Professor Dong’s main areas of research are bio-inspired chemical engineering (founder), food science and engineering, biotechnology, separation processes including drying, foam fractionation, freeze separation and membrane processing, general heat transfer and mass transfer principles, heat exchanger fouling and cleaning, spontaneous combustion of solid materials including bio-composting, powder technology including food and pharmaceutical particulates, most recently electrically active polymer (EAP) for sensor development, and also applications of chemical engineering principles to agriculture and social sciences.