Prof. Ariel L. Furst is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT. Her lab combines biological, chemical, and materials engineering to solve challenges in human health and environmental sustainability. They develop technologies for implementation in low-resource settings to ensure equitable access to technology. She completed her Ph.D. in the lab of Prof. Jacqueline K. Barton at the California Institute of Technology developing new cancer diagnostic strategies based on DNA charge transport. She was an A. O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow in the lab of Prof. Matthew Francis at UC, Berkeley developing sensors to monitor environmental pollutants. She is the recipient of the NIH New Innovator Award, the NSF CAREER Award, the Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, and the Sloan Fellowship. She is the cofounder of three startups and is passionate about entrepreneurship, in addition to STEM outreach and increasing participation of underrepresented groups in engineering. It is our pleasure to host Prof. Furst on PodCAT!

David Flaherty is the Thomas C. DeLoach Jr. Endowed Professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Prof. Flaherty completed a BS in Chemical Engineering at UC-Berkeley and completed his PhD at University of Texas Austin at the interface between chemical engineering and physical chemistry studying thin film deposition and chemical reactions at surfaces with Prof. C Buddie Mullins. During this time, he was also a visiting student at Pacific Northwestern National Laboratory with the surface chemistry team.

Flahrety was subsequently a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley with Prof Enrique Iglesia examining hydrogenolysis reactions of alkanes over supported metal transition metal nanoparticles.

At his current position at Georgia Tech, he leads a group that develops understanding and design principles for the use of solid catalysts to resolve challenges for the sustainable production of chemicals and energy carriers. Research focuses on generating new insight into chemical phenomena that emerge when reactions occur on complex and dynamic catalyst, often solid-liquid interfaces.

Flaherty has been recognized with numerous awards including the Department of Energy Early Career Award; National Science Foundation CAREER Award; the American Vacuum Society, Early Career Research Award; the Eastman Foundation Distinguished Lecturer in Catalysis; and the Paul H. Emmett Award in Fundamental Catalysis from the North American Catalysis Society. He also currently serves as Editor-in-Chief for Journal of Catalysis. It is our pleasure to welcome Prof. David Flaherty to PodCAT!

Originally from Egypt, Prof. Omar Abdelrahman grew up in the United Arab Emirates, where he developed his passion for chemical engineering and went on to receive his BSc in Chemical Engineering (American University of Sharjah, 2011). Driven by the desire to be involved in scientific research, Omar moved to upstate NY for his PhD in chemical engineering at Syracuse University (2016), followed by a postdoctoral position at the University of Minnesota. In 2018, Omar joined the University of Massachusetts Amherst as an assistant professor and is now an associate professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Houston.

The Abdelrahman lab is focused on heterogeneous catalysis and reaction engineering, with an emphasis on understanding and controlling non-ideal thermodynamic environments for selective chemical transformations. Omar is a team leader for the center for programmable energy catalysis (CPEC), a DOE Energy Frontier Research Center, where efforts in his team target the programmable control of active site electronic charge distribution. The group is also committed to advancing accessible and affordable science, through developing and disseminating experimental designs aimed at lowering the barrier to entry into catalysis research. When he gets a chance to spend time in the lab, Omar loves nothing more than tinkering alongside his students to come up with new and fun reactor designs. Outside the lab, Omar enjoys exploring the city of Houston on bike, a fan of everything food & drink, and travelling for that next outdoor adventure. It is our great pleasure to welcome Omar to PodCAT!

Prof. Rajamani (Raj) Gounder received his BS in Chemical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin in 2006, where his interest in catalysis was sparked while performing research under Jim Dumesic. He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from UC-Berkeley in 2011 under the guidance of Enrique Iglesia, and then completed a postdoctoral stay at Caltech with Mark Davis. He started his faculty career at Purdue in 2013, and is currently the R. Norris and Eleanor Shreve Professor in Chemical Engineering and the Director of the Purdue Catalysis Center.

Raj's research group studies the kinetic and mechanistic details of catalytic reactions, the design of zeolites and porous materials with tailored site and surface properties, and the development of methods to characterize and titrate active sites in catalytic surfaces. His research group has been recognized by the PECASE award, the Sloan Research Fellowship, the Early Career in Catalysis Award from the ACS CATL Division, and the Rutherford Aris Award from ISCRE.

