Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering • Clemson University
01/10/2024
The Alba-Rubio group is excited to welcome Joe Bailey and Justin Roen back to the team!
12/23/2023
We are ending the year with a new publication in the Journal of Catalysis: "Recommendations to standardize reporting on the synthesis of heterogeneous catalysts."
12/13/2023
New paper from the group in Sustainable Energy & Fuels! "Polystyrene-Based Catalysts with Simultaneous Brønsted and Lewis Acidity for Hydroxymethylfurfural Production from Starch: Molecular Weight and Solvent Effects."
10/31/2023
Dr. Alba-Rubio joins the Editorial Advisory Board of the Energy & Fuels journal (ACS Pubications).
07/10/2023
Thankful to the National Science Foundation for a new award! EAGER: Mechanistic and Stability Studies over Dual-Function Materials for CO2 Capture and Conversion.
06/23/2023
Our group attended the NAM28 meeting (Providence, RI) and SECAT'23 (Torremolinos, Spain) this week. We presented a poster and a talk on biomass conversion.
06/16/2023
Happy to share the outcomes of the NSF- and DOE-funded workshop "Addressing Rigor and Reproducibility in Thermal, Heterogeneous Catalysis," in which Dr. Alba-Rubio was involved. This report aims to provide recommendations to improve R&R in our field. Access the full report here!
05/16/2023
Check out our new paper in collaboration with the University of Malaga! "The Role of MnOx in Cu-MnOx/SiO2 Catalysts for the Gas-Phase Hydrogenation of Furfural."
04/19/2023
New paper out in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society! "A Novel Electrochemical Sensor Based on a Cerium Oxide/Gold/Carbon Nanocomposite for the Detection of Hydroxyl Free Radicals."
03/26/2023
Prof. Alba-Rubio received the 2023 I&EC Early Career Fellow award at the ACS Spring 2023 meeting.
03/21/2023
A new patent from the group was issued today! U.S. Patent No. 11,607,677
03/17/2023
Prof. Alba-Rubio gave a seminar in the Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas El Paso.
02/01/2023
We are excited to welcome Ana Orozco to the lab! She is a visiting Ph.D. student from the ICP-CSIC (Spain).
01/30/2023
The Alba-Rubio group is excited to welcome Andrew Zix, Tejasvi Joshi, and Nimasha Jayasinghe (undergraduate researchers) to the lab!
12/14/2022
Our group was featured in Clemson News! Chemical engineer celebrates three early-career honors in her new lab at Clemson University.
12/1/2022
Prof. Alba-Rubio was featured in C&EN News! I&EC Division announces 2023 Division Fellows.
11/24/2022
New paper out in Catalysis Science & Technology! "Soluble and Reusable Polymer-Based Catalysts with Brønsted and Lewis Acidity for the One-Pot Synthesis of Hydroxymethylfurfural from Glucose." Prof. Alba-Rubio is honored to be invited to contribute this article to the 2022 Emerging Investigators collection.
11/11/2022
Congratulations to Prof. Alba-Rubio on being named the 2023 I&EC Early Career Fellow! With this award, the Industrial & Engineering Chemistry division of the American Chemical Society recognizes a chemist or engineer in the early stage of their career based on innovative contributions to the areas in which they have published within applied chemistry and/or chemical engineering.
10/20/2022
Prof. Alba-Rubio was named to the "2022 Energy & Fuels Rising Stars" class. The group contributed a review paper titled "Inverse Oxide/Metal Catalysts for CO2 Hydrogenation to Methanol" to that special issue.
10/14/2022
Prof. Alba-Rubio gave a virtual seminar in the Dept. of Chemistry at Michigan Technological University.
09/23/2022
Prof. Alba-Rubio gave a seminar titled "Catalysts Can Be Good at Multitasking: Two Practical Examples" in the Dept. of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at West Virginia University.
09/09/2022
Our new review paper is out! "Inverse Oxide/Metal Catalysts for CO2 Hydrogenation to Methanol." Congratulations to the team!
