From the EECE chair
Joshua Yuan
Department Chair and Lucy & Stanley Lopata Professor joshua.yuan@wustl.edu
To say it’s an exciting time for the Department of Electrical, Chemical & Environmental Engineering would be an understatement. As we look ahead, the potential for us to address global challenges has never been higher, with our people and programs poised to do truly transformative work.
This year, EECE achieved $22.4 million in total R&D funding, averaging $1 million per tenure-track faculty. The total R&D expenditures reached $19 million, averaging $860,000 per tenure-track faculty. These figures reflect our department’s commitment to impactful research and innovation. Additionally, four of our faculty members — Randall Martin, Feng Jiao, Gang Wu and Peng Bai — are ranked among the top 1% of highly cited scholars in their fields. The average H-index for our departmental tenure-track faculty reached 48, highlighting the significant scholarly impact of our department.
Furthermore, EECE is proud to have lead the efforts from eight universities and 21 industrial partners to land a five-year, $26 million grant from the NSF to fund the Carbon Utilization Redesign through Biomanufacturing (CURB) Engineering Research Center (ERC). This collaboration represents a significant effort to reimagine carbon management and sustainable manufacturing.
Our greatest achievements come when we draw on the spirit of collaboration that makes McKelvey — and WashU — so special. I am grateful for the opportunity to lead this department at a time that holds so much promise, and I look forward to another year of scientific discovery that will make a profound impact on our world.
About EECE
In the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering, we have the people, programs, expertise and facilities to support discoveries to address future global challenges.
Degree programs Research areas Facilities
+ BS in Chemical Engineering
+ BS in Environmental Engineering
+ MEng in Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering
+ MS in Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering
+ Joint Master’s of Science in Aerosol Science and Engineering
+ MEng/MBA or MS/MBA (dual degree)
+ PhD in Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering
Energy
+ Sustainable Energy Systems
+ Energy Conversion & Storage
+ Interface of Energy with Environmental & Chemical Engineering
Environmental Engineering
+ Air Quality & Climate
+ Environmental Chemistry & Microbiology
+ Water Quality & Resource Recovery
Chemical Engineering
+ Advanced Materials & Nanotechnology
+ Novel Chemical Processes & Technologies
+ Synthetic Biology & Bioproduct Engineering
seamlessly with
Hall on all three levels of its east facade, fostering a sense of unity and continuity in the engineering complex. Shared research facilities in the department include:
+ CASE shared facilities
+ Chemical and Environmental Analysis Facility (CEAF)
+ NMR Facility
127
Brauer Hall is home to EECE and connects
Whitaker
Research centers
Through the cross-disciplinary research of chemical, environmental and biological processes in engineered systems, we can achieve cleaner air and water while meeting global demand for energy and goods.
Center for Aerosol Science & Engineering
Aerosol science and engineering encompasses the basic principles that describe the formation, growth, evolution and transport of a system of particles suspended in a gaseous medium, and the measurement, characterization and modeling of their properties. Advances in this cross-disciplinary area of research are pivotal to improve our understanding and estimation of climate change, enhancing environmental quality, assessing health impacts and enabling advanced material synthesis. aerosols.washu.edu
Center for Water Innovation
The Center for Water Innovation (CWI) supports both fundamental and applied research to develop advanced technologies and strategies for improving the efficiency of water and wastewater treatment and for recovering valuable resources from wastewater. The research activities aim to address water-related social and economic challenges and create business opportunities for the water economic ecosystem. watercenter.washu.edu
Center for Carbon Management
By harnessing abundant renewable electricity, the Center for Carbon Management aims to develop innovative hybrid electrochemical and biological approaches to transform captured CO₂ into valuable platform molecules. Strategic collaborations with agricultural and industrial partners will ensure these molecules serve as vital feedstocks for food production and biopharmaceutical advancements. The center strives to drive the transition to a sustainable and circular carbon economy.
