Preet Singh

Preet Singh
preet.singh@mse.gatech.edu

Prior to joining MSE in July 2003 Professor Singh was a faculty member in Corrosion and Materials Engineering Group at The Institute of Paper Science and Technology (IPST) since 1996.  While in IPST Singh worked on fundamental as well as applied research projects related to the corrosion problems in the pulp and paper industry. From 1990 to 1996, he was a Senior Research Associate at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, working on various materials and corrosion related research projects, including damage accumulation in metal matrix composites (MMCs), Environmental sensitive fracture of Al-alloys MMCs, and High temperature oxidation of Nb/Nb5Si3 composites. He received the Alcan International's Fellowship in 1988-90 to work on "Effects of Low Melting Point Impurities on Slow Crack Growth in Al Alloys,"  He has published over 50 papers in reputed scientific journals and conference proceedings. He is active member of NACE, TMS, TAPPI and has co-organized a number of international symposiums.

Reliable performance of the materials is very important for any industrial process and especially for the chemical process industry for the manufacture of a high quality product. Material selection is generally based on the required material properties, low initial capital investment, and minimum maintenance. Changes in the process parameters to improve products can often lead to higher corrosion susceptibilities of the plant materials. Moreover, with increase in capital cost, there is pressure to extend the life of existing plant equipment beyond its original design life. Corrosion and Materials Engineers are also playing a key role in selecting, maintaining, and modifying materials for changing needs for every industry. Corrosion Science and Engineering research includes understanding the basic mechanisms involved in material degradation in given environments and using that knowledge to develop a mitigation strategy against environment-induced failures

Professor, School of Materials Science and Engineering
Associate Chair of Graduate Studies, School of Materials Science and Engineering
Phone
404.894.6641
Office
IPST 246
Additional Research

Composites; fracture and fatigue; stress corrosion; Materials Failure and Reliability; Biofuels; Chemical Recovery; Environmental Processes; Sustainable Manufacturing; Energy & Water; Corrosion & Reliability

IRI/Group and Role
Renewable Bioproducts > Faculty
Energy > Research Community
Matter and Systems > Affiliated Faculty
Renewable Bioproducts
Energy
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > School of Materials Science Engineering
Research Areas
Matter and Systems
  • Built Environment Technologies
Energy
  • Nuclear
  • Advanced Manufacturing for Energy
  • Sustainable Communities
  • Combustion, Propulsion, and Hypersonics
  • Water, Wind, and Solar

Carsten Sievers

Carsten Sievers
carsten.sievers@chbe.gatech.edu

Sievers’ research interests are in heterogeneous catalysis, reactor design, applied spectroscopy, and characterization and synthesis of solid materials. Combining these interests he seeks to develop processes for the production of fuels and chemicals. His research program combines fundamental and applied research.

In fundamental studies, a suite of analytical and spectroscopic techniques (e.g. IR, NMR) is used to gain knowledge on structure-reactivity relationships of heterogeneous catalysts. Moreover, surface reactions are studied on a molecular level to identify reaction pathways over different catalysts. Information obtained from these studies provides the foundation for designing innovative catalysts.

Applied studies focus specific catalytic processes. For these projects, continuously operated flow reactor systems are designed. Different catalysts are tested for reactivity, selectivity and stability and the influence of the operating conditions is investigated. Catalyst deactivation is studied in detail to develop suitable regeneration methods or to avoid deactivation entirely by improved catalyst design. Specific projects include hydrodeoxygenation of pyrolysis oils, selective hydration of polyols, conversion of sugars into lactic acid and ethylene glycol, and selective oxidation of methane.

An important goal of Sievers’ research is to enable technology for utilization of alternative resources in order to reduce the current dependence of oil. Among these biomass is a particularly promising candidate because it is renewable and can be produced CO2 neutral.

Sievers has contributed to 80 peer reviewed publications on heterogeneous catalysis in petroleum refining (isobutane/2-butene alkylation, fluid catalytic cracking, hydrotreating), alkane activation, supported ionic liquid as catalysts for fine chemical synthesis, and biomass processing.  He is Director and Past President of the Southeastern Catalysis Society, former Program Chair and Director of the ACS Division of Catalysis Technology & Engineering, former Director of the AIChE Division of Catalysis and Reaction Engineering, and Editor of Applied Catalysis A: General.

Professor, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Phone
404.385.7685
Office
ES&T 2218
Additional Research

Biomass; Biofuels; Catalysis; Advanced Characterization; Gasification; Biorefining; Lignin Upgrading; Catalysis; Energy & Water; Separation Technologies; Chemical Feedstocks; Sugars; Lignin & Hemicellulose

IRI/Group and Role
Renewable Bioproducts > Faculty
Energy > Hydrogen Group
Energy > Research Community
Sustainable Systems
Energy
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Research Areas
Sustainable Systems
  • Resource and Materials Use
Energy
  • Fuels
  • Advanced Manufacturing for Energy
  • Sustainable Communities
  • Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage
  • Supply Chain

David S. Sholl

David S.  Sholl
david.sholl@chbe.gatech.edu

Sholl’s research focuses on materials whose macroscopic dynamic and thermodynamic properties are strongly influenced by their atomic-scale structure. Much of this research involves applying computational techniques such as molecular dynamics, Monte Carlo simulations and quantum chemistry methods to materials of interest. Although the group's work is centered on computational methods, it involves extensive collaboration with experimental groups and industrial partners.

