Dr. Fabio H. Ribeiro
R. Norris and Eleanor Shreve Professor of Chemical Engineering
Director, CISTAR
Purdue University

Overview of the National Science Foundation Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources – CISTAR

Abstract: The last 10 years have witnessed an unprecedented revolution in the domestic supply of shale hydrocarbon reserves with the potential to lower the cost of our nation’s electricity, power, chemicals, and fuels for the next 100 years. If new technologies can be developed, energy experts project the U.S. will transition from a net importer to net exporter of energy resources by 2030. In addition, substitution of natural gas for coal for electrical power generation has, and will continue, to be a major contributor to the reduction in U.S. greenhouse gas until economic, renewable energy future can be developed. CISTAR researchers and educators will help accelerate the transition by:

• producing new, broadly disseminated and impactful science for energy and fuels technology from shale gas hydrocarbons;
• generating intellectual property to support commercialization of new technologies;
• demonstrating a combined experimental-computational approach to materials discovery that can be applied beyond hydrocarbon research;
• providing leading-edge analysis of important environmental issues associated with shale gas upgrading;
• developing a diversified, well-trained workforce of innovative students with technical and professional skills; and
• informing the public about safe and environmentally responsible ways to use U.S. hydrocarbon resources.

This seminar will give an overview of the NSF Engineering Research Program, the CISTAR plans for research, education, diversity and innovation, and also present the opportunities and challenges associated with starting a new ERC. 

Biographical Sketch: Fabio H. Ribeiro is currently the R. Norris and Eleanor Shreve Professor of Chemical Engineering and Director of the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center on the Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources at the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University. He received his Ph.D. degree from Stanford University in 1989, worked for Catalytica, Inc. in Mountain View, California, held a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California – Berkeley, and was on the Worcester Polytechnic Institute faculty before joining Purdue University in August 2003. His research interests are centered on the kinetics of heterogeneous catalytic reactions and catalyst characterization under reaction conditions. He has over 140 publications in scholarly journals. He was Chair for the American Institute of Chemical Engineer’s Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Division (2010) and is editor for Journal of Catalysis. His honors include the NSF CAREER award (1997-2002), the Excellence in Catalysis Award from the Catalysis Society of Metropolitan New York (2005), the Henry J. Albert Award from the International Precious Metals Institute (2012), the Purdue College of Engineering Faculty Award of Excellence on Research (2014) and the Herman Pines Award from The Chicago Catalysis Club (2015).