08/25/2022
Prof. Alba-Rubio gave a seminar titled "Catalysts Can Be Good at Multitasking: Two Practical Examples" in the Dept. of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Alabama.
08/22/2022
The Alba-Rubio group is excited to welcome Franchesca Hauck (Ph.D. student) and Nicole Dinallo (undergraduate student) to the team!
08/01/2022
The Alba-Rubio group is excited to welcome Francielle Candian Firmino Marcos as the first postdoctoral researcher on the team!
07/21-22/2022
Prof. Alba-Rubio participated in the organization of the NSF and DOE-sponsored "Addressing Rigor and Reproducibility in Heterogeneous, Thermal Catalysis" workshop celebrated in Rosemont, IL. She led two breakout rooms on "Deposition-based synthesis" and "Bifunctional catalysts."
06/13/2022
The Alba-Rubio group is excited to welcome Justin Roen as the first undergraduate researcher in our lab at Clemson University!
06/03/2022
Congratulations to Dr. Omodolor on successfully defending his Ph.D. thesis! We are excited about what is coming next for him and his family!
05/11/2022
Prof. Alba-Rubio participated in the "2022 NSF Engineering CAREER Proposal Writing Workshop" as a panelist.
04/21/2022
Sai Teja Nekkanti and Prof. Alba-Rubio attended the Clemson ChBE graduate symposium.
04/15/2022
Prof. Alba-Rubio gave a seminar titled "Catalysts Can Be Good at Multitasking: Two Practical Examples" in the Dept. of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Cincinnati.
03/16/2022
Check out our new paper in collaboration with the University of Malaga! "Tailoring the selectivity of Cu-based catalysts in the furfural hydrogenation reaction: Influence of the morphology of the silica support." Congratulations to the team!
03/08/2022
Prof. Alba-Rubio gave an invited talk titled "Catalysts Can Be Good at Multitasking: Two Practical Examples" to the Western South Carolina section of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).
02/25/2022
Congratulations to Ibeh Omodolor on receiving a Graduate Student Scholarship from the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)!
01/22/2022
Drs. Alba-Rubio, Kim, Chakravarti, Dominiak, and Chaudhuri received a PFI-TT grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate "A hand-held device for rapid and accurate determination of cancerous tumor margins during surgical resections"!
01/13/2022
The Alba-Rubio group is excited to welcome Sai Teja Nekkanti as the first Ph.D. student at Clemson University!
11/18/2021
Prof. Alba-Rubio gave an invited talk titled "Catalysts Can Be Good at Multitasking: Two Practical Examples" in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at Cleveland State University.
09/29/2021
Ibeh Omodolor and Hope Otor presented their findings at the 42nd Annual Symposium of the Michigan Catalysis Society.
09/14/2021
Dr. Alba-Rubio gave a keynote titled "Catalysts Can Be Good at Multitasking: Two Practical Examples" at the 21° Congresso Brasileiro de Catálise (CBCat 2021).
08/15/2021
Dr. Alba-Rubio joins the Dept. of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Clemson University as an Associate Professor!
08/11/2021
Congratulations to Nkem Ofole on receiving her M.S. degree! Best wishes for your next adventure!
07/29/2021
Congratulations to Dr. Surachet (Ray) Duanghathaipornsuk on becoming the 1st Ph.D. of the Alba-Rubio group (co-advised with Dr. Dong-Shik Kim)! We wish you all the best in your next stage at the University of South Carolina!
06/23/2021
New paper out in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society! "Electrochemical MoOx/Carbon Nanocomposite-Based Gas Sensor for Formaldehyde Detection at Room Temperature." Congratulations to the team!
06/21/2021
The Alba-Rubio group will be moving to the Dept. of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Clemson University this fall.
04/15/2021
Dr. Alba-Rubio received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor!
03/09/2021
Ibeh Omodolor was awarded a BCA/Affiliate/Fellows Scholarship (BCA) from the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). The NSBE's mission is "to increase the number of culturally responsible black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally, and positively impact the community. Congratulations, Ibeh!
