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New Faculty
ChE Welcomes Two New Assistant Professors
EXPERIENCES ENERGETIC GROWTH WITH 11 NEW FACULTY HIRED SINCE FALL 2018
Henry C. W. Chu, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Ph.D., Cornell University
Dr. Chu’s research covers transport phenomena, colloid and interface science, electrokinetics, and rheology. His research develops multiscale computational tools and fundamental theory to address emerging challenges in these research areas, emphasizing on close collaboration with experimental groups to translate knowledge into applications. Apart from classroom teaching, he enjoys interacting with students in mentoring and educational outreach programs.
Dr. Chu was a postdoctoral fellow of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, working with Aditya Khair, Ph.D.; Robert Tilton, Ph.D.; and Stephen Garoff, Ph.D. He obtained a M.Phil. in mechanical engineering from The University of Hong Kong (HKU) in 2012. He earned a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, with minors in chemical engineering and applied mathematics, from Cornell University in 2017 under the supervision of Roseanna Zia, Ph.D. The UF Department of Chemical Engineering’s graduate program rose to No. 14 among public institutions, from its previous No. 19, according to the 2021 U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools Ranking. “We are grateful that our peers recognize the efforts of our faculty and students, and for the tremendous support we’ve received in recent years from the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering,” said Carlos Rinaldi, Ph.D., Department of Chemical Engineering chair and Dean’s Leadership Professor. Janani Sampath, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Ph.D., The Ohio State University
Dr. Sampath’s research is motivated by the need to predictively design soft materials for clean energy and health. She utilizes molecular simulations and data science techniques to engineer and characterize novel polymer protein systems.
Dr. Sampath was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, supervised by Jim Pfaendtner, Ph.D., and Chris Mundy, Ph.D. She received her Ph.D. in chemical engineering from The Ohio State University in 2018 under the mentorship of Lisa Hall, Ph.D., where she studied mechanical and interfacial structure – property relationships in ion containing polymers using coarse-grained models. Prior to this, she worked as a Research Engineer in Unilever R&D, where she synthesized and characterized ultrafiltration membranes for water purification. She obtained her B.E. in chemical
engineering in 2010 from R.V. College of Engineering, India. graduate engineering schools.
“I look forward to working with our faculty, staff, students, and alumni to continue to grow and transform our department to better train chemical engineers to serve the needs of Florida, the U.S., and the world,” Dr. Rinaldi said.
The University of Florida is one of America’s leading public research universities. The state’s oldest and most comprehensive university, UF is a land-grant, sea-grant and space-grant institution that is Florida’s only member of the Association of American Universities, the higher-education organization comprising the top 62 public and private institutions in North America.
