2024 P. V. Danckwerts Lecture

The P. V. Danckwerts Lecture was established in 1985 to honor Prof. Peter V. Danckwerts as a leading scholar in the field of chemical engineering, former Chairman of the Board of Chemical Engineering Science, and the past President of IChemE.  The Danckwerts Lecture is co-sponsored by Elsevier, AIChE, IChemE, and EFCE and is held in alternating years at the ECCE and AIChE meetings.

The Executive Editors of Chemical Engineering Science and the members of the selection committee are pleased to announce the 2024 Danckwerts Lecture will be presented by Linda J. Broadbelt, Sarah Rebecca Roland Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Northwestern University.

The Confluence of Kinetic Modeling and Data Science: Reaction Pathway Analysis of the Conversion of Macromolecules

Linda J. Broadbelt, Sarah Rebecca Roland Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Northwestern University.

Reaction pathway analysis is a powerful tool to design novel routes to chemicals, identify optimal processing conditions, and suggest catalyst design strategies.   We have developed methods for the assembly of kinetic models of substantive detail that link the atomic and process scales.  We have applied our methodology to seemingly very disparate chemistries, yet applying a common methodology reveals that there are many ubiquitous features of complex reaction networks for chemical and biological systems. This talk will focus on mechanistic modeling of the conversion of macromolecules for recycling and upcycling, the design of pathways for synthesis of advantaged small molecules, and how data science can be leveraged for kinetic modeling and reaction pathway analysis.