Yuriy Roman

Prof. Román completed his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in 2002.  He then completed his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, also in Chemical Engineering, under the guidance of Prof. James Dumesic.  At UW he worked on developing catalytic strategies to convert biomass-derived carbohydrates into platform chemicals.  Before joining the department of Chemical Engineering at MIT as an Assistant Professor, he completed a two-year postdoc at Caltech, working with Prof. Mark E. Davis on the synthesis of microporous and mesoporous materials for isomerization and carbonylation reactions.

Prof. Román’s research lies at the interface of heterogeneous catalysis and materials design.  His group applies a wide range of synthetic, spectroscopic, and reaction engineering tools to study the chemical transformation of molecules on catalytic surfaces.  A strong emphasis is placed on the application of catalytic materials to tackle relevant problems associated with sustainable energy, biofuels, and renewable chemicals.   Catalysts are designed utilizing advanced inorganic, organic and organometallic synthetic techniques to endow solid materials with well-characterized surfaces where the physical and chemical properties of the solid are manipulated by understanding and controlling the structure of the material on all length scales. A particular focus is placed on the molecular design and nano-scale engineering of microporous and mesoporous materials.