money. We should use our strengths and develop high technology based on what we have.”

The TMS Early Career Faculty Fellow Award recognizes an assistant professor for accomplishments that have advanced his academic institution and for abilities that broaden the technological profile of the society.

Liu will receive the award in February at the society’s annual meeting in Seattle.