Synthetic biology Manufacturing of Advanced materials Research Center
The Synthetic biology Manufacturing of Advanced materials Research Center (SMARC) harnesses manufacturing technology and the potential of synthetic biology to unlock the next generation of advanced materials with unprecedented functional properties. It aims to combat plastic waste by creating a circular bioplastic economy that eliminates non-biodegradable plastics from polluting land and sea. To accomplish this, SMARC researchers are designing synthetic biological materials (SBMs) or bio-derived polymeric materials with highly tunable properties produced by microorganisms. syntheticbiology.washu.edu
Conferences & events
GEOS-Chem
The 11th International GEOS-Chem Meeting (IGC11) was held at Washington University in St. Louis June June 11-14, 2024. Attendees included 278 registrants from 96 institutions and 22 countries. The GEOS-Chem mission is to advance understanding of human and natural influences on the environment through a comprehensive, state-of-the-science, readily accessible global model of atmospheric composition.
Schwartz Family Distinguished Lecture
The Center for Aerosol Science and Engineering (CASE) hosted the Schwartz Family Distinguished Lecture, established with generous support from Dr. H. Gerry Schwartz, on April 16, 2024. The speaker was Jonathan Abbatt, a professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto and a leading atmospheric chemist who performs cutting-edge laboratory and field studies related to aerosol and multiphase chemistry in the atmosphere.
The lecture introduced the subject of indoor chemistry and then, through analysis of both laboratory and field experiments, illustrated the impacts that ventilation, cooking, cleaning and smoking have on indoor chemical complexity and our exposure to contaminants.
Water Innovation Symposium highlights advances in water research
The Center for Water Innovation (CWI) at Washington University in St. Louis hosted its second annual Water Innovation Symposium Sept. 16,2024. CWI’s director Zhen (Jason) He, the Laura & William Jens Professor, and Kimberly Parker, associate professor and associate director, both in the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering, welcomed more than 80 attendees to the meeting.
“In the symposium’s second year, we nearly doubled participation,” He said. “The impact of the event continues to grow as we establish vital connections between our participants from academia and industry.”
Symposium attendees included distinguished McKelvey Engineering alumnus Bruce Rittmann, for whom a named lecture was established in 2023; industry professionals; and Washington University faculty and students. Although distinguished McKelvey Engineering alumnus Lilia Abron was unable to attend this year’s event, the lecture established in her name continued.
The speaker for the Rittmann Lecture was David Sedlak, the Plato Malozemoff Professor of Environmental Engineering at University of California, Berkeley, and director of the Berkeley Water Center. The speaker for the Abron Lecture was Janet Hering, director emerita of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science & Technology and professor emerita at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich and Lausanne. Both are members of the National Academy of Engineering.
WashU-NTU Joint Symposium on Environmental Sustainability
The National Taiwan University (NTU) delegation, jointly composed of the Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering (GIEE) and the Science and Technology Research Institute for DE-Carbonization (STRIDE-C), held a symposium Sept. 8-12, 2024 at WashU. NTU participated in a technical exchange workshop with the scientific research team of the school’s Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering (EECE), as well as an industry-academia cooperation symposium organized by WashU’s Center for Water Innovation (CWI).
WashU to host ASEE/AIChE Summer School
WashU will host the ASEE/AIChE Summer School for Engineering Faculty July 31 – Aug. 5, 2027. The Summer School prepares new faculty for a fast start in research and instruction by providing workshops and resources in core chemical engineering topics, proposal writing and pedagogy. It also provides an excellent networking opportunity for new faculty to meet and begin collaborations with other chemical engineers across the country and around the world, as well as to begin mentoring relationships with a wide array of senior faculty workshop facilitators.
Research news
WashU to lead $26 million decarbonization initiative
To minimize the impact of man-made climate change, it is essential to significantly and rapidly decrease carbon dioxide emissions while simultaneously meeting the energy and manufacturing needs of a healthy and economically stable society. A powerhouse collaboration of universities and industry, led by the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, is embarking on a bold plan to transform manufacturing toward zero or negative emissions by converting carbon dioxide ultimately into environmentally friendly chemicals and products that create a circular economy.
The Carbon Utilization Redesign for Biomanufacturing-Empowered Decarbonization (CURB) Engineering Research Center (ERC) is funded by a fiveyear, $26 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation(NSF). The award — one of only four the NSF awarded nationwide in 2024 — supports convergent projects that include research, education, commercialization, workforce development, and diversity and inclusion that will lead to societal change.
