You’ve probably never thought much about the microscopic mesh inside a desalination plant, but Eric M. V. Hoek has spent decades obsessed with it. Most people look at the ocean and see a vacation spot; Hoek looks at it and sees a math problem involving salt ions, polymers, and the impending global water crisis. He isn't just another academic sitting in a ivory tower at UCLA. He’s the guy who basically figured out how to use nanotechnology to make water filtration cheaper, faster, and way more energy-efficient.
Honestly, the water industry is kind of a dinosaur. It moves slowly. But Hoek has a reputation for being a "disruptor" before that word became a tech-bro cliché. As a Professor in the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and the Faculty Director of the UCLA Sustainable LA Grand Challenge, his reach goes way beyond a lecture hall.
We’re talking about a career that spans from Yale to UC Riverside to the heart of Los Angeles, with a side quest as a full-time CEO. It’s a wild mix of high-level physics and gritty entrepreneurship.
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Why Eric M. V. Hoek Is the Name You Need to Know in Water Tech
If you look at the stats, they're pretty staggering. Hoek has over 170 peer-reviewed publications and more than 70 patents. His work has been cited over 27,000 times. But numbers are boring. What actually matters is what he did with those patents.
Back in the early 2000s, Hoek started messing around with thin-film nanocomposite (TFC) membranes. At the time, reverse osmosis was energy-intensive and prone to "fouling"—which is basically just a fancy word for the filters getting gunked up with bacteria and minerals. Hoek's big idea? Embedding specially designed nanoparticles into the membrane.
"These nanoparticles soak up water like a sponge but repel the bad stuff—salts, industrial chemicals, and bacteria."
This wasn't just a lab experiment. This led to the birth of NanoH2O, a startup that UCLA licensed his discovery to. It was later acquired for hundreds of millions of dollars by LG NanoH2O (now LG Chem). That is a rare "win" for academic research moving into the real world.
The Entrepreneurial Pivot: From Professor to CEO
Most professors take a sabbatical to write a book. In 2014, Eric M. V. Hoek took a leave from UCLA to serve as the full-time CEO of Water Planet. He didn't just want to talk about the tech; he wanted to run the company.
While at Water Planet, he helped spin out several other businesses:
- PolyCera Membranes: High-performance membranes that handle oily wastewater (acquired in 2020).
- IntelliFlux Controls: An AI and machine-learning platform that automates water treatment.
- MembranePRO: Water treatment as a service.
It’s this "full-circle" approach that sets him apart. He understands the chemistry of a polymer, but he also understands the headaches of a plant manager trying to keep a facility running in a drought.
The Current Mission: Active Membranes and the 2026 Landscape
As of early 2026, Hoek hasn't slowed down. He was recently appointed as the Executive Chairman of Active Membranes, a company he co-founded to push the boundaries of "smart" membrane technology.
What makes these "active"? They are electrically conducting. By using electricity to fight off mineral scaling and organic fouling, these membranes can theoretically reduce the carbon footprint of a desalination plant by 50%. Think about that. We are talking about making fresh water from the sea at half the environmental cost.
UCLA Sustainable LA Grand Challenge
Hoek is also the face of UCLA’s ambitious goal: making Los Angeles a sustainable megacity by 2050. This isn't just about water. It's about a 100% local water supply, 100% renewable energy, and better ecosystem health.
He often talks about the "wastewater treatment plant of the future." In his vision, these aren't just places where we dump sewage. They are resource recovery centers. They turn waste into:
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- Clean water
- Renewable energy
- Fertilizer
It sounds like sci-fi, but Hoek’s lab, the NanoMeTeR Lab, is actually building the components to make this work. They’re looking at everything from recovery of critical minerals to "blue energy"—harvesting power from the salinity gradient where rivers meet the sea.
What Most People Get Wrong About Water Scarcity
You've probably heard that we're "running out of water." Hoek’s work suggests we aren't running out of water; we’re running out of cheap water. There is plenty of water in the ocean and in our sewers, but the energy required to clean it has historically been too high.
His research in electrochemistry and nanomaterials is aimed directly at this barrier. By making membranes more robust—able to handle extreme pressures (up to 200 bar!) or highly contaminated "produced water" from oil and gas operations—he’s expanding the "water pie."
The Nuance of Nanotech
It’s easy to get excited about nanotechnology, but there are always risks. Hoek has been a lead researcher in understanding the "nano-bio interface." He co-authored one of the most cited papers on the antibacterial effects of silver nanomaterials and their implications for human health. He isn't just throwing particles at a problem; he’s studying what happens when those particles enter the environment.
Actionable Insights for the Future of Water
If you’re a business leader, an investor, or just someone worried about the tap running dry, here is what we can learn from Eric M. V. Hoek’s trajectory:
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- Integration is Key: Don't just look for a better filter; look for a better system. The marriage of AI (like IntelliFlux) and hardware (Active Membranes) is where the real savings are.
- Decentralization: The future is "local water." Large-scale plants are great, but modular, "smart" systems allow cities to reuse water exactly where it's needed.
- Resource Recovery: Stop thinking about "wastewater." Start thinking about "source water" for minerals and energy.
To stay updated on these shifts, you can follow the npj Clean Water journal (where Hoek is Editor-in-Chief) or keep an eye on the pilot projects coming out of the UCLA Sustainable LA Grand Challenge. The technology to solve the water crisis exists; the challenge now is scaling it fast enough to meet the 2050 goals.