The Process Systems, Reaction Engineering, and Molecular Thermodynamics program is part of the Chemical Process Systems cluster, which also includes: 1) the Catalysis program; 2) the Electrochemical Systems program; and 3) the Interfacial Engineering program.
The goal of the Process Systems, Reaction Engineering, and Molecular Thermodynamics program is to advance fundamental engineering research on the rates and mechanisms of chemical reactions, systems engineering, and molecular thermodynamics as they relate to the design and optimization of chemical reactors and the production of specialized materials that have important impacts on society.
The program supports the development of advanced optimization and control algorithms for chemical processes, molecular and multi-scale modeling of complex chemical systems, fundamental studies on molecular thermodynamics, and the integration of these methods and concepts into the design of novel chemical products and manufacturing processes. This program supports sustainable chemical manufacturing research on the development of energy-efficient chemical processes and environmentally-friendly chemical products through concurrent chemical product/process design methods. Sustainability is also enhanced by research that promotes the electrification of the chemical process industries over current thermally-activated processes.