Eric Hoek

Eric M. V. Hoek is an American engineer, academic, inventor, and entrepreneur. He is a distinguished professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a faculty scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research focuses on membrane technologies, nanomaterials, and water treatment processes.

Early life and education

Hoek received a Bachelor of Science in civil and environmental engineering from Pennsylvania State University in 1995. He earned a Master of Science in environmental engineering from UCLA in 1996, and a Master of Science (1999) and Ph.D. (2001) in chemical and environmental engineering from Yale University.

Career

Hoek began his academic career as an assistant professor in chemical and environmental engineering at the University of California, Riverside (2002–2004). In 2004, he joined the UCLA Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, where he became a full professor. He has also held appointments with the UCLA California NanoSystems Institute and the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.

From 2020 to 2023, Hoek served as faculty director of the UCLA Sustainable LA Grand Challenge. In 2021, he was appointed faculty scientist in the Energy Storage and Distributed Resources Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Research

Hoek’s research addresses polymer and polymer–nanocomposite membranes for reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration, and other separation processes. His work has applications in desalination, drinking water purification, wastewater treatment and reuse, oil spill cleanup, produced water treatment, critical mineral recovery, renewable energy, and biomedical separations.

He has published over 170 peer-reviewed journal articles, 20 patents, and co-edited the Encyclopedia of Membrane Science & Technology (2013). His work has been cited more than 27,000 times with an h-index of 69, according to ISI Web of Science.

Editorial and professional service

Hoek was the founding editor-in-chief of npj Clean Water, a Nature Partner Journal, and serves on editorial advisory boards for ACS ES&T Water and npj Clean Water. He was previously an associate editor and advisory board member for Desalination.

He has been a member of professional associations including the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers, American Chemical Society, Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors, and the North American Membrane Society.

Industry and entrepreneurship

Hoek has co-founded multiple water technology companies. His research group’s inventions have been commercialized through startups including NanoH2O, Water Planet, IntelliFlux, PolyCera, Hydrophilix, Active Membranes, and NEXT Membranes.

Hoek served as full-time CEO of Water Planet from January 2014 through December 2017 while on leave from UCLA. Water Planet was a water technology innovation powerhouse having commercialized three separate technologies and spun them out as three new businesses – PolyCera Membranes (acquired 2020), IntelliFlux Controls (AI/ML and physics baed automation and controls), and MembranePRO services (BOOT water treatment as a service business). Water Planet was wound down in 2018 when Hoek returned full time as a professor at UCLA again.

Hoek also served as chief scientific advisor to Ocean Therapy Solutions during the cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 and co-founded the Clean Water Project in Fiji to improve sanitation and access to drinking water.

Awards and honors

• Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize for Water Technology Research (2022)
• Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, American Society of Civil Engineers (2011)
• CH2M Hill/AEESP Doctoral Thesis Award (2002)

His companies have also been recognized with multiple Global Water Awards, including Technology Idol (NanoH2O, 2008; PolyCera, 2013; IntelliFlux, 2016; Active Membranes, 2023) and Breakthrough Water Technology Company of the Year (Water Planet, 2017). In 2017, Water & Wastewater International listed him among the Top 25 Global Water Leaders, ranking fourth.

Books published

• Hoek, E. M. V., & Tarabara, V. V. (Eds.). (2013). Encyclopedia of Membrane Science & Technology. John Wiley & Sons.
• Wu, J., Wang, J., Rao, U., Li, Y., Jassby, D., Kaner, R.B. & Hoek, E. M. V. (2021). Sustainable Desalination and Water Reuse. Morgan & Claypool.
• Wang, J., Hancock, A. D., Bhattacharjee, S., Edalat, A., & Hoek, E. M. V. (2021). Produced Water Management in Upstream Oil and Gas Production. Morgan & Claypool.