Ben Hatton is a Professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering (MSE), Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering at the University of Toronto. Prof. Hatton joined the MSE Department in 2012 from a research associate position at Harvard University, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He is also cross-appointed to Biomedical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering.

Prof. Hatton runs the Bio-inspired Materials and Design research group, which seeks to use biological mechanisms as inspiration for the design of new materials or technologies. In particular, the Hatton group does research on surface engineering, to design material surfaces (with nano- and micro structures) for biomaterial applications, with a particular focus on bacterial contamination and antimicrobial materials. They have a number of research projects on surface wetting and adhesion, and investigate how surfaces influence the adhesion mechanisms of bacteria and human cells.

The Hatton group also does research on the design of smart, adaptive surfaces and materials, such as large area fluidic layers for smart, energy-efficient buildings, and smart medical devices.