Swanson School Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Fall 2017 Newsletter

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ChemE NEWS CHEMICAL & PETROLEUM ENGINEERING

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NSF Recognizes Three Pitt Junior Chemical Engineering Faculty with Prestigious Career Awards

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hree researchers from one Pitt department were recognized with the National Science Foundation’s most significant award in support of junior faculty. John Keith, Giannis Mpourmpakis, and Christopher Wilmer, all assistant professors of chemical and petroleum engineering at the Swanson School, received individual NSF CAREER awards, which “recognize faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.” The three professors received $500,000 each in funding for the five-year awards. “Receiving an NSF CAREER Award can be one of the most tremendous highlights for any junior faculty member, but it is truly rare for a university to receive three awards within one department,” noted Steven R. Little, Department Chair. “What’s more, these three researchers are focused on dynamic energy research, and these grants will not only benefit their labs but also the students they teach and mentor. As an additional component, the grants will enable our students to engage in community outreach and encourage young adults to consider careers in STEM.” The awards include: John Keith – Inaugural R.K. Mellon Faculty Fellow in Energy and Assistant Professor

SusChEM: Unlocking local solvation environments for energetically efficient hydrogenations with quantum chemistry Summary: This project will address the production of carbon-neutral liquid fuels via electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) to methanol. Its focus will integrate high-level electronic structure theory, molecular dynamics, and machine learning to understand how interactions between solvent molecules, salts, and co-solutes regulate CO2 reduction from greenhouse gas into fuels. Dr. Keith’s graduate and undergraduate students will develop educational modules to engage and excite students in the Pittsburgh Public School District about opportunities in STEM fields, with an emphasis on renewable energy and computational chemistry. Giannis (Yanni) Mpourmpakis Assistant Professor Designing synthesizable, ligandprotected bimetallic nanoparticles and modernizing engineering curriculum through computational nanoscience Pictured from left to right are John Keith, Chris Wilmer and Giannis Mpourmpakis

Summary: Although scientists can chemically synthesize metal nanoparticles (NPs) of different shapes and sizes, understanding of NP growth mechanisms affecting their final morphology continued on page 2


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