He Shan obtained a joint Ph.D. in Energy and Engineering Thermophysics from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the National University of Singapore. Prior to that, he received a B.E. from Chongqing University. His research focuses on functional soft materials and thermal engineering for water–energy systems. During his Ph.D., he specialized in atmospheric water harvesting, particularly systems that extract clean water from arid air. His work included developing a thermodynamic framework for hygroscopic materials and proposing new cyclic operating principles for atmospheric water harvesting systems. These advances have been translated into a spin-off company and demonstrated under real-world arid conditions.