Background

As a chemistry undergraduate at the University of Colorado at Boulder, I worked for Prof. Barney G. Ellison studying pyrolysis reactions of model biomass molecules. After I graduated, I worked for a year at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) under the direction of Dr. Gregg Beckham and Dr. Eric Karp, where I worked on analytical characterization of pretreated biomass and the downstream crystallization of fermentation products originating from a biomass feedstock. In my free time, I love playing soccer, hiking, and skiing.

Education

• University of Colorado at Boulder, B.A. Chemistry (2014)
• Purdue University, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering (2015 – 2020)

Awards

• Purdue Chemical Engineering GSO Symposium Oral Presentation Award (2019)
• Purdue Chemical Engineering Excellence in Safety Award (2019)
• Marilyn Forney Trailblazer Award (2019)
• Purdue University College of Engineering Outstanding Service Scholarship (2018)
• NSF GRFP Honorable Mention (2016)
• Ross Fellowship - Purdue University (2015)
• Graduated with Distinction (2014)
• American Chemical Society Undergraduate Award in Analytical Chemistry (2014)

Project Description

I joined the Gounder group in fall 2015 to explore synthesis methods to control heteroatom siting in zeolites and their consequences for catalysis.

Patents and Publications

• Di Iorio J. R., Hoffman A. J., Nimlos C. T., Nystrom S., Hibbitts D., Gounder R. "Mechanistic Origins of the High-Pressure Inhibition of Methanol Dehydration Rates in Small-Pore Acidic Zeolites" Journal of Catalysis, 380 (2019) 161-177
• Hur, Y.G.^, Kester, P.M.^, Nimlos, C.T., Cho, Y., Miller, J.T., Gounder, R. “Influence of Tetrapropylammonium and Ethylenediamine Structure Directing Agents on the Framework Al Distribution in B-Al-MFI Zeolites” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 58 (2019) 11849-11860
• Knott, B. C., Nimlos C. T., Robichaud, D. J., Nimlos, M. R., Kim S., Gounder R. "Consideration of the Aluminum Distribution in Zeolites in Theoretical and Experimental Catalysis Research" ACS Catalysis, 8 (2018), 770-784
• Di Iorio J. R., Nimlos C. T., Gounder R. “Introducing Catalytic Diversity into Single-Site Zeolites of Fixed Composition via Synthetic Control of Active Site Proximity” ACS Catalysis, 7 (2017), 6663-6674
• Karp E. M., Nimlos C. T., Deutch S., Salvachúa D., Cywar R. M., Beckham G. T. “Quantification of Acidic Compounds in Complex Biomass-Derived Streams” Green Chemistry, 18, (2016) 4750-4760.
• Munson M. S., Karp E. M., Nimlos C. T., Salit M., Beckham G. T. “Gradient Elution Moving Boundary Electrophoresis Enables Rapid Analysis of Acids in Complex Biomass-Derived Streams” ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 4 (2016), 7175-7185.
• Salvachúa D., Karp E. M., Nimlos C. T., Vardon D. R., Beckham G. T. “Towards Consolidated Lignin Bioprocessing: Simultaneous lignin depolymerization and co-product generation by bacteria” Green Chemistry, 17, (2015) 4951-4967.