Group Members

Principal Investigator



David W. Flaherty

Professor
Dow Chemical Company Scholar
Energy Biosciences Institute
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Postdoc., University of California, Berkeley, 2012
Ph.D., University of Texas, Austin, 2010
B.S., University of California, Berkeley, 2004

E-mail: dwflhrty at Illinois dot edu

Post-Doctoral Researchers


cct at illinois dot edu

University of Tokyo
Ph.D. Chemical System Engineering (2020)

Project: Ethylene Epoxidation over Ag Catalysts




yongwoo at illinois dot edu

Seoul National University
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering (2021)

Project: Ammoxidation of Ethane over Metal/Zeolite Catalysts


yuguo6 at illinois dot edu

Peking University
Ph.D. Inorganic Chemistry (2020)

Project: Silanizing reaction over silica materials in polydimethylsiloxane

Graduate Students


chris3 at Illinois dot edu

University of New Mexico
B.S. Chemical Engineering (2018)

Ph.D. Studies: Solvent Effects within Zeolite Catalysts


dspotts2 at Illinois dot edu

University of Oklahoma
B.S. Chemical Engineering (2018)

Ph.D. Studies: Aqueous-Organic Solvent Mixtures for Zeolite-Catalyzed Epoxidations


oskwon2 at Illinois dot edu

Seoul National University
B.S. Chemical Engineering (2017)
Seoul National University
M.S. Chemical Engineering (2019)


richag3 at Illinois dot edu

University of California, Los Angeles
B.S. Chemical Engineering (2020)

Ph.D. Studies: Electrochemical Alkene Epoxidations


jieunl3 at Illinois dot edu

Hanyang University
B.S. Chemical Engineering (2018)
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
M.S. Chemical Engineering (2019)

Ph.D. Studies: Direct Reduction of Ester to Ether


maj9 at Illinois dot edu

University of Minnesota
B. Chemical Engineering (2020)
University of Minnesota
B.S. Chemistry (2020)


sv29 at Illinois dot edu

University of Waterloo
BASc Chemical Engineering Honours Co-op (2019)

Ph.D. Studies: Bimetallic and Single Atom Alloy Catalysts for the Direct Synthesis of H2O2


hlocht2 at Illinois dot edu

University of Florida
B.S. Chemical Engineering (2022)

Ph.D. Studies: Solvent Effects in Epoxide Ring-Opening over Zeolite Catalysts

Undergraduate Students


Mentor: Chris Torres

University of Illinois
B.S. Chemical Engineering (2023)

Project: Solvent Effects within Zeolite Catalysts


Mentor: David Potts

University of Illinois
B.S. Chemical Engineering (2024)

Project: Epoxide Ring-Opening over Zeolite Catalysts


Mentor: Richa Ghosh

University of Illinois
B.S. Chemical Engineering (2026)

Project: Electrochemical Alkene Epoxidations

Post-Doctoral and Graduate-Student Alumni

(To all group Alumni, email Huston to provide an updated email or location)

Vijay Shah
vijayms2 at illinois dot edu
B. University of Minnesota, 2021
B.S. University of Minnesota, 2021

Project: Heterogeneously Catalyzed Aerobic Oxidative Cleavage for Sustainable Biomass Valorization

Current Location: PhD Kenis Group University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Dr. Yangsik Yun
netiyys at illinois dot edu
Ph.D. Seoul National University, 2017
Post Doc. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2022 (Prof. D.W. Flaherty)

Project: Direct Reduction of Ester to Ether

Current Location: Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology

Dr. Danim Yun
danimy at illinois dot edu
Ph.D. Seoul National University, 2017
Post Doc. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2022 (Prof. D.W. Flaherty)

Project: Oxidative Cleavage of Unsaturated Fatty Acids to Diacids

Current Location: Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology

Dr. Claudia E. Berdugo-Díaz
ceb4 at illinois dot edu
Ph.D. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2022 (Prof. D.W. Flaherty)

Project: Catalytic Routes for Oxygenate Conversion on Solid Acids and Supported Metal Nanoparticles

Current Location: Research Scientist, Dow; Midland, MI

Dr. Tomas Ricciardulli
tomasr2 at illinois dot edu
Ph.D. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2022 (Prof. D.W. Flaherty)

Project: Active Site Requirements for Selective Catalytic O2 Reduction with H2

Current Location: Catalyst Scientist, Amogy; New York, NY

Dr. E. Zeynep Ayla
ayla2 at illinois dot edu
Ph.D. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2022 (Prof. D.W. Flaherty)

Project: Strategies to Tune Active Site Environments for Alkene Epoxidations with H2O2 Over Supported Transition Metal Atoms

Current Location: Associate, Thermal Sciences Practice, Exponent; Boston, MA

Dr. Jason S. Adams
jsadams2 at illinois dot edu
Ph.D. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2022 (Prof. D.W. Flaherty)

Project: Role of organic species, alloys, and support identity on H2 and O2 activation to H2O2 on metal nanoparticles

Current Location: Post Doc. Manthiram Group California Institute of Technology

Future Location: Assistant Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University (starting Jan. 2025)

