West Lafayette, IND-- The Davidson School of Chemical Engineering is proud to announce that three of its faculty members have been appointed to leadership positions within the Institute for Energy Innovation (IEI) in the College of Engineering. The appointments were made by Dr. Nikhilesh Chawla, Associate Dean for Research and Innovation, and reflect the school's growing role in Purdue's campus-wide energy strategy.

Rajamani Gounder — the R. Norris and Eleanor Shreve Professor of Chemical Engineering — has been named co-Director of the Geothermal and Natural Gas Pillar, with primary responsibility for Natural Gas and Process Industries. Gounder, who joined the Davidson School in 2013, leads an experimental research group focused on heterogeneous catalysis, zeolite materials, and the development of catalytic routes for converting petroleum, natural and shale gas, and biomass feedstocks into fuels and chemicals. His group is also a key contributor to CISTAR, the NSF-funded center dedicated to natural gas utilization. Among his many honors are a PECASE Award, DOE Early Career Award, Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, and the International Zeolite Association Young Researcher Award. In his new IEI role, Gounder will help advance research, enabling technologies, and workforce development in reliable and affordable energy — priorities the College of Engineering views as central to strengthening the economy and improving quality of life.

Nien-Hwa Linda Wang — the Norman and Jane Li Professor of Chemical Engineering — has been named co-Director of the Critical Materials Pillar. Wang, who joined Purdue in 1980, is an expert in chemical and biochemical separations, with particular focus on adsorption and chromatography processes for producing pure materials at large scale. Her research group developed novel general design theories and simulation methods, with applications spanning rare-earth and battery element separation and purification, biochemical and pharmaceutical purification, and conversion of waste streams into critical materials. In her new role, Wang will provide strategic and scientific leadership for the Critical Materials Pillar, with emphasis on Purdue's strengths in rare-earth separations and refining, advanced manufacturing of magnets, battery elements processing, and semiconductor materials supply chains.

Vilas Pol has been appointed Deputy Director of the Battery and Energy Storage Pillar, joining Director Partha Mukherjee in leading that effort. Pol leads the Vilas Pol Energy Research (ViPER) group, whose work focuses on the scalable design and optimization of electrode materials, separator designs, and electrolyte discovery for next-generation lithium-ion, sodium-ion, potassium-ion, and solid-state batteries, with a particular emphasis on thermal safety and extreme temperature operations. His honors include the IEEE Power Electronics Society's Energy Storage Innovation Award, Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors, Fulbright Specialist, Guinness World Record on charging the Lithium-ion battery at -100°C, and Fellow recognition from both the Royal Society of Chemistry and the International Association of Advanced Materials.

Together, these appointments underscore the Davidson School's contributions to IEI's mission of advancing abundant, reliable, and affordable energy — along with the technologies and workforce needed to support it. To learn more about IEI, visit https://engineering.purdue.edu/Initiatives/IEI.