TEAM
Meet our team of tinkerers and white-boarders, engineers and scientists, and experimentalists and theorists.
Principal Investigator
Karthish Manthiram
Assistant Professor
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, 2010
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, UC Berkeley, 2015
Postdoctoral Research Associate, California Institute of Technology
Karthish Manthiram is an Assistant Professor in Chemical Engineering at MIT. He received his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley. As a graduate student in Professor Paul Alivisatos’ group, Karthish developed transition-metal oxide hosts for redox-tunable plasmons and nanoparticle electrocatalysts for reducing carbon dioxide. During his postdoctoral research in Professor Robert Grubbs’ lab at Caltech, Karthish developed new anion-exchange ionomers. The Manthiram Lab at MIT is focused on the molecular engineering of electrocatalysts for the synthesis of organic molecules, including pharmaceuticals, fuels, and commodity chemicals, using renewable feedstocks. Karthish’s research has been recognized with several awards, including the NSF CAREER Award, 3M Nontenured Faculty Award, Dan Cubicciotti Award of the Electrochemical Society, and Forbes 30 Under 30 in Science. Karthish’s teaching at MIT has been recognized with the C. Michael Mohr Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award in 2018 and the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award in 2019.
Curriculum Vitae | Chemical Engineering Faculty Profile
Videos: TEDx | National Academies CSR | Global Food+ | MIT ILP | CERAWeek Panel | Podcast
Opinions in the News: Green Ammonia (C&EN) | Electrochemical Haber-Bosch (C&EN and Science)
Minju Chung
Ph.D. Student
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Seoul National University, 2018
Minju received her B.S. in Chemical and Biological Engineering from Seoul National University in 2018. As an undergraduate, Minju worked in Prof. Kookheon Char’s group studying inverse-vulcanization of elemental sulfur with a dual-reactive monomer such as Allyl Glycidyl Ether. She also studied the synthesis of sulfur copolymer nanoparticles via interfacial polymerization in water. Minju is currently studying the selective electrochemical oxidation of olefins. Minju is a recipient of the Kwanjeong Educational Foundation scholarship.
Nathan Corbin
Ph.D. Student
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2016
Nathan received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2016. As an undergraduate, Nathan worked in Dr. Jean-Luc Brédas’ lab studying the electronic and vibrational properties of donor-acceptor molecular crystals using ab initio quantum mechanical computations. He also spent one summer as a process engineering intern for Dow Corning. His current research focuses on developing catalysts which can operate in new architectures for the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide. Nathan is a recipient of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
Nikifar Lazouski
Ph.D. Student
B.Eng. Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware, 2016
B.S. Chemistry, University of Delaware, 2016
Nik received a B. Eng. in Chemical Engineering and a B.S. in Chemistry with a minor in Computer Science from the University of Delaware in 2016. Nik received a B. Eng. in Chemical Engineering and a B.S. in Chemistry with a minor in Computer Science from the University of Delaware in 2016. As an undergraduate, he worked with Dr. Joseph Fox studying catalytic interconversion of tetrazines and dihydrotetrazines. He also spent a summer as a process engineering intern at DuPont. Nik is currently developing new catalysts for electrochemical reduction of nitrogen to ammonia, with the support of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
Aditya Limaye
Ph.D. Student
B.S. Chemical Engineering, UC Berkeley, 2016
Aditya received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley in 2016. Aditya received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley in 2016. As an undergraduate, he worked with Prof. Paul Alivisatos on modeling the mechanical properties of polymer-nanocrystal composites, and later on studying the catalytic properties of bimetallic platinum-gallium nanocrystals. Prior to starting his graduate studies, Aditya worked for two years as a Scientific Associate at D. E. Shaw Research. There, he developed high-accuracy force fields for molecular dynamics simulations of protein-ligand complexes. Aditya is co-advised by Prof. Adam Willard and is working on formulating improved models of chemical dynamics at electrode interfaces. His work is supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
Joseph Maalouf
Ph.D. Student
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, 2017
Joseph received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University in 2017. Joseph conducted undergraduate research with Professor Matteo Cargnello in the Chemical Engineering department at Stanford University studying palladium-cerium based heterobimetallic complexes. He used these as controlled precursors for the synthesis of atomically dispersed methane oxidation catalysts. Later, he studied nickel-cobalt bimetallic nanoparticles to reduce coke formation in the dry reforming of methane. Joseph is currently studying the selective electrochemical oxidation of methane to more valuable products such as methanol. Joseph is the recipient of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. In 2019, he was also awarded a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship.
Zachary Schiffer
Ph.D. Student
B.S.E. Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, 2016
Zachary received a B.S.E. from Princeton University in Chemical and Biological Engineering with minors in applications of computing and materials science. As an undergraduate, he worked with Prof. Craig Arnold studying the coupling of mechanics and electrochemistry in lithium ion batteries. He also spent a summer simulating the dispersion of bioagent releases using an emergency preparedness toolkit at Sandia National Laboratories. Zachary currently is studying the electrochemical reduction of nitrogen for ammonia production, with support from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program.