“The vision of CURB is as a vibrant global research and innovation ecosystem that transforms U.S. manufacturing by capturing and leveraging carbon dioxide emissions and thereby decreasing the human ecological footprint,” said Aaron F. Bobick, dean and the James M. McKelvey Professor in McKelvey Engineering. “For McKelvey Engineering to lead this research project represents the increased sophistication of the school’s research and its ability to support an activity of this scale and in alignment with our strategic priorities.”
McKelvey Engineering brings its broad, unique experience with the nation’s first Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering to lead the ambitious project in collaboration with prominent researchers at the University of Delaware, Prairie View A&M University and Texas A&M University.
Grant highlights
+ Collaborative research: NSF-DBT: Systems level understanding of cyanobacterial extracellular polysaccharide biosynthesis and its use as renewable materials. PI: Fuzhong Zhang. National Science Foundation, $1.17 million.
+ An integrative anaerobic digestion and phototrophic biosystem for sustainable space habitats and life supports. PI: Yinjie Tang. NASA, $2.5 million.
+ NSF Convergence Accelerator Track K: passive samplers for equitable monitoring of drinking water quality. PI: Daniel Giammar. National Science Foundation, $650,000.
+ Instantaneous aerosol mobility sizing. PI: Jian Wang. Aerosol Dynamics Inc., $330,000.
+ First-principles physicochemical characterization of aerosol candidates for SAI. PI: Rajan Chakrabarty. Simons Foundation International, $500,000.
+ Development of high-performance long-life electrodes for sustainable sodium-based batteries. PI: Peng Bai. National Science Foundation, $550,000.
+ Converting CO2 to carbon nanotubes via tandem thermocatalytic processes. PI: Xinhua Liang. Department of Energy, $1.5 million.
+ The role of indoor dust in modulating indoor air chemistry: assessing airdust heterogeneous transformations and human exposures. PI: Jenna Ditto. National Science Foundation, $450,000.
Converting CO₂ to
solid carbon yields benefits for batteries and more
The Department of Energy (DOE) recently awarded $29 million in grants for “carbon management” technologies, including $1.5 million of those funds going to Xinhua Liang, professor of energy, environmental & chemical engineering in WashU’s McKelvey School of Engineering.
Previously, Liang received $2 million from the DOE to convert CO₂ to concrete products, and this continues that work, with a twist. Liang and his colleagues have developed a thermocatalytic process that could yield useful parts for increasingly ubiquitous lithium-ion batteries that power electric cars and other devices. Liang will fine-tune this process with his co-principal investigator, Miao Yu, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University at Buffalo.
The grant will fund Liang’s development of a low-carbon process to convert CO₂ to valuable highquality carbon nanotubes (CNTs). These nanotubes have “similar properties as commercial CNTs,” noted Liang, making them not only useful as potential anodes in batteries but doing so at a much more affordable price, a key component to scaling up these technologies.
WashU scientists uncover hidden source of snow melt: dark brown carbon
In a study recently published in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis model how dark-brown carbon (d-BrC) – light absorbing, water insoluble organic carbon plays a much larger role as a snow-warming agent than previously recorded. It’s 1.6 times as potent a warmer compared to what researchers previously thought was the main culprit, black carbon.
In the Tibetan Plateau and other midlatitude regions, deposition of water insoluble organic carbon on snow have been previously recorded, “But nobody really looked under the hood to investigate their snow melting potential,” said Rajan Chakrabarty, a professor at WashU’s McKelvey School of Engineering.
Chakrabarty’s PhD student, Ganesh Chelluboyina, and Taveen Kapoor, a postdoctoral fellow, have spent the bulk of their time at WashU taking up that challenge. They liken d-BrC to an “evil cousin” of black carbon, and much like black carbon, wildfires deposit it upon snow caps like switching out a white t-shirt for dark brown poncho. When the snow loses its reflectivity and warms up, this increases surrounding air temperatures and further notches up the warming cycle.
The team plans to further document the real-world effects of d-BrC at work as they enter the experimental phase of research, dropping atomized water droplets into the top of a four-foot-tall chamber, creating snow, and depositing aerosols on it.
Novel electro-biodiesel a more efficient, cleaner option to existing alternatives
Joshua Yuan, the Lucy & Stanley Lopata Professor and chair of the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, and Susie Dai, a MizzouForward Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Missouri, and their collaborators at Texas A&M University, have used electrocatalysis of carbon dioxide to create an electro-biodiesel that is 45 times more efficient and uses 45 times less land than soybean-based biodiesel production. Results of their work are published online in Joule Oct. 31, 2024.
