(6bl) Development of Next-Generation Catalytic Technology for Efficient and Sustainable Chemical Transformations

The research lab under the direction of Dr. Manish Shetty will be focused on developing next generation catalytic technology for efficient chemical transformations necessary for the survival of our planet earth. Our research addresses broader challenges in the field of sustainability and energy for chemical transformations from conventional and renewable feedstocks employing earth abundant catalysts. We employ synthetic, kinetic, spectroscopic and computational tools to understand chemical transformations at a molecular level to develop the next generation of highly reactive, selective and stable catalysts. The research in the group will follow three themes:

1. Combining synergies in redox reactions with reducible transition metal oxides and perovskites
2. Tuning reactivity and selectivity with synthetic tools to generate bimetallic and metal-metal oxide interfaces
3. Modification of active site environment and analysis of chemical kinetics to gain insights on the reactions occurring on the active site.

The tools developed through the research will help in development of understanding, principles, insights and new technology for chemical transformations involving valorization of carbon dioxide, methane and biomass and removal of heteroatoms emanating from the conventional fossil fuel streams for pollution abatement.

Teaching Interests:

Teachers have played an important in my journey to reach the position where I am now applying to become a part of the same selfless community. As part of my academic career, I look forward to teaching and aid a new generation of students to develop the tools to navigate the challenges required to solve the problems of the current times. In the age of the internet, where much of the knowledge is freely available online, the understanding of the fundamentals of chemical engineering is crucial for students to solve the challenging problems plaguing the current generation. It is one of the core fields where a good instructor can play a big role in the understanding of the core fundamentals required for contributions to research and development.

With my graduate teaching assistant duties both during my graduate work at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, I am well equipped to teach undergraduate level thermodynamics, kinetics along with heat and mass transfer phenomena. In addition to having a good academic record, having taught both graduate and undergraduate students in two different countries, I believe I understand, relate and can address the needs of a diverse student body.

I would like to develop an advanced course on chemical kinetics and catalysis that equips the graduate students with the fundamentals to perform research in their academic labs and the undergraduate students with the exposure on the requirements of graduate research in a catalysis laboratory. The course will include the analysis of complex reaction networks including the use of microkinetic analysis that informs scientists on the reactions occurring on the surface, transition-state theory (TST) approaches for quantitative understanding the transition state of reactions, introduction on the spectroscopic computational tools including density functional theory (DFT) approaches to develop insights on reaction pathways, active sites and electronic structure of the catalysts under reaction conditions.