03/09/2021
Dr. Alba-Rubio was one of the speakers at the "Advances in the Chemistry of CO2 Capture" webinar hosted by the Chemical Sciences Roundtable of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. She talked about Dual-Function Materials for CO2 Capture and Conversion (recording of the webinar).
03/09/2021
Dr. Alba-Rubio was elected as a director of the AIChE Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Division (CRE).
03/08/2021
Vimantha Bamunuarachchi was featured in the UToledo News! After graduation, he joined Moderna, one of the pharmaceutical companies with COVID-19 vaccine, to work as an analytical development engineer. Congratulations, Vimantha!
03/05/2021
New paper accepted for publication in Polymer! This is the result of a collaboration with Dr. Coleman's group at UToledo: “Poly(4-Styrenesulfonic Acid): A Recoverable and Reusable Catalyst for Acid Hydrolysis of Polyethylene Terephthalate."
02/24/2021
Just-accepted paper in Nanoscale as part of the 2021 Emerging Investigators collection! "Supersensitive CeOx-Based Nanocomposite Sensor for the Electrochemical Detection of Hydroxyl Free Radicals." Congratulations to the team!
02/12/2021
Glad to see our "Dual-Function Materials for CO2 Capture and Conversion: A Review" paper as the most-read article in the Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research journal in 2020!
01/28/2021
Our group welcomes two new undergraduate researchers: Brian Tsai and Jack Schmidt. Welcome to the team!
01/19/2021
New review paper accepted for publication! "Detection Technologies for Reactive Oxygen Species: Fluorescence and Electrochemical Methods and Their Applications" in Biosensors. Congratulations to the team!
11/23/2020
New paper accepted in Journal of Catalysis! Our article "Plasma Catalytic Ammonia Synthesis on Ni Nanoparticles: The Size Effect" is the result of a collaboration with Dr. Maria Carreón from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.
11/18/2020
Congratulations to Diego Gamboa Pabón, who received the AIChE 2020 Donald F. Othmer Sophomore Academic Excellent Award! This award is presented to one active AIChE undergraduate student member in each student chapter who has attained the highest scholastic grade-point average during his/her freshman and sophomore years, on the recommendation of the Student Chapter Advisor.
11/12/2020
Congratulations to Ibeh Omodolor, who received one of the Best Presentation Awards at the UToledo-WSU Chemical Engineering Graduate Research Symposium! Would you like to watch his winner talk titled "Superacid Polymer Catalysts for Hydroxymethylfurfural Production"? If you are attending the 2020 Virtual AIChE Annual Meeting, you can find his pre-recorded talk by typing "Omodolor" in the iPoster search bar.
11/11/2020
Dr. Alba-Rubio has been named to the 2020 Class of Influential Researchers by the journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research of the American Chemical Society.
11/09/2020
Miranda Al-Zarraq has been featured on the UToledo College of Engineering Undergraduate Research website! Congratulations, Miranda!
09/27/2020
Our latest paper has been selected to be featured in ACS Editors' Choice due to its potential for broad public interest: "Dual- Function Materials for CO2 Capture and Conversion: A Review." This is an honor given to only one article from the entire ACS portfolio each day of the year.
09/10/2020
Prof. Alba-Rubio gave an invited talk titled "Catalysts Can Be Good at Multitasking: Two Practical Examples" in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of South Carolina.
08/28/2020
Our group welcomes two new undergraduate researchers: Diego Gamboa Pabón and Laura Morera Lucas. Welcome to the Alba-Rubio group!
08/27/2020
Just-accepted paper in I&EC Research! "Dual-Function Materials for CO2 Capture and Conversion: A Review." Congratulations to the team!
08/25/2020
Congratulations to Surachet (Ray) Duanghathaipornsuk on being selected to participate in the 3M Raising Influence in Science and Engineering (R.I.S.E.) symposium this week! This program is primarily intended to introduce emerging female and/or underrepresented science and engineering graduate talent to careers in R&D at 3M.