Katherine Steinberg
Ph.D. Student
B.S.E. Chemical Engineering, Case Western Reverse University, 2019
Katherine received a B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University with minors in Environmental Studies and French. As an undergraduate, she worked in Professor Rohan Akolkar’s lab studying electrochemical reaction kinetics in resistive deep eutectic solvents, and was a Think Energy Fellow. She also spent a summer as an intern in Procter & Gamble’s Feminine Care R&D division. Katherine is currently studying electrocatalytic reduction of nitrogen to ammonia with the support of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
Kindle Williams
Ph.D. Student
B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Alabama, 2016
B.S. Chemistry, University of Alabama, 2016
Kindle received her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering with majors in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry from the University of Alabama in 2016. She was a member of the Computer-Based Honors Program. As an undergraduate, Kindle worked on theorganic synthesis of molecular electronic components with Dr. Stephen Woski and studied heterogeneous catalysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison withProfessor James Dumesic. In graduate school, Kindle has studied the effect of gas impurities on electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction. She is now working on organic electrosynthesis reactions. Kindle is a member of the GSAB and also completed Practice School in Fall of 2017; she was the recipient of the 2018 William C. Rousseau Award in Leadership and Ethics in Chemical Engineering Practice.
Joy Zeng
Ph.D. Student
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, 2017
Joy received a B.S in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University in 2017. As an undergraduate, she worked in Prof. Bruce Clemens’ lab and studied GaAs nanowires coated with protective and catalytic metal oxide layers for solar water splitting applications. She has also spent a summer interning at Shell Oil and a summer interning at Sila Nanotechnologies, a battery materials startup. Joy is now studying molecular complexes for the electroreduction of carbon dioxide. She is a recipient of a Mathworks Engineering Fellowship.
Kyoungsuk Jin
Postdoctoral Associate
B.S. Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University
Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, 2017
Kyoungsuk received his B.S and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Seoul National University, under the supervision of Professor Ki Tae Nam. During his Ph.D. course, he developed bio-inspired Mn based water oxidation electrocatalysts and investigated oxygen evolving reaction mechanism. His current research interest is the development of new electrocatalysts for nitrogen/carbon dioxide reduction reaction.
Dengtao Yang
Postdoctoral Associate
B.S. Chemistry, Lanzhou University
B.Eng. Computer Science, Lanzhou University
M.S. Chemistry, Lanzhou University
Ph.D. Chemistry, Queens University
Dengtao received his BSc in Chemistry, BEng in Computer Science and Master in Chemistry from Lanzhou University, PhD from Queen’s University in 2017 under the supervision of Prof. Suning Wang. His PhD research focused on the transformation of boron (B), nitrogen(N)-heterocycles driven by external stimuli, such as heat, light and excitons in OLEDs. As a postdoc in Manthiram group, his research focuses on organic electrosynthesis to generate chemical feedstocks.
Jessica Cohen
Undergraduate
Jess is an undergraduate at MIT, majoring in Materials Science and Engineering. She would like to minor in Energy Studies and French. She went to Spackenkill High School and worked in Dr. Hailiang Wang at Yale University for 3 years on bifunctional catalysis for carbon dioxide reduction. She is a Graduate of Distinction, Regeneron Scholar, Dutchess County Science Fair winner, and ISEF fourth place winner.
Michal Gala
Undergraduate
Michal is an undergraduate in Chemical Engineering at MIT, minoring in computer science and chemistry. He graduated from high school in Poland having represented his country at the International Chemistry Olympiad twice. Freshman year Michal did research under Prof. Richard Schrock on dinitrogen reduction and spend his last summer at the Shell Technology Center in Bangalore using machine learning in new materials discovery. He is currently working on electrochemical synthesis of ammonia from dinitrogen. Michal is supported by the SuperUROP program at MIT.
Sierra Brooks
Alumni
B.S. Chemical Engineering, MIT, 2019
Sierra completed her undergraduate research in the Manthiram Lab in 2019 and is currently a graduate student in Chemical Engineering at UT Austin, working in the Alper Lab. Sierra majored in Chemical-Biological Engineering at MIT. She previously did research under Prof. Robert Langer on extended release drug delivery devices, followed by research under Prof. J. Christopher Love on upstream processing of a biomanufacturing platform. She spent her summer following sophomore year as a process engineering intern at Pfizer working on manufacturing data automation and retrieval. After her junior year, she worked as a process development intern at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where she characterized and optimized continuous liquid-liquid extraction setups. She studied molecular complexes for the electroreduction of carbon dioxide in the Manthiram Lab.
Minghui Zhu
Alumni
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University, 2011
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, Lehigh University, 2017
Postdoctoral Research Associate, MIT, 2018
Minghui completed a Post-Doc in 2018 and is currently an Assistant Professor at East China University of Science and Technology.
Ruquan Ye
Alumni
PB.S. Chemistry, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2012
Ph.D. Chemistry, Rice University, 2017
Postdoctoral Research Associate, MIT, 2018
Ruquan completed a Post-Doc in 2018 and is currently an Assistant Professor at City University of Hong Kong.
Ph.D. Students
Postdoctoral Researchers
Undergraduates
Alumni
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Department of Chemical Engineering
Karthish (PI): 617-715-5740 / karthish@mit.edu / 66-550
Helen (Admin): 617-258-7036 / harroyo@mit.edu / 66-552