“This research proves the concept for a broad platform for highly efficient conversion of renewable energy into chemicals, fuels and materials to address the fundamental limits of human civilization,” Yuan said. “This process could relieve the biodiesel feedstock shortage and transform broad, renewable fuel, chemical and material manufacturing by achieving independence from fossil fuel in the sectors that are fossil-fuel dependent, such as long-range heavy-duty vehicles and aircraft.”
Research news
Scientists find new way global air churn makes particles
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have discovered a new mechanism that produces a large portion of particles in Earth’s atmosphere.
The research, published in Science was led by Jian Wang, professor and director of the Center for Aerosol Science and Engineering at WashU. The research team includes Lu Xu, assistant professor in WashU’s Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering and scientists from NASA, NOAA, NCAR and European universities.
The conventional thinking was that most particle formation occurs in cloud outflow regions, where clouds float into the upper troposphere and eventually evaporate. In that process, clouds are getting wrung out and most particles are removed by rain. As a result, the air in the outflow regions is clear and clean, leaving some gaseous molecules with nowhere to go but form new particles.
“However, using the data collected from NASA’s global-scale aircraft measurements, we found that most of the new particles are not formed in the outflow regions as previously thought,” Wang said.
While puzzling over this surprising observation, Wang and colleagues ended up discovering a whole different mechanism taking place when the mixing of stratospheric and tropospheric air results in conditions that are ripe for particle formation.
Sustainable technology to extract critical materials from coal-based resources
Young-Shin Jun, professor of energy, environmental & chemical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, received a one-year, $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and $25,000 from WashU’s Consortium for Clean Coal Utilization for her work to extract rare earth elements (REEs) from coal. With the DOE’s support, Jun plans to develop novel technology to extract, recover and enrich REEs effectively from solid coal-based materials in a way that does not harm the environment.
Jun’s project builds on her previous research on harnessing the potential of supercritical fluids to extract REEs directly from coal fly ashes and uncombusted coal sustainably. By first characterizing the properties and structures of these coal-based materials, Jun plans to develop an innovative supercritical fluid-enabled extraction technology that optimizes the recovery process, enhancing efficiency while reducing waste and energy consumption to minimize environmental impact.
Altered carbon points toward sustainable manufacturing
Feng Jiao, the Elvera and William R. Stuckenberg Professor in in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, developed a twostep process to convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) into valuable carbon-based materials used in the production of food, plastics and other commodity chemicals. Jiao’s tandem CO₂ electrolysis produces acetate and ethylene. Acetate is a close relative of the more familiar acetic acid, or vinegar, which can be used as food for microbes used in biomanufacturing, and ethylene is a common component found in plastics and other polymers.
In a study published June 3 in Nature Chemical Engineering, Jiao demonstrated that his tandem CO₂ electrolyzer, which was specifically engineered for enhanced production of multi-carbon products, successfully scales up to produce a kilogram of chemicals per day at high concentration and purity. This represents a 1,000% increase in scale over previous demonstrations, offering a pathway to industrial feasibility.
A key achievement of Jiao’s system is not only enhanced production capability, but also the system’s resilience against industrial impurities, a critical factor in real-world applications.
WashU researchers quantify solar absorption by black carbon in fire clouds
In their most extreme form, wildfire clouds will inject smoke into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere where it can linger and impact stratospheric temperatures and composition for several months. Some of the details of that impact have been investigated in new research from Washington University in St. Louis’ Center for Aerosol Science & Engineering (CASE).
The research was led by Rajan Chakrabarty, a professor in WashU’s McKelvey School of Engineering and his former student Payton Beeler, now a Linus Pauling distinguished postdoctoral fellow at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The study was published in Nature Communications.
The team made airborne measurements from within the upper portion of an active pyroCb thunderstorm in Washington state as part of the 2019 NOAA/NASA Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality (FIREX-AQ) field campaign.
“We considered the full complexity and diversity of the measured black carbon size and morphology on a perparticle basis for accurate estimation of its solar absorption. What we discovered is that a pyroCb black carbon particle absorbs visible sunlight two times as much as a nascent black carbon particle emitted from smaller fires and urban sources,” he said.