Dr. Abinaya Sampath
asampath2 at illinois dot edu
Ph.D. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2022 (Prof. D.W. Flaherty)

Project: Spectroscopic and Kinetic Investigations of Selective Bond Activation over Transition Metal Catalysts

Current Location: Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar

Dr. Zhongyao Zhang
zzhng158 at illinois dot edu
Ph.D. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2021 (Prof. D.W. Flaherty)

Project: Ethanol valorization through aldol condensation reactions

Current Location: Post Doc. Iglesia Group University of California, Berkeley

Devinda Wijewardena
devinda2 at illinois dot edu
M.S. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2021

Project: Ethylene Epoxidation over Ag Catalysts

Current Location: PhD Selvin Group University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Dr. Pranjali Priyadarshini
priyada2 at illinois dot edu
Ph.D. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2020 (Prof. D.W. Flaherty)

Project: Direct Synthesis of Hydrogen Peroxide over Bimetallics

Current Location: Post Doc. Jones Group Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Daniel Bregante
dbregan2 at illinois dot edu
Ph.D. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2020 (Prof. D.W. Flaherty)

Project: Selective Epoxidation over Single-Site Catalysts

Current Location: Boston Metal; Boston, MA

David Ollodart
B.S. University of Washington, 2017

Project: Ethanol Upgrading over Zeolite Catalysts

Dr. Arian Ghorbanpour
ariang at illinois dot edu
PhD., Chemical Engineering: University of Houston, 2015

Project: Microporous Catalysts for Biomass Upgrading

Dr. Megan E. Witzke
witzke2 at illinois dot edu
Ph.D. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2018 (Prof. D.W. Flaherty)

Project: Hydrodeoxygenation over Nickel Phosphide, Ethanol upgrading over Supported Copper, and Spectroscopic Methods in Catalysis

Current Location: ExxonMobil; Clinton, NJ

Dr. Neil M. Wilson
nmwilso2 at illinois dot edu
Ph.D. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2017 (Prof. D.W. Flaherty)

Project: Direct Synthesis of H2O2

Current Location: LAM Research; Fremont, CA

Dr. SiWei (Andy) Chang
schang47 at illinois dot edu
Ph.D. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2017 (Prof. D.W. Flaherty)

Project: Bond Cleavage over Single-Crystal Ru and P-doped Ru

Current Location: Intel; Portland, OR

Dr. Hongbo Zhang
zhang811 at illinois dot edu
Ph.D. Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, 2012 (Profs. X. Bao and X. Pan)
Post Doc. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2017 (Prof. D.W. Flaherty)

Project: Groups IV and V Metal Oxides for C2 Oxygenate Coupling

Current Location: Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Nankai University

Dr. Takahiko Moteki
Ph.D. University of Tokyo, 2013 (Prof. T. Okubo)
Post Doc. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2016 (Prof. D.W. Flaherty)

Project: C-C bond formation among C2-C4 oxygenates

Current Location: Assistant Professor of Chemical Systems Engineering, University of Tokyo

Jimmy Shih
B.S. University of Michigan, 2012

Project: Chemoselective hydrogenations on Pt and surface-modified Pt catalysts

Undergraduate Alumni

      • Melissa Manetsch; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2022; Current Location: MIT
      • Haoyu Chen; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2022
      • Mohammad Fahad; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2023
      • Darian Alonzo; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2023
      • Darshan Patel; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2022; Current Location: ADM
      • Arzam Harris; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2021; Current Location: ADM
      • Jun Zhi Tan; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2020; Current Location: Princeton
      • Ami Patel; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2019
      • Rebecca Schultz; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2019
      • Gayathri Kulkarni; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2019
      • Alayna Johnson; Chemistry, Class of 2020; Current Location: MIT
      • Luke Greenfield; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2017; Current Location: PepsiCo
      • Mark Triezenberg; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2017; Current Location: Abbvie
      • Vivek Vermani; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2019; Current Location: University of Illinois
      • Katherine Nagode; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2018; Current Location: University of Illinois
      • Aaliya Mumtaz; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2018; Current Location: University of Illinois
      • Andrew Rowley; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2016; Current Location: University of California, Irvine
      • Christian Coonrod; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2016; Current Location: Rice University
      • Kenan Al-Bardan; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2017; Current Location: University of Illinois
      • Rong Jiao; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2015; Current Location: Baker Risk
      • Christine Rovani; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2015; Current Location: BP
      • Aileen Wee; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2015; Current Location: Epic Systems Corporation
      • Han Xiao; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2015; Current Location: University of Minnesota
      • Supriya Hobbs; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2014; Current Location: Eli Lilly
      • Rogan Kipp; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2015; Current Location:
      • Benjamin Kanevsky; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2014; Current Location: Cal Tech
      • Kenneth Yun; Chem Engineering, Class of 2018; Current Location: University of Illinois
      • Jaclyn Letzter; Chem Engineering, Class of 2017; Current Location: University of Illinois
      • Lan Wei; Chemical Engineering, Class of 2015; Current Location:

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