Raj has also served as president and director of the Catalysis Club of Chicago, and co-organized technical programs for the North American Catalysis Society Meeting and the AIChE CRE Division.

Prof. Michele L. Sarazen is an Assistant Professor at Princeton University in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and an associated faculty with the DOE Princeton Plasma Physic Laboratory. Her research group couples synthetic, kinetic, and theoretical investigations of porous crystalline materials as catalysts and adsorbents for sustainable fuel and chemical production with an emphasis on reaction and deactivation mechanisms. She earned her BS in Chemical Engineering, summa cum laude, at the Pennsylvania State University and her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley under Enrique Iglesia. Before arriving at Princeton, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Georgia Institute of Technology with Christopher Jones. Her recognitions include the NSF CAREER Award, ACS CATL Division Early Career in Catalysis, Robert Augustine Award of the Organic Reactions Catalysis Society, and AIChE 35 under 35. She currently serves as a D&I Task Force member for AIChE in Catalysis and Reaction Engineering, Director of the Catalysis Society of Metropolitan New York, Associate Editor for Applied Catalysis B, and past ACS CATL Division Spring Program Chair.

Prof. Carsten Sievers is a professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech. Prof. Sievers' expertise spans heterogeneous catalysis, reactor design, applied spectroscopy, and the synthesis and characterization of solid materials. By bridging fundamental science with applied engineering, his research aims to develop innovative catalytic processes for producing fuels and chemicals, especially from renewable resources like biomass. In his fundamental studies, Prof. Sievers uses advanced spectroscopic techniques to uncover how catalysts work on a molecular level. This insight guides the design of more effective and robust catalysts. His applied research focuses on optimizing catalytic processes in continuous reactor systems, with applications ranging from biomass conversion to selective oxidation of methane. Prof. Sievers has authored over 80 peer-reviewed publications and has significantly contributed to catalysis in petroleum refining, fine chemical synthesis, and renewable energy. He also serves as Editor of Applied Catalysis A: General and has held numerous leadership roles in major professional societies including ACS, AIChE, and the Southeastern Catalysis Society, as well as Chair of the 29th North American Catalysis Society Meeting.

Dr. Bob McCabe is the former Program Director of the NSF CBET-Catalysis program after retiring in February 2025. Bob's interest in catalysis began as an undergrad student in chemical engineering at the University of Houston through a combination of catalytic reaction engineering, an elective survey course in catalysis, and a senior design project involving the Andrussow process for HCN catalyzed by a Pt-Rh gauze. The latter, via a collaboration between Dan Luss and Lanny Schmidt, led to Bob's graduate work at the University of Minnesota under Lanny involving UHV surface science studies of CO and H2 adsorption on various single-crystal Pt surfaces. After graduation, Bob worked for a couple years at Conoco in Ponca City, OK on hydrodesulfurization catalysis before moving to the Detroit area for a 36-year career in automotive catalysis split between GM (10 years) and Ford (26 years). While contemplating retirement in 2014, Bob lucked into a program director position at NSF where he spent 10 wonderful years leading the Catalysis program in the CBET division, before his recent "final" retirement at the end of February. In retirement, Bob is excited about keeping up with the catalysis and reaction engineering communities by serving on the AIChE CRE division Section 20 program committee. Outside of catalysis, his interests include renovating his new (older home) in Leesburg, VA, riding his bicycles, repolishing his clarinet skills, and hanging out with his 4 grandkids and their families.

Prof. Aditya Bhan received his Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech.) in Chemical Engineering from IIT Kanpur in 2000 and his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University in 2005. From January 2005 to August 2007, he was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California at Berkeley and since then he has been on the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science faculty at the University of Minnesota where he currently serves as a Distinguished McKnight University Professor. He leads a research group focused on mechanistic characterization of catalysts useful in energy conversion and petrochemical synthesis. His group at the University of Minnesota has been recognized with the Paul H. Emmett Award in Fundamental Catalysis by the North American Catalysis Society, the Young Researcher Award from the Acid-Base Catalysis Society, the Ipatieff Prize from the American Chemical Society, and the NSF and DOE early career awards. He serves as Editor for Journal of Catalysis and has served as Chair of the ACS Catalysis Science & Technology Division. It is our pleasure to welcome Prof. Bhan to PodCAT!