Dr. Fabio Ribeiro, the R. Norris and Eleanor Shreve Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University, has received the 2020 Faculty Research Award presented by the Purdue University Chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society.

Dr. Ribeiro will receive a plaque and a prize of $1,000 during the Sigma Xi Banquet and Awards celebration.

Dr. Ribeiro joined the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering in 2003. He earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering and M.S. in Chemistry at the Instituto Militar de Engenharia, Brazil. He then received his M.S. and PhD in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University. He was a Research Fellow at Catalytica Inc., in Mountain View, California. He also held the position of Postdoctoral Fellow at U.C. Berkeley (Chemistry) and Lawrence National Laboratory, Berkeley.

In 2017, Dr. Ribeiro became Director of the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources (CISTAR). He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Giuseppe Parravano Memorial Award for Excellence in Catalysis Research (2019), Catalysis Club of Philadelphia Award (2019), the Herman Pines Award from the Catalysis Club of Chicago (2015), AIChE Fellow (2014), and the Purdue College of Engineering Faculty Awards of Excellence for Research (2014).

“I am delighted and humbled to accept this award and grateful to all my students and collaborators for this honor,” said Dr. Ribeiro.

Founded in 1886, Sigma Xi is a non-profit membership society of nearly 75,000 scientists and engineers who were elected to the Society because of their research achievements or potential. Some 180 Sigma Xi members are Nobel Laureates and many more have been elected to the National Academies of Science & Engineering. Sigma Xi has more than 500 chapters at universities and colleges, government laboratories, and industry research centers.

In addition to publishing American Scientist, Sigma Xi awards grants annually to promising young researchers, holds forums on critical issues at the intersection of science and society, and sponsors a variety of programs supporting honor in science and engineering, science education, science policy, and the public understanding of science.

The Purdue University chapter of Sigma Xi was among the first in the nation. It was established in 1909 as the 27th chapter out of the more than 500 chapters existing today, and has fostered and recognized outstanding research on the West Lafayette campus since its establishment. There are currently over 400 active members and sponsor activities at all levels, from high school through post-graduate and faculty.

Learn more about Professor Fabio Ribeiro at https://engineering.purdue.edu/ChE/people/ptProfile?resource_id=24918.

Learn more about the Purdue Chapter of Sigma Xi at https://www.purdue.edu/research/sigmaxi/about-us.html.

Read the Purdue News press release at https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/purduetoday/releases/2020/Q2/sigma-xi-announces-research-and-poster-awards.html.

Source: Dr. Fabio Ribeiro, fabio@purdue.edu, (765) 494-7799.