Paolo Colombo is a professor of Materials Science and Technology at the Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. He was an assistant professor at the University of Padova from 1990 to 1998 and an associate professor at the University of Bologna, until 2005.
He is also Adjunct Professor at the Pennsylvania State University, Honorary Professor at University College London,UK, and at Xi’an Jiaotong University, CN, and Honorary Researcher at the Henan Academy of Sciences, CN. He was a Foreign Scientist at INSA, Lyon, France in 2015, a DGF Mercator Professor at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany in 2016, an Academic Advisor at the Institute for Advanced Ceramics, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, China in 2022/23 and in 2025, and a Visiting Professor at the University of São Paulo, Brazil in 2024.
He was elected Academician of the World Academy of Ceramics, the European Academy of Sciences, Academia Europaea, the Italian Academy of Engineering and Technology, Fellow of the American Ceramic Society, the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, the European Ceramic Society, the International Core Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for the Pennsylvania State University in 1991, the Pfeil Award (The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, London, UK), the Global Star Award (American Ceramic Society), the Edward C. Henry Award (American Ceramic Society), the Verulam Medal & Prize (The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, London, UK), the Global Ambassador Award (American Ceramic Society), the Polish Ceramic Society Award, the Bridge Building Award (American Ceramic Society), and the ECerS-ACerS Joint Award (European Ceramic Society-American Ceramic Society).
He is Past President of the International Ceramic Federation (ICF) and Vice President of the Italian Ceramic Society. He is also a member of the JECS Trust, an officer of the Materials Science Division of the European Academy of Sciences, a member of the EPSRC Peer Review College, and is serving in several committees in International Societies.
He published more than 400 papers in peer-reviewed journals, 9 book chapters and holds 10 international patents. h index: 81; Citations: 26173. He is co-editor of a book on cellular ceramics, a book on polymer-derived-ceramics, 11 proceedings books and guest editor of 10 Special issues in international scientific journals. He is Editor-in-Chief of Open Ceramics (Elsevier), is on the editorial board of 12 international scientific journals, and has co-organized several international conferences.
His research interests include novel processing routes to architected glasses and ceramics (currently focusing mainly on Additive Manufacturing, using different technologies), the development of ceramic components from preceramic polymers and geopolymers, and the upcycling of industrial and natural waste.