Company

We believe in a better life through science and design.

LifeLabs is a materials science company founded by Professor Yi Cui, director of Stanford University’s advanced materials laboratory, and Meng Sui, a chemist and CEO of clean-energy foundry EEnotech. 

EEnotech’s history of developing innovative solutions to society’s most pressing issues: clean energy storage, water purification, thermoregulation, combined with Professor Cui’s background in energy and environmental technologies - from electric car batteries to wind and solar energy storage to soil filtration - promises a focus on sustainability unprecedented within the textile industry. 

Every LifeLabs technology is developed scientifically to reduce energy consumption. To date, we have 11 patents designed to allow humans to use less energy. Our vision is to drive these solutions further by making these technologies and materials available to companies across different industries, shifting the way that we think about fabric and its environmental impact.

Our Team

Yi Cui

Yi Cui

Co-Founder

Bio

From clean-energy storage to water purification, thermoregulation to air filtration, Professor Yi Cui, of Stanford University’s Materials Science and Engineering, has supported sustainability through science for more than 15 years. But his latest venture, LifeLabs, promises a new level of sustainability, energy efficiency and long-lasting technology unlike any of his previous ventures. Director of Stanford’s Precourt Institute for Energy, with more than 500 research publications and 50 patent applications, Professor Yi is an expert in the fields of nanotechnology, materials science, energy, and wearable and environmental technology. His research contribution has been recognized with numerous awards including the Lawrence Award (one of the highest awards given by US Department of Energy) and the Materials Research Society Medal (one of the highest awards in materials science).

Professor Yi was born in Guangxi, an autonomous region of China, in 1976, and earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Science & Technology of China. He completed his doctorate in physical chemistry at Harvard in 2002 and then became a Miller postdoctoral fellow at the University of California Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Professor Yi is Co-Director of the Battery 500 Consortium (funded by the US Department of Energy), a Co-Director of Stanford StorageX Initiative and Co-Director of the Bay Area Photovoltaic Consortium. The educator is also an entrepreneur, having founded the clean tech foundry EEnotech, Inc, Amprius, 4C Air, and EnerVenue, Inc. Professor Yi is an elected Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science, Materials Research Society, Electrochemical Society, and the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Professor Yi lives on the Stanford University campus with his wife, Meng Sui, LifeLabs co-founder, and his two sons, who are competitive swimmers. A collegiate soccer player, Professor Yi enjoys soccer, travel and wine. 

Meng Sui

Meng Sui

Co-Founder

Bio

With 20 years of experience in the chemistry and nanotechnology field, Meng has worked as a chemist, a researcher, a patent agent and analyst for major international law firms, and an entrepreneur. She is the co-founder of EnerVenue, the CEO of 4C Air, Inc, and the co-founder and CEO of sustainability technology accelerator EEnotech.

As a medicinal chemist, Meng developed novel medicine for Alzheimer’s Disease and was the inventor of multiple patents. After working as a patent agent, she co-founded EEnotech, Inc with Stanford University Professor Yi Cui, to accelerate the commercialization of patents from schools in sustainability, new materials, energy, environmental technologies and textiles. With a passion for launching energy and environment technology start-ups to support global sustainability, Meng has developed and scaled some of the most innovative science from Stanford’s Labs. From clean energy storage to water filtration to thermal textiles to air filtration, Meng’s foundry and companies aim to support sustainability on a global scale.  

Meng was born in China and holds a BS in Chemistry from the University of Science and Technology in China and an MA in Chemistry from Boston University. She lives on Stanford Campus with her husband and two sons, both competitive swimmers.

Cindy Lau

Cindy Lau

Senior Director of Materials Innovation

Bio

An experienced materials researcher with a demonstrated history of driving innovation within the apparel and footwear industries, scientist Cindy Lau brings skills in materials science, thin films, colloids, scanning electron microscopy, and polymers. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills helped Cindy earn a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) focused in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science from Princeton University. She’s known for her ability to turn cutting-edge ideas from academia into successful commercial products. 

As a Senior Materials Researcher for Global Innovation at VF Corporation, Cindy explored and evaluated innovative materials and processes for future apparel products and manufacturing. She established methodology to test materials and collaborated with design, product development, sustainability and supply chain teams to execute projects from concept to commercialization. At LifeLabs, inspired to develop materials and life-changing technologies, Cindy led a small team to execute a pilot program, from research and design to manufacturing and product presentation. Basing product development on firsthand data, she has filed multiple patents and commercialized corresponding products. 

Cindy has worked as a research associate at the University of Cambridge, where she developed advanced materials for thermo chemical oxygen storage and production. As a Ph.D. Candidate at Princeton, she studied the formation of submicrometer features in polymer thin film through electrohydrodynamic patterning. As a research intern at the Singapore’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, she developed a low-cost and rapid technique to enhance ordering in gold nanoparticles self-assembly. 

Cindy lives in Palo Alto, California with her husband and son. She enjoys traveling with her family, cycling and crafting.