Past Funded Researchers
Zachary Smith
- Joseph R. Mares Career Development Professor
- Professor of Chemical Engineering
- Department of Chemical Engineering
Prof. Zachary P. Smith joined the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an Assistant Professor in January 2017. His research focuses on the molecular-level design, synthesis, and characterization of polymers and inorganic materials for applications in membrane and adsorption-based separations. Prof. Smith has been recognized with several awards, including the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Early Career Award, the American Chemical Society PRF Doctoral New Investigator Award, and the DOE Office of Science Graduate Fellowship. He was also selected as a U.S. delegate to the Lindau Nobel Laureate meeting on chemistry in 2013. Prof. Smith earned his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University Schreyer Honors College and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. While at the University of Texas, he developed structure–property relationships for gas diffusion and sorption in polymeric membranes. His postdoctoral training at the University of California, Berkeley examined the design of metal–organic frameworks for selective adsorption-based separations.