Prof. Tao is Chair Professor of Textile Technology, director of Research Centre of Smart Wearable Technology, Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University since 2002. Currently she holds the Vincent and Lily Woo Endowed Professorship in Textile Technology generously supported by the Vincent and Lily Woo Trust. She obtained a BEng in textile engineering from East China Institute of Textile Science and Technology with a 1st class prize and a PhD in textile physics from University of New South Wales in Australia. Prof. Tao is former World President from 2007 to 2010, an elected Fellow of the Textile Institute, elected Fellow of American Society of Mechanical Engineering and elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Design and Commercial Applications, UK. Prof. Tao is Editor-in-Chief for Handbook of Smart Textiles by Springer, and serves as Associate Editor or Editorial Board Member of more than 10 key academic journals of the field.
Prof. Tao is internationally known for her leading research work on intelligent fibrous materials, nanotechnology, photonic fibres and fabrics, flexible electronic and photonic devices, smart wearable technology, yarn manufacturing and textile composites. Prof. Tao has conducted numerous research projects and published more than 800 scientific publications including over 300 international journal papers and 7 research monographs. Her published work has been cited for more than 15,000 times with H-index of 61. Prof. Tao has been invited to deliver plenary/keynote presentations in over 100 international conferences. Among more than 40 awards received by Prof. Tao, the most prestigious ones include the Honorary Fellowship of Textile Institute in 2011, the highest individual award in textiles, and Founder’s Award by Fiber Society of USA in 2013, the highest individual award in the field of fiber science and technology.
Being a great devotee of scientific discovery, Prof. Tao has led a team of prolific inventors of new technologies, with thirty four granted international and national patents. Over ten of the invented technologies have been licensed to companies worldwide for industrial applications. One of them, Nu-torque single spun yarn technology, has been used by eleven yarn manufacturing companies around the world and produced new textile and apparel products worth over 10.5 billion Hong Kong dollars from 2005 to 2013. Licensing the new technologies developed by the group, several spin-out technology companies have been established by her past graduates in Hong Kong and China. One of these young spin-outs, AdvanPro Ltd who specializes in smart wearable technologies, a member company in Microsoft famous global innovation incubation program in 2014, has developed the world first production line for fabric sensors and received numerous awards nationally and internationally.
Prof. Tao also loves literature, opera and arts. She personally promotes the cross-fertilization of integration of science and arts through her research. The group’s photonic fabrics created by integrating science and arts together were invited to exhibit in Tokyo Museum of Future and Hong Kong Art Museum.
Prof. Tao was the Head of Institute of Textiles and Clothing from 2003 to 2011. During this period of time, she guided the Institute in its endeavor to become one of the leading fashion and textile departments in the world. She founded the Nanotechnology Centre for Functional and Intelligent Textile and Apparel. By working closely with the industry, Prof. Tao successfully led the PolyU team to win an ITF grant of over HK$330 million for hosting Hong Kong Research Centre for Textiles and Clothing, the largest single research grant that the University has ever received. She founded Nanotechnology Centre for Functional and Intelligent Textiles and Apparel in 2004 and Research Centre for Smart Wearable Technology in 2018. As Principal Investigator, she has successfully attracted research grants over 168 million Hong Kong dollars in the last 20 years.
Education
BEng in Textile Engineering, East China Institute of Textile Science and Technology, China, 1982
PhD in Textile Physics, University of New South Wales, Australia, 1987
Awards (selected)
Distinguished Knowledge Transfer Award (Research Excellence), PolyU, 2017.
Contemporary Inventor Award, National Invention Society of China, 2016
Founder’s Award, Fiber Society, USA, the highest individual award offered by Fiber Society, 2013
Honorary Fellow, Textile Institute International, the highest individual award offered by Textile Institute, 2010
President’s Award for Outstanding Performance/ Achievement — Research and Scholarly Activities, PolyU, 2000
Publications (selected)
Shi JD, Liu S, Zhang L, Yang B, Shu L, Yang Y, Ren M, Wang Y, Chen JW, Chen W, Chai Y, Tao XM*, 2020. Smart textile-integrated Microelectronic systems for wearable applications, Adv Mater, 32(5), 1801958.
Tao XM*, 2019. Study of Fiber-Based Wearable Energy Systems, Acc Chem Res. 52(2):307-315.
Ma LL, Zhang ZH, Li J, Yang XX, Fei B, Leung P, Tao XM*, 2019. A new antimicrobial agent: poly (3-hydroxybutyric acid) oligomer, Macromol Biosci, 19(5), 1970014.
Tao XM, 2015. “Handbook of Smart Textiles”, Springer.
Zhang L, Lin SP, Hua T, Huang BL, Liu SR and Tao XM*, 2018. Fiber-based thermoelectric generators: materials, device structures, fabrication, characterization and applications, Adv Energy Mater, .8(5):1700524.
Lu C, Yang Y, Wang J, Fu RP, Zhao XX, Zhao L, Ming Y, Hu Y, Lin HZ, Tao XM, Li YL, Chen W, 2018. High-performance graphdiyne-based electrochemical actuators, Nat Comm, 9:752.
Chen S. Tao XM*, Zeng W, Yang B, Shang SM, 2017. Quantifying Energy Harvested from Contact-Mode Hybrid Nanogenerators with Cascaded Piezoelectric and Triboelectric Units, Adv Energy Mater, 7(5), 1601569.
Xie C, Mak C, Tao XM, Yan F, Photodetectors Based on Two-Dimensional Layered Materials Beyond Graphene, Adv Func Mater, 27(19): 1603886.
Yang B, Zeng W, Peng ZH, Liu SR, Chen K, Tao XM*, 2016. A fully verified theoretical analysis of contact- mode electric generator as a power source for wearable electronics, Adv Energy Mater, 6(16), 1600505.
Zeng W, Shu L, Li Q, Chen S, Wang F and Tao XM*, 2014. Fiber-based wearable electronics: a review of materials, fabrication, devices and applications, Adv Mater 26(31):5310-5336.
Zeng W, Tao XM*, Chen S, Shang SM, Chan Wong LW, Choy SH, 2013. Highly durable all-fiber nanogenerator for mechanical energy harvesting, Energy Environ Sci, 6 (9), 2631-2638.
Shu L, Hua T, Wang YY, Li QA, Feng DD, Tao XM*, 2010. In-Shoe Plantar Pressure Measurement and Analysis System Based on Fabric Pressure Sensing Array, IEEE T Inform Tech Biomed 14(3), 767-775.
Yu JM, Tao XM* and Tam HY, Trans-4- stilbenemethanol-doped Photosensitive Polymer Optical Fiber for Grating Fabrication, Optics Lett, 29(2), 156-158, Jan. 2004.
Tao XM, 2001. “Smart Fibres, Fabrics and Clothing - Fundamentals and Applications”, Elsevier.
Patents
Among 34 patents, 12 have been licensed to industry.