Dr. Tomonori Saito is a distinguished R&D staff member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and a joint faculty at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. As a synthetic polymer chemist (Ph.D. 2008 Virginia Tech), he has extensive experience in synthesis and various applications of well-defined polymers. He currently leads or co-leads multiple polymer science projects at ORNL including polymer upcycling, vitrimer composites, dynamic polymers, self-healing materials, building materials, polymer electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries, fuel cells, and flow batteries. He has published more than 140 peer-reviewed articles (h-index 53), received 14 issued patents, and won R&D 100 awards in 2012, 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2024. He has received several awards including Battelle’s 2023 Inventor of the Year.