The next step in this research is to take further measurements and do a more precise study of the black carbon behavior in the stratosphere.
Beyond lithium: Sodium-based batteries may power the future
Our increasing reliance on batteries has made considerations like their sustainability and ability to hold charge in a range of environments and the ability to reliably source materials needed to produce them urgent considerations.
Peng Bai, associate professor of energy, environmental & chemical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, received a two-year, $550,000 Partnerships for Innovation – Technology Translation award from the National Science Foundation to support his work on sodium-based batteries. The award will allow Bai to expand his prior NSF-funded research to scale up and commercialize his sodium battery technology.
Bai’s sodium-based batteries deliberately move away from lithium and other rare elements used in traditional batteries. Sodium, a more abundant and easier to process material, promises lower production costs and alleviated supply chain vulnerabilities, fostering a more sustainable and economically efficient energy landscape. Sodiumbased batteries may also offer enhanced fast-charging capabilities and improved operation in cold environments, expanding their potential application in large-scale energy storage and portable electronics, including electric vehicles.
The project, “Development of high-performance long-life electrodes for sustainable sodium-based batteries,” has three main goals: ensuring consistency in larger production batches, developing greener manufacturing processes using water instead of toxic solvents, and optimizing production processes at a commercial scale. These advancements would pave the way for sodium-based batteries to make their way into everyday technologies within five years, Bai says.
How to grow food without light
The agriculture industry relies on photosynthesis to grow food to feed the world. However, the process is slow and requires a lot of resources that make the process inefficient to meet the world’s needs.
Feng Jiao, professor of energy, environmental & chemical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, along with Robert E. Jinkerson, assistant professor at the University of California, Riverside, propose to move to an electro-agriculture framework that combines carbon dioxide electrolysis with biological systems to boost the efficiency of food production. Such a system could reduce agricultural land use in the United States by nearly 90% and allow food to be grown in urban areas and deserts without the need for light or pesticides. It also allows for fertilizer to be used more efficiently.
Jiao said the approach could reduce environmental impacts of food production, streamline supply chains and address the global food crisis. More about the electroagriculture system is found in research published Oct. 23 in Joule
Student news
(Credit:
Students win awards at Midwest Student Design Contest
Environmental Engineering Capstone students were ‘teams to beat’ at national contest
Students in the Environmental Engineering Capstone course in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis won eight awards at the WERC Environmental Design Contest at New Mexico State University April 7-10, 2024.
“This is a high-profile event that is the gold standard for environmental design competitions in the nation,” said Joshua Yuan, chair of the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering and the Lucy & Stanley Lopata Professor. “That we won the most awards among all universities says a lot about the quality of our program and students.”
“We were the teams to beat this year,” said Kristen Wyckoff, senior lecturer in energy, environmental & chemical engineering.
Wyckoff and Zhen (Jason) He teach the course.
Eleven Environmental Engineering students comprised two teams for the contest, which charges teams with designing a working bench-scale system that provides proof of concept for one of various tasks. The tasks for the 2024 competition included stormwater management, net zero electrical grid, modular carbon dioxide removal, water treatment, and their own proposed environmental challenge. Eighteen teams competed this year from across the United States.
Two EECE PhD students and an undergraduate student won first place in the wastewater category at the Central States Water and Environment Association Midwest Student Design Contest in Madison, Wisconsin. This competition provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate their science and engineering skills and practices by researching and preparing a design for a water quality-based project and presenting their project to water industry professionals. They represented the State of Missouri to attend the national competition this fall in New Orleans.
+ Yue Rao, a doctoral student in energy, environmental & chemical engineering
+ Jiasi Sun, a doctoral student in energy, environmental & chemical engineering
+ Sean Hwang, a first-year student in Arts & Sciences
WEFTEC
The WEF Student Design Competition promotes realworld design experience for students interested in pursuing education and careers in water and wastewater engineering and science.
As a program of WEF’s Students and Young Professionals Committee (SYPC), the competition tasks individuals or teams of students to prepare and present a design that helps solve a water quality issue. This year, the WashU team won fourth place in the wastewater category. The team consisted of three EECE students (two PhD and one master’s) and one undergraduate student from the School of Arts & Sciences.