08/17/2020
Happy 5th Anniversary to the Alba-Rubio group!
08/07/2020
Kapiamba K. Fabrice completed his M.S. degree today. Congratulations, Kapiamba! We wish you great success and happiness in your new stage!
08/06/2020
Thankful to the National Science Foundation for the continued support! Two new proposals recommended for funding: 1) Our team will participate in the NSF I-Corps program this fall and 2) Ray Duanghathaipornsuk will enjoy an internship (NSF INTERN) at Los Alamos National Lab in spring. Exciting times ahead!
08/04/2020
Haidar Y. Alolaywi defended his M.S. thesis titled "Electrochemical MoOx/Carbon Nanocomposite Gas Sensor for Formaldehyde Detection at Room Temperature." Congratulations, Haidar! We wish you all the best in your future endeavors!
07/24/2020
Hope Otor successfully defended his M.S. thesis titled "Catalyst Development and Control of Catalyst Deactivation for CO2 Conversion." Congratulations, Hope! We wish you all the best on your next stage at the University of Notre Dame!
07/24/2020
Check out our new paper in collaboration with Technion (Israel), University of Connecticut (USA), and CNR-ICCOM (Italy)! "Synthesis of CeOx-Decorated Pd/C Catalysts by Controlled Surface Reactions for Hydrogen Oxidation in Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells." Congratulations to the team!
07/17/2020
ACS Catalysis selected our “Encapsulation Methods for Control of Catalyst Deactivation: A Review" paper for the front cover of Volume 10, Issue 14! Many thanks to Dr. Alba-Rubio's brother for the beautiful design!
02/12/2020
Four abstracts submitted to the 2020 AIChE Annual Meeting (San Francisco, November 15-20, 2020) have been accepted for oral presentation. Looking forward to it!
06/26/2020
New paper out! “The Effects of Size and Content of Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles on a Composite Sensor for Hydroxyl Radicals Detection" in Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical. Congratulations to the team!
06/02/2020
New paper out! “Encapsulation Methods for Control of Catalyst Deactivation: A Review" in ACS Catalysis. This is the first paper for Hope Otor and Josh Steiner. Congratulations!
05/26/2020
Our group welcomes two new members to the team: Nkem Ofole (M.S. student) and Miranda Al-Zarraq (Undergraduate). We are happy to have you on board!
05/16/2020
Ibeh Omodolor, Hope Otor, Nkem Ofole, and friends organized a webinar titled "Becoming an Excellent Graduate Student." This was very well attended and helpful for graduate students around the world. Glad to have such proactive students. Good job, guys!
05/06/2020
Our group received a new grant from the Office of Naval Research (ONR)!
04/10/2020
Shannon Saluga, a former undergraduate researcher in our group, received the NSF GRFP award! She had an amazing start as a Ph.D. student at the University of California-Irvine. Congratulations, Shannon!
03/17/2020
Hope Otor and Ibeh Omodolor were selected to participate in the 2020 ACS Summer School on Green Chemistry & Sustainable Energy. Congratulations, guys!
03/17/2020
Ibeh Omodolor received a travel award to attend the 17th International Congress on Catalysis that will take place in San Diego, CA on June 14-19, 2020. Congratulations, Ibeh!
02/21/2020
Hope Otor received an award from the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Board of Corporate Affiliates (BCA). The mission of the NSBE is to increase the number of culturally responsible black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally, and positively impact the community. Congratulations, Hope!
02/21/2020
Our new paper titled "Catalytic transfer hydrogenation of maleic acid with stoichiometric amounts of formic acid in aqueous phase: paving the way for more sustainable succinic acid production" has been accepted for publication in Green Chemistry. Congratulations to the team!
02/18/2020-02/19/2020
Dr. Alba-Rubio attended the "Reactive CO2 Capture" workshop at NREL. It aimed to establish a circular carbon economy by developing strategies for merging CO2 capture and conversion into an integrated strategy.
