Dr. Ronghua Wei, Institute Scientist and Program Director in Materials Surface Engineering, now leads the US largest research group in R&D in this area, in which there are 15 staff, while 6 people have Ph.D. degree. The group focuses on the R&D on surface engineering of materials for practical applications for aerospace, oil and gas and automotive. Dr. Wei has published over 130 technical papers, 11 books and book chapters. He owns over 30 US or world patents. In 1997 he received the highest award from Hughes Aircraft Company for invention (Malcolm R. Currie Innovation Award). In 2009 and 2017, he received two R&D100 Awards. He has served as chairman for a number of international conferences. He also has given numerous plenary or keynote speeches in international conferences. He serves as a guest professor for a number of universities.