(From left) Back Row: Zhen (Jason) He, Serena Earp, Frankie Lynch, Max Trachtenberg, Bella Stull, Matt Greenberg, Juli Aronson, Kristen Wyckoff. Front Row: Serene Tomaszewski, Kaelan Smyser, Elana Lerner, Jordan Lin, Maya Mehrotra.
WERC)
(From left) Sean Hwang, Yue Rao, Jiasi Sun.
(Credit: Zhen (Jason) He)
EECE doctoral students win awards at water conference
Two doctoral students in the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering recently won awards at the 2024 annual joint conference meeting of the Missouri Water Environment Association (MWEA) and the Missouri Section of the American Water Works Association.
+ Yue Rao was awarded the MWEA 2024 Ronald Layton Scholarship and third place in Wastewater Track, Fresh Ideas Student Poster Competition.
+ Kaichao Yang was awarded third place in Wastewater Track, Fresh Ideas Student Poster Competition.
International Experience 2024: Indonesia
The International Experience Program, an elective course offered to undergraduate students in the Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering (EECE) at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University, allows a group of students to participate in a two-week visit to a leading international university during the summer session. This year eleven WashU students traveled to Jakarta in Indonesia and were hosted by the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia (FTUI). Ray Ehrhard, senior lecturer, and Vijay Ramani, vice provost for graduate education and international affairs and Roma B. & Raymond H. Wittcoff Distinguished University Professor, coordinated and attended the trip with the students.
Doctoral student Wang wins Eckenfelder Graduate Research Award
Zixuan Wang, a doctoral student in energy, environmental & chemical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has been selected to receive the 2024 W. Wesley Eckenfelder Graduate Research Award from the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors Foundation. Wang is the first awardee from WashU.
The award is given annually to recognize an environmental engineering or environmental science graduate student whose research contributes to the knowledge of wastewater management. Students are judged based on academic program performance, professional or community service, project significance, purpose and goals.
Wesley Eckenfelder Jr. is considered the “godfather” of industrial wastewater management. He was a professor at Manhattan College, the University of Texas at Austin and Vanderbilt University. He was known internationally as an early developer and innovator of biological wastewater treatment technology that is now considered a standard skill by professionals.
Faculty awards & honors
Wu awarded Energy Technology Division Research Award
Gang Wu, professor of energy, environmental & chemical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has been awarded the Energy Technology Division Research Award from the Electrochemical Society (ECS).
The Energy Technology Division Research Award is given to one researcher annually to recognize outstanding and original contributions to the science and technology of energy-related research in interest areas of the Energy Technology Division of the Electrochemical Society and to encourage excellence in electrochemical energy-related research and publication in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society. The award, to be presented in Spring 2025, is the pre-eminent award in the electrochemical energy conversion and storage field.
Dan Giammar, the Walter E. Browne Professor of Environmental Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has been elected a fellow of the Class of 2024 Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP).
Giammar, also director of the university’s Center for the Environment, has been a member of AEESP since 2002 and began serving the organization in 2005 when he joined the Student Services Committee. He co-chaired the 2022 AEESP Research and Education Conference with Young-Shin Jun, professor of energy, environmental & chemical engineering. Giammar and Jun were given distinguished service awards from the organization for their work hosting the AEESP Research and Education Conference at Washington University. Giammar also received the 2020 AEESP Award for Outstanding Teaching in Environmental Engineering & Science.
Tang wins Plenary Award from AIChE
Yinjie Tang, professor of energy, environmental & chemical engineering at McKelvey Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, received the 404c - Area 15A Plenary Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in the Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division. Tang is developing a Strain and Manufacturing AI Research Tool (SMART) to mine literature data for generalizable rules of engineering biology, uncover patterns in complex data sets, rapidly generate SynBio prototype, and offer preliminary economic assessments.
Faculty fellows
+ American Chemical Society (ACS) Fellow: Young-Shin Jun
+ Association of Environmental Engineering & Science Professors (AEESP) Fellow: Daniel Giammar
+ Electrochemical Society Fellow: Vijay Ramani
+ International Water Association (IWA) Fellow: Zhen (Jason) He
+ The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Fellow: Feng Jiao, Young-Shin Jun and Joshua Yuan
+ National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Senior Member: Rich Axelbaum
+ The Water Environment Federation (WEF) Fellow: Zhen (Jason) He
Four EECE faculty among world’s highly cited researchers
The Institute for Scientific Information has named four EECE faculty members among the most highly cited researchers in the sciences in 2024.