02/18/2020
A new provisional patent titled "Super sensitive sensor for the detection of hydroxyl free radicals with scavenging properties" has been filed.
02/12/2020
Our two abstracts submitted to the 17th International Congress on Catalysis (San Diego, June 14-19, 2020) have been accepted for presentation. Ibeh Omodolor will be presenting a poster on soluble and reusable polymer catalysts for HMF production, and Dr. Alba-Rubio will be giving a talk on catalysis for CO2 conversion. Looking forward to attending this event!
01/27/2020
Prof. Alba-Rubio gave an invited talk titled "Catalysts Can Be Good at Multitasking: Two Practical Examples" in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Auburn University.
01/23/2020
The National Science Foundation provided an REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) supplement to our "CAREER: Dual Function Materials for Capture and Conversion of CO2 into Methanol and Higher Alcohols" award. We are happy to continue offering complete research experiences to undergraduate students.
01/23/2020
Ibeh Omodolor, Hope Otor, and Uchenna Asogwa visited a 7th-grade class in the Lake middle school to talk about biofuels and their place in the renewables infrastructure. Thank you for inspiring future generations!
01/14/2020
Dr. Alba-Rubio participated in the UToledo Sustainable Energy Economy Workshop as a panelist.
01/09/2020
Prof. Alba-Rubio gave an invited talk titled "Catalysts Can Be Good at Multitasking: Two Practical Examples" in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Clemson University.
12/17/2019
Surachet (Ray) Duanghathaipornsuk, Eveline Farrell, Dr. Kim, and Dr. Alba-Rubio completed the I-Corps site at UToledo. Now, they are looking forward to participating in the National NSF I-Corps program. This will help to reduce the time to bring the hydroxyl free radicals sensor from the lab to the market.
12/02/2019
Sarah Walz presented her findings on "The Production of Plastics from Microalgae" at the UToledo Undergraduate Research Exhibition. Great job, Sarah!
11/22/2019
Surachet (Ray) Duanghathaipornsuk received the UToledo College of Engineering Translational Research Award for his contributions not only to the fundamental understanding of the sensing elements for free radicals but also to its application. We are so proud of you, Ray! Keep up the good work!
11/21/2019-11/22/2019
Dr. Alba-Rubio attended the 2019 Olaf A. Hougen Symposium to celebrate Prof. James Dumesic's distinguished career. She presented a talk titled "Catalysts Can Be Good at Multitasking: Two Practical Examples."
11/19/2019
Hope Otor received an Alpha Kappa Alpha Educational Advancement Foundation scholarship in recognition of his outstanding educational achievements. Congratulations, Hope!
11/18/2019-11/21/2019
Ibeh Omodolor and Hope Otor presented their results at the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) conference in St. Louis. Good job, guys!
11/08/2019
Hope Otor and Kapiamba Fabrice have been selected to represent the UToledo College of Engineering at the College of Business and Innovation (COBI) Advanced Leadership Academy (ALA). This program will allow them to increase their leadership skills and network with other graduate students and leaders from across the university. Congratulations!
11/05/2019
Dr. Alba-Rubio and Dr. Kim received a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) supplement from the National Science Foundation for their project #1817294, "Electrochemical Interaction of Nano-Cerium Oxide Composites with Hydroxyl Radicals."
10/10/2019-10/11/2019
National Lab Day at UToledo: Dr. Alba-Rubio co-chaired the "Materials and Manufacturing" session together with Dr. Tanja Pietrass from Los Alamos National Lab.
10/03/2019
Vimantha Bamunuarachchi was featured on the UToledo website! Congratulations, Vimantha!
09/14/2019
Hope Otor and Fabrice Kapiamba have been selected as 2019 Forbes Under 30 Scholars. They will be attending the world's greatest event for young leaders, founders, investors, and creators. Congratulations!
09/13/2019
Sarah Walz receives a travel award to attend the Louis Stokes Midwest Regional Center of Excellence conference that will be held in Indianapolis in October. She will be presenting her findings on catalysis for HMF production. Congrats, Sarah!
09/12/2019
Dr. Alba-Rubio and Dr. Coleman receive $25,000 from the UToledo Rocket Fuel Fund to investigate "Sustainable Production of Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and Levulinic Acid from Glucose"!
08/01/2019
Sarah Walz presented her findings during the summer at the UToledo Office of Undergraduate Research End-of-Summer Workshop. Great job, Sarah!
07/30/2019
Prof. Alba-Rubio has been nominated for 2019 20 Under 40 Toledo Leadership Award!
07/22/2019
Hope Otor and Ibeh Omodolor receive a travel award to attend the NOBCChE Advancing Science Conference that will take place in St. Louis, MO in November 2019. Congratulations!
07/01/2019
Prof. Alba-Rubio contributed a column to the July/August issue of American Infrastructure magazine.
06/23/2019-06/28/2019
Prof. Alba-Rubio, Ibeh Omodolor, and Hope Otor attended the 2019 North American Catalysis Society meeting in Chicago, IL. Ibeh delivered an oral presentation, Hope presented a poster, and Prof. Alba-Rubio co-chaired a few sessions.
05/23/2019
Our group attended the 4th UT-WSU ChemE Graduate Research Symposium held at Wayne State University. Both graduate student associations put together an inspiring event, and Ibeh, Hope, Haidar, and Ray did a great job presenting their findings. Ibeh won first place in the student poster presentation, congratulations!
05/07/2019
Our group attended the 40th Annual Michigan Catalysis Society Spring Symposium. Prof. Alba-Rubio, as secretary/treasurer of the MCS, participated in the organization, and Ibeh Omodolor and Hope Otor presented their findings.
04/15/2019
Josh Steiner and Vimantha Bamunuarachchi represented our lab at the 2019 North Central Student AIChE conference. Good job, guys! Josh won first place in the research paper competition, congrats!
04/05/2019
Prof. Alba-Rubio receives the UToledo College of Engineering Excellence in Supervision of Undergraduate Research Award!
04/07/2019
Dr. Alba-Rubio was featured in Diario Sur, a Spanish newspaper!
04/05/2019
Ibeh Omodolor receives the Kokes award to attend the 26th Meeting of the North American Catalysis Society. Congrats, Ibeh!
03/20/2019
Sarah Walz received a scholarship from the UToledo 2019 First-Year Summer Research Experience program to conduct research this summer. Congratulations, Sarah!
03/19/2019
Ibeh Omodolor gave an oral presentation at the 45th Annual Convention of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). He presented his results on "Soluble Superacid Polymer Catalysts for the Synthesis of HMF from Glucose."
02/21/2019
It is Engineering Week and our group participated in the Girls Day. Around ~60 female students visited us to learn about chemical reactions and catalysis.
02/18/2019
Our group received an NSF CAREER award to develop "Dual Function Materials for Capture and Conversion of CO2 into Methanol and Higher Alcohols"! (News, Video)
02/14/2019
Dr. Nirala Singh from the University of Michigan was our seminar speaker this week. Thanks for your visit and the nice talk!
02/10/2019
Ibeh Omodolor was selected to participate in the UToledo Advanced Leadership Academy program. Great opportunity to improve his leadership skills and thinking in a dynamic learning environment.
01/22/2019
Dr. Thomas Schwartz (University of Maine) visited us today and gave a great talk on catalysis. Thank you!
01/20/2019
Ibeh Omodolor passed his Ph.D. qualifying examination and became a Ph.D. candidate. Well done, Ibeh!
12/09/2018
Ibeh Omodolor received the "Research Mentor Award" from the UToledo College of Engineering for his hard work and dedication to the undergraduate students in our group. This is a very well-deserved recognition. Congratulations Ibeh!
10/29/2018
Ibeh Omodolor and Hope Otor attended the 2018 Region IV Fall Regional Conference of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). The society provides attendees the tools to excel in academia, succeed professionally, and positively impact their communities.
10/29/2018
Ibeh Omodolor got an Alpha Kappa Alpha Educational Advancement Foundation scholarship and an NSBE Outstanding Academic Achievement scholarship in the same week. Keep up the good work, Ibeh! Congrats!
08/28/2018
Prof. Alba-Rubio has been nominated for the 20 Under 40 Toledo Leadership Award 2018!
08/16/2018
Godfred Owusu became the second M.S. student to graduate from our group. Congratulations Godfred!
08/02/2018
Dr. Alba-Rubio and Dr. Coleman receive $50,000 from the UToledo Rocket Fuel Fund to investigate "Soluble and Reusable Superacid Polymer Catalysts for 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) Production"!
07/01/2018
Dr. Alba-Rubio and Dr. Kim receive a grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate the "Electrochemical Interaction of Nano-Cerium Oxide Composites with Hydroxyl Radicals"!
06/11/2018-06/22/2018
Our group provided hands-on activities (Catalysis & Biofuels) to high school students as part of the 2018 Toledo Excel Summer Institute.
06/07/2018-06/08/2018
Prof. Alba-Rubio attended the New Faculty Workshop organized by Cottrell Scholars Collaborative and the American Catalysis Society in Denver, CO.
05/25/2018
The whole group attended the 3rd UT-WSU ChemE Graduate Research Symposium held at the University of Toledo. We enjoyed high-quality presentations and posters. Ibeh, as the president of the ChemE Graduate Student Association, participated in the organization of the event and did a fantastic job.
05/15/2018
Ibeh Omodolor received a Living the Mission (Collegiate) scholarship from the National Society of Black Engineers! He was recognized for his outstanding NSBE involvement, community service, and academic excellence. Congratulations Ibeh!
05/10/2018
AnDréa, Ibeh, and Caleb introduced sophomore high-school girls to the catalysis field through the WISDOM program.
05/07/2018-05/11/2018
Prof. Alba-Rubio participates in the UToledo Course Design Institute. She is building a new course using backward design.
05/08/2018
Josh Steiner was selected for an Ohio Space Grant Consortium Undergraduate STEM Scholarship. This scholarship is funded by NASA through its National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program and the University of Toledo. Congratulations Josh!
05/04/2018
Prof. Alba-Rubio receives a Carl Storm Underrepresented Minority Fellowship to attend her first Catalysis Gordon Conference.
05/03/2018
The University of Toledo recognizes Prof. Alba-Rubio for her outstanding contribution to University scholarship and creative activity. This honor was bestowed upon only 25 faculty members at UToledo!
05/03/2018
Prof. Alba-Rubio and Godfred attended the Michigan Catalysis Society 39th Annual Spring Symposium. Prof. Alba-Rubio was elected as the new secretary/treasurer of the MCS.
03/13/2018
Prof. Alba-Rubio gives a talk at the Michigan Catalysis Society meeting titled "Homogeneous and Reusable Polymer Catalysts for Biomass Conversion."
02/21/2018
Ibeh Omodolor was awarded an NSBEBCA/Major/Fellows Scholarship 2017-18. Congratulations Ibeh!
02/19/2018
It is Engineering week! To celebrate it, our department organized some hands-on experiences on chemical reactions and catalysis for Toledo Excel high-school students.
12/07/2017
Subhash Kalidindi received the Outstanding MS thesis recognition from the UToledo College of Engineering. Congrats Subhash!
10/29/2017-11/03/2017
Prof. Alba-Rubio attended the AIChE Annual Meeting in Minneapolis. She presented Subhash's work on "Multifunctional homogeneous-heterogeneous polymer catalysts for the synthesis of HMF from glucose."
10/26/2017
Dr. Manuel López Granados (ICP-CSIC) was our guest speaker this week. Thanks for an enlightening presentation!
10/12/2017
Prof. Eranda Nikolla (Wayne State University) visited us today. Thank you for the great presentation!
07/29/2017-08/03/2017
Prof. Alba-Rubio attended the ASEE Chemical Engineering Summer School and presented a poster on guided notes.
07/06/2017
Subhash Kalidindi successfully defended his MS thesis. Congratulations Subhash!
05/25/2017
Prof. Alba-Rubio gives an invited talk at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Pittsburgh-Cleveland Catalysis Society.
05/18/2017
Prof. Alba-Rubio participates in a roundtable to give advice to future faculty candidates.
05/16/2017
Latino Youth Summit at UToledo today! ~70 8th grade students visited us and enjoyed engineering activities.
05/12/2017
We all attended the 2nd Joint UT-WSU ChemE Graduate Research Symposium at Wayne State University. Subhash won first place in poster presentations, congratulations!
05/10/2017
Around 40 female high-school students visited our lab to learn about Catalysis and Biofuels (WISDOM program).
05/05/2017
Prof. Alba-Rubio attends the Michigan Catalysis Society 38th Annual Spring Symposium.
04/25/2017-04/27/2017
Prof. Alba-Rubio attends the GC3 Innovators Roundtable at Grand Rapids, MI.
04/02/2017-04/07/2017
Prof. Alba-Rubio attends the 253rd ACS National Meeting in San Francisco. She is co-chairing a few sessions.
02/28/2017
Subhash presents a poster at the 9th Annual AIChE Midwest Regional Conference.
09/13/2016
Prof. Alba-Rubio and colleagues from the Institute of Catalysis and Petrochemistry (CSIC), University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Málaga publish a paper titled “Oxidation of furfural in aqueous H2O2 catalysed by titanium silicalite: deactivation processes and role of extraframework Ti oxides" in Applied Catalysis B: Environmental. Congratulations!
08/17/2016
1st Anniversary at UToledo!
06/22/2016-06/24/2016
Catalysis outreach: 60 high-school EXCEL students visited us. They made biodiesel and studied the decomposition of H2O2 with homogeneous, heterogeneous, and enzymatic catalysts.
06/14/2016
Prof. Alba-Rubio attends the 20th Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference in Portland, OR.
05/26/2016
Prof. Alba-Rubio serves as a mentor for students from the University of Michigan who would like to become professors (UM Preparing Faculty Seminar).
05/20/2016
Prof. Alba-Rubio publishes in Science! The paper titled "Self-assembly of noble metal monolayers on transition metal carbide nanoparticle catalysts" is the result of a collaboration with Prof. Román-Leshkov (MIT) while she was doing her postdoc in Prof. Dumesic's group (UW-Madison). Congratulations to the entire team! (UT News)
05/20/2016
We are all attending the 1st Joint UT-WSU Chemical Engineering Research Symposium at UT. High-quality talks and posters. Thanks for organizing such a great event!
05/17/2016
The group received around 15 Latino students (Latino Youth Summit). They learned more about what engineers do and made biodiesel with us.
05/12/2016
The group organized an activity for the WISDOM (Women in STEMM Day of Meetings) program. Around 80 female students learned how to make biodiesel in our lab.
03/23/2016
Prof. Alba-Rubio delivers an invited talk at the 2016 Spring Symposium of the Catalysis Society of Metropolitan New York.
03/15/2016
Prof. Alba-Rubio delivers an invited lecture at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Toledo.
01/13/2016
Prof. Alba-Rubio and colleagues of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Purdue University published a paper titled “PtMo bimetallic catalysts synthesized by controlled surface reactions for water gas shift” in ACS Catalysis. Congratulations!
12/01/2015
Prof. Alba-Rubio and colleagues of the University of Wisconsin-Madison published a paper titled “Synthesis of supported RhMo and PtMo bimetallic catalysts by controlled surface reactions” in ChemCatChem. Congratulations!
11/08/2015
Prof. Alba-Rubio attends the 2015 AIChE Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City, UT.
09/08/2015
Prof. Alba-Rubio and colleagues of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Dow Chemical Company publish a paper titled “Direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide over Au-Pd catalysts prepared by electroless deposition” in Catalysis Letters. Congratulations!
08/17/2015
Prof. Alba-Rubio joins the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Toledo as an Assistant Professor.