Catalysis sustaining society's future

Professor David Lennon, University of Glasgow, UK

David graduated from the University of East Anglia (UEA) in 1985 with a BSc in Chemical Sciences. At UEA, he carried out his postgraduate research project under the supervision of Professor MA Chesters. Lennon later moved to University of Texas at Austin where he became a postdoctoral research fellow, collaborating with Professor JM White on research into photochemistry at the gas-solid interface. Between 1990 and 1992, Lennon worked as a postdoctorial research fellow/lecturer in the Chemistry department at University of Western Australia. He returned to UEA to work as a senior research associate in the School of Chemical Sciences between 1992 and 1995, working first in collaboration with Professors MA Chesters and KJ Packer FRS, and then Professor SR Meech on another project. Lennon has been at the University of Glasgow since 1996 where he is now Professor of Physical Chemistry.

Professor Ted Oyama, CREST, University of Tokyo, Japan

S. Ted Oyama earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and chemical engineering at Yale University in 1976 working with Gary Haller and his doctorate in chemical engineering at Stanford University in 1981 with Michel Boudart. He currently holds dual appointments in the Chemical Systems Engineering Department at the University of Tokyo and the Chemical Engineering Department at Virginia Tech. His research interests are in the areas of catalytic fuel processing, biomass conversion, steam reforming, gas separation membranes, and membrane reactors. He carries out research on the development of new materials, including novel catalytic materials such as phosphides and advanced inorganic membranes. He concentrates on studying the mechanisms of reaction and permeance using kinetic tools coupled with in situ spectroscopy. He is a recipient a 2009 Humboldt Senior Researcher Prize, 2012 Fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the 2014 ACS Distinguished Researcher Award, the 2014 ACS Storch Award, and 2016 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He served as 2009 Chair of the Division of Petroleum Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, and currently is editor of the Journal of Catalysis, a highly-ranked chemical engineering journal. He has published over 230 refereed papers, seven edited books, and one monograph.

Professor Fraser Armstrong FRS, University of Oxford, UK

Fraser Armstrong obtained his PhD at the University of Leeds with Geoff Sykes then carried out postdoctoral research (1978-1983) with Peter Kroneck (Konstanz), Ralph Wilkins (New Mexico), Helmut Beinert (Madison) and Allen Hill (Oxford). In 1983 he was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship which he held in Oxford until 1989 when he joined the Chemistry Faculty at the University of California, Irvine. He moved to his present position in 1993. His interests are in biological redox chemistry, mechanisms of metalloenzymes and in the application and inspiration afforded by enzymes in future energy technologies. His group has developed a powerful suite of dynamic electrochemical techniques for studying complex electron transfer and catalytic reactions in proteins.  His recent research focuses on the atomic-level mechanisms by which hydrogen, carbon and oxygen species are activated by transition metals contained in the active sites of enzymes –using site-directed mutagenesis to alter the second and outer coordination shells. He is co-author of a widely-sold textbook, Inorganic Chemistry – (Shriver & Atkins) now in its 6^th edition. He was elected FRS in 2008 and received the Davy Medal in 2012.

Professor Duncan Wass, University of Bristol, UK

Duncan Wass is Professor of Catalysis at the University of Bristol.  Raised in rural Leicestershire, he completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Durham, and then studied for his PhD (1995-1998) under the supervision of Professor Vernon Gibson FRS at Imperial College, London. In 1999, he joined BP Chemicals Ltd, working in their laboratories in Sunbury-on-Thames and Brussels on various olefin polymerisation an oligomerisation projects. Duncan joined the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol in 2004, and was promoted to a personal chair in 2012.  His research interests are in organometallic chemistry and homogenous catalysis, specifically transition metal-based frustrated Lewis pairs, new catalysts for bio-alcohol upgrading and autonomous self-healing composite materials.

Professor Bruce Gates, University of California, Davis, USA

Professor Gates has been a Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Davis, since 2002. Prior to that Gates has been Assistant Professor, then Professor at the University of Delaware. He later also took up the position of Director of the Center for Catalytic Science and Technology. Gates obtained his first degree at the University of California, Berkeley, and his PhD at the University of Washington. Professor Gates has many honors including being the recipient of the American Chemical Society Gabor A. Somorjai Award for Creative Research in Catalysis in 2004 and the Michigan Catalysis Society Guiseppe Parravano Memorial Award in 2005.

Professor Sir John Meurig Thomas HonFREng FRS, University of Cambridge, UK

John Meurig Thomas is a former Director of the Royal Institution (RI) of Great Britain, London, and a former Head of the Department of Physical Chemistry, and former Master of Peterhouse, University of Cambridge.  He was educated in the University of Wales (Swansea). He taught and researched at Bangor and Aberystwyth for 20 years prior to being invited to Cambridge in 1978. His term as Director of the RI started in 1986.

For over 50 years he has researched widely in solid-state chemistry and is best known for his pioneering work in various kinds of chemical electron microscopy, for his major contributions to heterogeneous catalysis, and for transforming the study and use of zeolites and other nanoporous materials. He has also elucidated the role of crystalline imperfections in governing the electronic, photochemical and photophysical properties of organic molecular crystals. His work on single-site heterogeneous catalysts has led to many practical and commercial advances in green conversions. John Meurig Thomas is a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Dr David J Willock, CCI Cardiff University, UK

David Willock is a Reader in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry at Cardiff University and has been an active researcher in the area of computational chemistry for more than 25 years. He is a member of the Cardiff Catalysis Institute collaborating closely with experimental research teams on structure and reactivity involving metals, oxides and carbon based materials. His work covers the use of theoretical chemistry to understand the mechanism reactions over heterogeneous catalysis through the linking of calculation and experimental data analysis. He has a particular interest in oxidation chemistry using microporous materials, the interaction of metal nanoparticles with support materials and green chemistry for the conversion of biomass to chemicals and fuels.

Professor Bob Tooze, Sasol UK Ltd, UK

Following a PhD in Chemistry from Imperial College London under the supervision of Nobel Laureate, Professor Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson, Bob joined ICI and has subsequently worked in the chemical industry for over 30 years. This career has spanned various businesses and locations but always in R&D. He joined Sasol Technology UK in 2002 and was made Managing Director in 2004. As part of a global Business reorganization in 2016, a number of Sasol Companies in the UK were amalgamated and Bob was made Senior Manager. He is currently Chair of Chemical Sciences Scotland, sits on the Scottish Industrial Biotechnology Development Group, the Energy Technology Partnership Advisory Group and the Governing Board of the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre. Previously he served on the Scottish Science Advisory Council. He has wide experience of collaborative research having chaired the Industrial Board of a network of 40 of the leading Catalysis Laboratories in Europe and currently chairs the Industrial Advisory Panel of the UK Catalysis Hub. Bob holds an honorary Professorship in Chemistry at the University of St Andrews giving lecture courses in the field of catalysis. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2013.