Reaction Engineering: A 40 Year Perspective

In this presentation, I provide a 40 year perspective of chemical reaction engineering. As a chemical engineering student in the 1970’s, I found reaction engineering to be the most exciting part of chemical engineering. My MS studies involved experimental work and simulations with a catalytic reaction network for thermochemical water splitting, while my PhD efforts were on focused on the design and simulation of a new type of chemical reactor. As soon as I began my academic career, I concentrated on the synthesis of catalytic materials and this has been an ongoing program in my research group for over 30 years. Given this background, I will provide examples of how chemical reaction engineering has evolved over this time period, and give a few thoughts on future expectations of the field.