Sponsored by Dr. Jesse Zhu and his sister Yan Zhu in memory of their parents X. Bao and Z. Zhu.
The CSChE Bao and Zhu Innovation Award is presented to an individual, who has not reached the age of 40, for a distinguished contribution to the field of chemical engineering while working in Canada.
The 2026 awards are now open for submission.
Nominate yourself or a colleague deserving of recognition.
Press release: Award winners will be recognized at the x2026 Conference.
View the Terms of Reference and list of Past Winners
The 2025 winner of the CSChE Innovation Award is:
Giovanniantonio Natale
University of Calgary
Giovanniantonio Natale is an Associate Professor and Associate Head of Research in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Calgary. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal under the supervision of Drs. Heuzey and Carreau. Before joining the University of Calgary, Dr. Natale was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of British Columbia in Dr. Hatzikiriakos’ research group.
Dr. Natale’s research interests focus on rheology, soft matter, and both active and passive colloidal suspensions. He has spearheaded numerous discoveries linking structure-property relationships in colloidal systems, securing several patents in these areas. Dr. Natale is currently serving as President of the Canadian Society of Rheology for the 2024-2027 term and as an Advisory Board Member for the journal Physics of Fluids (2025-2029). In 2023, he was awarded the prestigious Network Fellowship from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium, aimed at fostering international collaboration based on his work with colloidal systems. He also received the Graduate Supervision Excellence Award (2022) and multiple Teaching Awards (2020, 2021) from the University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering.