News

Van Lehn Winner of the 2021 CoMSEF Young Investigator Award

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photo of Professor Reid Van LehnProfessor Reid C. Van Lehn from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University Wisconsin-Madison is the 2021 winner of the CoMSEF Young Investigator Award. He is cited “for the development and application of computational techniques to understand the interfacial properties of functionalized nanomaterials and their interactions with lipid membranes.” Reid joined the faculty at Wisconsin in 2016. Before that he worked with Professor Thomas F. Miller III at the California Institute of Technology and with Professor Alfredo Alexander-Katz at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a Post-doctoral researcher. Reid received his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2014 with Professor Alexander-Katz. Reid will deliver a presentation describing his research during the CoMSEF Plenary Session at the 2021 AIChE Annual Meeting. The CoMSEF Young Investigator Award is given annually to a CoMSEF member who is within 7 years of completion of their highest degree.

 

Jayaraman Winner of 2021 CoMSEF Impact Award

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Professor Arthi Jayaraman from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Delaware is the winner of the 2021 CoMSEF Impact Award. She is cited “for outstanding developments in modeling, theory, and simulation of polymer blends, nanocomposites, solutions, and biomaterials critical to the engineering design of advanced materials.” Prior to joining the faculty at Delaware in 2019, Arthi was a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She received her PhD from North Carolina State University in 2006 with Carol Hall. For her post-doctoral research, she worked with Kenneth Schweizer in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign. She was also the winner of the inaugural CoMSEF Young Investigator Award for Modeling and Simulation in 2013. Arthi will deliver a presentation describing her research during the CoMSEF Plenary Session at the 2021 AIChE Annual Meeting. The CoMSEF Impact Award is given annually to a CoMSEF member who is within 15 years of completion of their highest degree.

 

Shirts Winner of 2020 CoMSEF Impact Award

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Professor Michael R. Shirts from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder is the winner of the 2020 CoMSEF Impact Award. He is cited “for increasing the utility, power, and reliability of molecular simulation as a chemical engineering tool through development and improvement of statistical mechanics methods and programs.” Prior to joining the faculty at Colorado in 2016, Michael was a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Virginia. Shirts received his PhD from Stanford University in 2005 with Vijay Pandey. For his post-doctoral research, he worked with Richard Friesner at Columbia University. Michael delivered a presentation describing his research during the CoMSEF Plenary Session at the 2020 AIChE Annual Meeting. The CoMSEF Impact Award is given annually to a CoMSEF member who is within 15 years of completion of their highest degree.

White Winner of the 2020 CoMSEF Young Investigator Award

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Professor Andrew D. White from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Rochester is the 2020 winner of the CoMSEF Young Investigator Award. He is cited “for excellence in scholarly research in computational molecular science and engineering on the topics of multiscale modeling, molecular simulation methods and modeling of peptides.” Andrew joined the faculty at Rochester in 2015. Before that he worked with Professor Greg Voth at University of Chicago as a Post-doctoral fellow in the Institute for Biophysical Dynamics from 2013-2014. Andrew received his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Washington in 2013. Andrew delivered a presentation describing his research during the CoMSEF Plenary Session at the 2020 AIChE Annual Meeting. The CoMSEF Young Investigator Award is given annually to a CoMSEF member who is within 7 years of completion of their highest degree.

 

Mittal elected Vice-Chair of CoMSEF

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The annual CoMSEF election recently concluded. Congrats to Jeetain Mittal who was elected Vice Chair, Joe Golab who was elected Secretary-Treasurer, and to Kayla Sprenger and Poornima Padmanabhan who were elected Liaison Directors! 

Alamdari and Anderson win 2020 CoMSEF Graduate Student Awards

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The CoMSEF Graduate Student Awards in Computational Molecular Science and Engineering were awarded to participants in the CoMSEF poster session at the virtual annual AIChE Meeting: Sarah Alamdari (Washington, Advisor: Jim Pfaendtner) and Ryther Anderson (Colorado School of Mines, Advisor: Diego Gomez-Gualdron). This year the forum also named two Honorable Mentions: Andrew S. Rosen (Northwestern, Advisor: Randall Q. Snurr) and Karun Kumar Rao (Houston, Advisor: Lars Grabow). The CoMSEF Graduate Student Awards recognize excellence in research by graduate students in the field of computational molecular science and engineering. The awardees were selected based on the nomination letters received from each student’s advisor, their CV, and a poster presented during the CoMSEF poster session.

