**About the Editor**

#### **Takuya Kitaoka**

Takuya Kitaoka is a professor at the Department of Agro-Environmental Sciences, Kyushu University, Japan, in charge of nanomaterials chemistry and sustainable bioresources science. He graduated from The University of Tokyo, Japan, in 1993. He received his M.Sc. (Forest Products Science) in 1995 and his Ph.D. (Agricultural and Life Science) in 2000, both from The University of Tokyo, Japan. He started his career at the National Printing Bureau (Japanese banknote manufacturer) in 1995. In 1998, he changed his occupation to Kyushu University, as an Assistant Professor. He promoted an Associate Professor in 2003 and the current position in 2013. He was engaged in paper and cellulose chemistry, especially for paper sizing, wet-end process chemistry, and functional paper composites. Recently, he has expanded his research into the advanced fields of biomaterials and catalysts, e.g., nonaqueous biocatalysis, biomedical biomaterials, organocatalytic nanomaterials and organic-inorganic hybrid nanomaterials. He has a lot of academic achievement as follows: 127 publications in international journals, 21 book chapters, 35 review articles, 27 patent applications and 21 invited/keynote speakers in international conferences. He was awarded "The Young Scientists' Prize"by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan in 2007, "JSPS PRIZE"by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science in 2011, "The Cellulose Society of Japan Award"by the Cellulose Society of Japan in 2013, and "Fiber Science and Technology Award"by the Society of Fiber Science and Technology, Japan in 2014.