+ Peng Bai, associate professor of energy, environmental & chemical engineering
+ Feng Jiao, professor of energy, environmental & chemical engineering
+ Randall Martin, the Raymond R. Tucker Distinguished Professor in the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering;
+ Gang Wu, professor of energy, environmental & chemical engineering
New faculty join EECE
+ PhD, Harbin Institute of Technology, 2004
Gang Wu has joined the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering as a professor from The State University of New York at Buffalo, where he had been on the faculty since 2014. An electrochemist, Wu explores platinum group metal (PGM)-free and low-PGM catalysts for sustainable hydrogen technologies, such as fuel cells, water electrolysis, carbon dioxide conversion and clean electrosynthesis. In 2011, he published his pioneering work in Science and demonstrated the feasibility of using PGM-free catalysts to replace platinum for fuel cell technologies. After that, as the principal investigator, he further expanded the concept of a series of fuel cell catalysts based on atomically dispersed metal sites.
Gang Wu, professor
Giammar named fellow of AEESP
Alumni news
Lefenfeld receives 2024 EECE Distinguished Alumni
Award
For his leadership in the sustainable manufacturing of metals and chemicals and his innovative contributions to the field of green chemistry, Michael Lefenfeld received the 2024 EECE Distinguished Alumni Award from the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering (EECE) in the McKelvey School of Engineering.
“My time at WashU catalyzed my career,” Lefenfeld said. “It taught me how to ideate, how to think broadly and disruptively, and ultimately gave me the foundation I needed to do transformative work.”
Lefenfeld, who earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from WashU in 2002 and master’s degrees from Columbia University in 2005 and 2007, has built a career using cuttingedge research to find solutions to the world’s most pressing problems — leading to safer industrial environments, enhanced medical technologies and more effective, affordable energy solutions. As president and CEO at Hexion Inc., he heads the company’s efforts to create sustainable solutions in the construction adhesive industry.
Young receives Distinguished Alumni Award
Peter Young, who earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from WashU, was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award at the university’s annual Founder’s Day ceremony. Young is a pioneering entrepreneur who built a globally successful company in Hong Kong in the early 1980s, just as China was opening for international business.Known as Chemcentral Group, the company was the first paper and paper-processing agency in the country and has since become a global leader in the safe sale of chemical and paper-industry products, with additional ventures in real estate, consumer goods and ecotourism.
Young’s longtime service includes membership on the university’s International Regional Cabinet and the McKelvey Engineering National Council, as well as on WashU’s Biomedical Engineering External Advisory Board.
Losli receives 2023 EECE Distinguished Alumni Award
For her achievements in shaping the future of water engineering, Rebecca Losli received the 2023 EECE Distinguished Alumni Award from the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering (EECE) in the McKelvey School of Engineering.
Losli is president of Illinois American Water, the largest investor-owned water utility in Illinois, providing water and/or wastewater services to approximately 1.3 million people. In this role, Losli reinforces and strengthens customer, regulatory and local government relationships, drives operational and financial results and is the principal external contact for Illinois American Water.
Losli joined American Water in 2021 as director of engineering for Missouri American Water.Prior to joining American Water, Losli served as the manager of program planning for the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District. She also founded and was president of Losli Engineering.
Graduate student fellowships
+ Charles A. and Marlene S. Buescher Graduate
+ Henry G. Schwartz, Jr. Graduate
+ Sverdrup Corp. Graduate
+ Cecil & Bertha Winingham Lue-Hing Environmental Engineering Graduate
+ Otis, Dorothy and Bryce Sproul Family Graduate
+ John L. & Julianne J. Stein Graduate
In addition, Losli serves as chairperson of the Illinois Utilities Business Diversity Council Board of Directors, and in various roles including the Board of Directors of the St. Louis Urban League, the Engineers’ Club of St. Louis, and the Advisory Board for the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. She earned master’s degrees in environmental engineering and business administration from WashU, a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from WashU, and a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics from Samford University.
Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering Faculty
Joshua Yuan Chair & Professor joshua.yuan@wustl.edu
Research interests: Employs mechanism-based engineering design to address the challenges in energy, the environment and health
Christopher Cooper Assistant Professor cbcooper@wustl.edu
Research interests: Responsive, soft materials for applications in energy storage, environmental sustainability and health
Zhen (Jason) He Professor zhenhe@wustl.edu
Research interests: Using advanced technologies to recover valuable resources from wastewater
Richard Axelbaum Professor axelbaum@wustl.edu
Research interests: Research addresses challenges in clean energy and advanced materials, with emphasis on combustion
Jenna Ditto Assistant Professor dittoj@wustl.edu
Research interests: Investigates the chemistry and impacts of urban indoor air pollution
Feng Jiao Professor jiaof@wustl.edu
Research interests: Researches electrocatalysis and carbon dioxide utilization; develops electrochemical devices to address energy storage and sustainability challenges
Peng Bai Associate Professor pbai@wustl.edu
Research interests: Inventing analytical tools to investigate the fundamental science in advanced electrochemical energy systems
Ray Ehrhard Senior Lecturer rehrhard@wustl.edu
Teaches practical evaluation and analysis involving rising concerns in the environmental field focusing on water, wastewater and energy solutions
Young-Shin Jun Professor ysjun@wustl.edu
Research interests: Solves important energy and environmental challenges using nanoscale interfacial reactions and nucleation
Janie Brennan Senior Lecturer & Director of Undergraduate Studies jbrennan@wustl.edu
Utilizes evidence-based teaching methods in engineering education
Marcus Foston Associate Professor mfoston@wustl.edu
Research interests: Finds innovative ways to utilize biomass and plastic waste resources for production of value-added products
Benjamin Kumfer Research Assistant Professor and Senior Lecturer kumferb@wustl.edu
Research interests: Advancing innovative power generation and combustion technologies
Rajan Chakrabarty Professor chakrabarty@wustl.edu
Research interests: Addresses grand challenges in aerosolclimate-health nexus using interdisciplinary science
Daniel Giammar Professor giammar@wustl.edu
Research interests: Researches sustainable solutions to produce safe drinking water
Xinhua Liang Professor xinhua.liang@wustl.edu
Research interests: Designs novel nanostructured materials using gas-phase synthesis to address energy and environmental challenges
Fangqiong Ling
Assistant Professor fangqiong@wustl.edu
Research interests: Studies microbial ecosystems to improve water supply safety and public health
Trent Silbaugh Senior Lecturer and Director of Master’s Studies tsilbaugh@wustl.edu
Teaches undergraduate lecture and laboratory courses in chemical engineering
Gang Wu Professor gangw@wustl.edu
Research explores earth-abundant materials and catalysts for electrochemical engineering and technologies to achieve energy and environmental sustainability
Randall Martin Professor rvmartin@wustl.edu
Research interests: Leading expert on advancing the understanding of atmospheric composition
Yinjie Tang Professor yinjie.tang@wustl.edu
Research interests: Studies metabolic modeling and analysis; fermentation engineering; and algal bioprocesses
Kristen Wyckoff Senior Lecturer kristenw@wustl.edu
Integrates active learning, outreach and diversity and inclusion into engineering education
Kimberly Parker AssociateProfessor kmparker@wustl.edu
Research interests: Studies the fate of chemical and biological pollutants in soil, air and water
Elijah Thimsen Associate Professor elijah.thimsen@wustl.edu
Research interests: Researches thermodynamic aspects of chemical and material transformations
Lu Xu Assistant Professor xu1@wustl.edu
Research interests: Focuses on air quality and climate change
Vijay Ramani Professor and Vice Provost for Graduate Education and International Affairs ramani@wustl.edu
Research interests: Advances electrochemical energy conversion & storage
Jay Turner Professor & Vice Dean for Education jrturner@wustl.edu
Research interests: Assesses air pollution sources and human exposures to drive interventions
Fuzhong Zhang Professor fzhang29@wustl.edu
Research interests: Uses synthetic biology to produce better biofuels, chemicals and highperformance materials from engineered microbes
Kurt Russell Lecturer kurtr@wustl.edu
Research interests: Characterizing catalysts in various applications, including X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction
Jian Wang Professor jian@wustl.edu
Research interests: Researches the impact of aerosols on climate and air quality