 

Elections 2020

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This year we will elect a Vice Chair, a Secretary-Treasurer, and 2 Liaison Directors. A link to the ballot will be sent to you by email.

The Vice Chair shall:
  • Formulate and implement long-term plans and strategic activities for the Forum.
  • Implement projects in coordination with the Chair.
  • Serve as the Forum liaison to the Institute.
  • Be responsible for the programming activities of the Forum. The Vice-Chair, incollaboration with the Chair, shall prepare for the symposia and other programs. Responsibilities include coordinating Forum activities with the National Programming Committee and other programming groups. The Vice-Chair shall be the representative of CoMSEF to the National Program Committee.

The Vice Chair becomes Chair after the two-year term.

The candidates for Vice Chair are:

The Secretary-Treasurer shall:
  • Handle the general correspondence of the Forum, and shall, at the direction of the Chair, issue all notices of all meetings.
  • Handle and record the collection and disbursement of funds as authorized by the Executive Committee of the Forum.
  • Coordinate, with Headquarters, the preparation, electronic mailing, and tallying of annual election ballots.
  • Submit a report covering the finances and activities of the Forum at the end of each year to the Executive Committee of the Forum and the Secretary of the Institute.
  • Prepare a proposed budget for the upcoming year, for review and approval by the Executive Committee.

The candidate for Secretary-Treasurer is:

  • Joe Golab (Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy)
The Liaison Directors shall:
  • Facilitate programming with other organizations by identifying opportunities for co-sponsorship
  • Communicate and advocate CoMSEF activities with other organizations.
  • As members of the Executive Committee, aid the other officers in developing and carrying out CoMSEF activities and preparing the CoMSEF newsletter.

The candidates for Liaison Director are:

Peters Winner of 2019 CoMSEF Impact Award

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Professor Baron Peters from the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Illinois is the winner of the 2019 CoMSEF Impact Award. He is cited for “simulation techniques using special "rare events" that deepen understanding of crystal nucleation and growth, catalysis by amorphous materials, and of reactions in polar solvents.” Prior to joining the faculty at Illinois in 2019, Baron was most recently a professor of chemical engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Peters received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2004. For his post-doctoral research, he worked with Bernhardt Trout at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and with Berend Smit at the Centre Européen de Calcul Atomique et Moléculaire. Peters was on the chemical engineering faculty at UCSB from 2007 to 2018. Baron received his award during the CoMSEF Plenary Session at the 2019 AIChE Annual Meeting. The CoMSEF Impact Award is given annually to a CoMSEF member who is within 15 years of completion of their highest degree. 

Haji-Akbari Winner of the 2019 CoMSEF Young Investigator Award

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Professor Amir Haji-Akbari from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Yale University is the 2019 winner of the CoMSEF Young Investigator Award. He is cited for “his pioneering contributions to developing and utilizing advanced sampling techniques to study crystallization, including colloidal self-assembly and ice nucleation.” Prior to joining the faculty at Yale in 2017, Amir was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University in Pablo Debenedetti’s group. Amir received his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 2011. Amir received his award during the CoMSEF Plenary Session at the 2019 AIChE Annual Meeting. The CoMSEF Young Investigator Award is given annually to a CoMSEF member who is within 7 years of completion of their highest degree.

Basdogan and Shi Win 2019 CoMSEF Graduate Student Awards

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Yasemin Basdogan (Pittsburgh, Advisor: John Keith, Poster Title: A Machine Learning Guided Approach for Studying Local Solvation Environments) and Kaihang Shi (North Carolina St., Advisors: Erik Santiso and Keith Gubbins, Poster Title: High-Pressure Phenomena in Adsorbed Films: A New Route to an Experimental Determination of Effective Tangential Pressure) won the 2019 CoMSEF Graduate Student Awards in Computational Molecular Science and Engineering at the AIChE Annual Meeting in Orlando.

AIChE's Computational Molecular Science and Engineering Forum (CoMSEF) graduate student awards recognize excellence in research by graduate students. The intent of the awards is to reward significant contributions to research in computational molecular science and engineering by students. The award consists of a certificate and an honorarium.

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