Dr Liu has made outstanding contributions in coal gasification, IGCC, catalysis and olefins production. His influential leadership in shaping modern coal refining technologies spans basic science through to its application, with more than 80 patents. He and his teams have several world firsts: a technology to measure catalyst coking in-situ, a catalyst for production of ethylene, an on-board gasoline processor for fuel cell cars and the world?s largest IGCC plant. In recent years, he led a highly influential team at Shenhua Research / National Institute of Clean and Low-carbon Energy (NICE), tackling reducing emissions from the use of coal.