Professor, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Phone
404.894.2822
Office
ES&T 2214
Additional Research

Metal-Organic Frameworks; Separation Membranes; Separations Technology; Carbon Capture; Hydrogen; SMART Manufacturing; Sustainable Manufacturing; Biochemicals

IRI/Group and Role
Data Engineering and Science > Faculty
Energy > Research Community
Data Engineering and Science
Energy
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Research Areas
Energy
  • Advanced Manufacturing for Energy
  • Fuels

Meisha Shofner

Meisha Shofner
meisha.shofner@mse.gatech.edu

Meisha L. Shofner is a professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, joining the faculty following post-doctoral training at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and her Ph.D. in Materials Science from Rice University. Prior to beginning graduate school, she was employed as a design engineer at FMC in the Subsea Engineering Division, working at two plant locations (Houston, Texas and the Republic of Singapore), and she is a registered Professional Engineer in Georgia.

Shofner’s research area is processing-structure-property relationships of polymers and composites. Specifically, she designs processing strategies to attain hierarchical structures in these materials to improve properties and has discovered scalable processing methods to produce auxetic structures and tensegrity-inspired structures. Additionally, she works with bioderived materials to produce composites with reduced environmental impact.  

Professor, School of Materials Science and Engineering
Phone
404.385.7216
Office
MRDC 4409
Additional Research

Biomolecular-Solids; Biomaterials; Composites; Polymers; Nanomaterials; Biofuels; Structure-property relationships in polymer nanocomposite materials; producing structural hierarchy in these materials for structural and functional applications.

IRI/Group and Role
Manufacturing > Affiliated Faculty
Renewable Bioproducts > Faculty
Energy > Research Community
Manufacturing
Renewable Bioproducts
Energy
Space > Faculty
Data Engineering and Science > Faculty
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > School of Materials Science Engineering
Research Areas
Energy
  • Energy Storage
  • Sustainable Communities
Space

Sam Shelton

Sam Shelton
sam.shelton@energy.gatech.edu

Dr. Sam Shelton is a nationally recognized expert in energy systems. He is the founding director of the Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institute, an interdisciplinary technology development-based resource. The institute is actively engaged with industry to facilitate near-term, high-impact solutions to national and regional energy challenges. As a professor for 35 years, he developed in-class and web delivered undergraduate and graduate level energy technology courses. He is currently teaching 30,000 students enrolled in a MOOCs course, Energy 101, with a focus on energy supplies, independence, economics, and society’s demands. 

His primary research focus has been the development and commercialization of sustainable energy technology. He has received over $30 million in R&D funding for this work. Dr. Shelton holds eight patents in sustainable energy technologies and founded two companies developing, manufacturing and marketing energy-efficient products. Starting in the 1980s, he was among the pioneers developing commercial solar energy technologies and the assessment of offshore wind farms. His favorite hobby is flying experimental airplanes

Director Emeritus
Additional Research

Thermal Systems; Wind; System Design & Optimization; Biofuels

IRI/Group and Role
Energy
Energy

Suresh Sharma

Suresh Sharma
suresh1.sharma@gatech.edu
Entrepreneur in Residence
Phone
(404) 385-5387
Additional Research
Electrical Grid
IRI/Group and Role
Energy > Research Community
Energy
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology

Jerry Seitzman

Jerry Seitzman
jerry.seitzman@aerospace.gatech.edu
Professor, Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering
Phone
(404) 894-0013
Additional Research

Combustion

IRI/Group and Role
Energy > Research Community
Energy
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering
Research Areas
Energy
  • Combustion, Propulsion, and Hypersonics

Lakshmi Sankar

Lakshmi Sankar
sankar@aerospace.gatech.edu
Regents' Professor, Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering
Director, Computational Fluid Dynamics Lab
Phone
(404) 894-3014
Additional Research

Wind

IRI/Group and Role
Energy > Research Community
Energy
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering
Research Areas
Energy
  • Water, Wind, and Solar
  • Combustion, Propulsion, and Hypersonics

Nick Sahinidis

Nick Sahinidis
nikos@gatech.edu

Nick Sahinidis is the Butler Family Chair and Professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering and the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech. His current research activities are at the interface between computer science and operations research, with applications in various engineering and scientific areas, including: global optimization of mixed-integer nonlinear programs: theory, algorithms, and software; informatics problems in chemistry and biology; process and energy systems engineering. Sahinidis has served on the editorial boards of many leading journals and in various positions within AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers). He has also served on numerous positions within INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences), including Chair of the INFORMS Optimization Society. He received an NSF CAREER award, the INFORMS Computing Society Prize, the MOS Beale-Orchard-Hays Prize, the Computing in Chemical Engineering Award, the Constantin Carathéodory Prize, and the National Award and Gold Medal from the Hellenic Operational Research Society. Sahinidis is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of AIChE and INFORMS.

Gary C. Butler Family Chair, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Professor, School of Industrial and Systems Engineering and School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Phone
(404) 894-3036
IRI/Group and Role
Bioengineering and Bioscience > Faculty
Manufacturing > Affiliated Faculty
Energy > Research Community
Manufacturing
Bioengineering and Bioscience
Energy
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > School of Industrial Systems Engineering
Research Areas
Artificial Intelligence
Energy
  • AI Energy Nexus
  • Critical Minerals