I Am ChemCatBio Video Series Text Versions

Find text versions for the “I Am ChemCatBio” video series.

I Am ChemCatBio: Rajeev Surendran Assary

I am a computational researcher. I use supercomputers to do computations that can enable catalysis or chemical reactivity at surfaces. Similarly, I use the power of data science techniques to come up with the connections we can make to predict new catalysts or better conditions for catalysis.

Yeah, this is an awesome opportunity to connect with the various aspects of catalysis from our discovery all the way to deployment. So, the computations as an enabling technology, it can tune into various aspects of this research. So, that is one of the reason I've been part of the ChemCatBio community from day one.

We have a very good working relationship. If we don't know certain things, we will reach out immediately so that, you know, we can accelerate our learning much more effectively, basically.

I Am ChemCatBio: Anne Starace

I really like working with the consortium. I think it has a strong leadership and the people in it are really open to discussing ideas and are very collaborative, and I really appreciate that collaborative nature.

Well, I think each national lab has different capabilities, and so we get more out of each one when we can follow a whole process from beginning to end. Like, INL is sourcing the feedstocks and different labs convert them. And certain labs have, you know, very unique characterization capabilities that others don't have.

In my work in ChemCatBio, we're getting into this energy justice piece, and community engagement. And I think that's going to be really crucial for having successful deployment, and make sure that we're not just talking within the scientific community and that we're talking to people outside the scientific community and getting the word out about what we're doing and how it can impact them.

So, there are a lot of challenging problems in our work. One that I might highlight is it's difficult to present null results. Our systems aren't really set up well to encourage people to share what didn't work for them. But I think that could end up helping a lot of people. So, I think sort of shifting how valuing sharing negative results as well as positive results to prevent people from making the same mistakes you did. I think that's a big challenge in our community.

I Am ChemCatBio: Andrew Sutton

I'd say right now the biggest research success I'm most proud of is how we've managed to integrate reactive separations for 2,3-butanediol with the catalytic upgrading of the subsequent molecules to turn it into jet fuel. It really is taking it from fermentation broth to a finished product through collaboration by Oak Ridge and Los Alamos National Labs.

I definitely encourage anyone out there to reach out and see if there's opportunities to work with ChemCatBio. From a student standpoint, you get to meet with other researchers at other national labs, collaborate with other people across the country, and really take advantage of the skills and capabilities in this consortium.

I Am ChemCatBio: Anh To

It's been a really great experience working in the ChemCatBio. Especially, where I can like, utilize a lot of capabilities, for example, advanced characterization techniques or the simulation studies that ChemCatBio can provide for the research project that I’m working on.

The research project that I participated in ChemCatBio is about the upgrading of the C1 building block compounds to fuels. And this research project helped to valorize the use of the biomass to produce more valuable products.

Within ChemCatBio, we have provided also a lot of tools, like database resources for the student to learn from. So, I would encourage them to log in to learn more about ChemCatBio and also learn more about the capabilities that ChemCatBio can provide.

Yes, I would highly recommend others to join ChemCatBio because in ChemCatBio we can provide a lot of capabilities to help support the research from both academia and from industry. Also, when they join they can have access to expertise from a lot of researchers that are in ChemCatBio.

I Am ChemCatBio: Huamin Wang

I think one thing that I was very proud of is that in ChemCatBio, the early stage of that, we pretty much are working on catalysis activity and we always get the question about, how long can your catalysis last? We always get suggestion from our industry advisory board that we have to focus on catalysis deactivation. So, since starting on this project and working with our ChemCatBio leadership, we really, really put emphasis on the catalyst deactivation or the catalyst lifetime. We've put a lot of effort in this area and also a lot of milestones associated with catalyst stability.

So, specific to my project, something I am proud of is that we identify those three big overarching challenges in catalyst deactivation and really dive in to provide some fundamental understanding of each of those deactivation challenges. Personally, I really enjoy working in this consortium because it really brings a lot of people with different backgrounds, different expertise, and with a wide range of focus areas ranging from, you know, molecular modeling to process design. So, it's really nice team to work together and we can do a great job together.

I Am ChemCatBio: Claire Yang

Now, currently we have two projects going on in ChemCatBio. One is a widely collaborative project working on the bio-intermediate 2,3-butanediol to convert that and upgrading it to sustainable aviation fuel. And in this project we are trying to lower the cost, as well as, lower

the greenhouse gas emissions in order to meet the goals of the net zero by 2030 and 2050, as well as, like making a physical process and easy for the industry partners to deploy.

I really enjoy working in this area and I think ChemCatBio will play a vital role in this field. So, I believe with a very nice, supportive team, as well as really strong collaborations among all different national labs and with great guidance from the BETO program managers I think we are going to make a big difference in the bioenergy world and also make huge contributions to commercialize new technologies as well as bring the work into real applications.