Title: Associate Director, Forest Bioproducts Research Institute; Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering
Institution: University of Maine
Address: 5737 Jenness Hall, Orono, Maine 04469
Email: thomas.schwartz@maine.edu
Phone: (207) 581-2294
Visit Thomas’s Research Website
Research Interests: Heterogeneous Catalysis, Chemical Reaction Engineering, Pulp & Paper Technology, Biofuels, Biobsaed Chemicals, Plastic Recycling, Decarbonization, Reaction Kinetics
Biographical Sketch:
Prof. Thomas J. Schwartz earned BS degrees in Chemical Engineering and Biological Engineering from the University of Maine and a PhD at the University of Wisconsin under the supervision of Prof. James Dumesic. Schwartz joined the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Maine in 2015 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2021. He became the associate director of the Forest Bioproducts Research Institute in 20203. His research group seeks to develop a molecular-level understanding of processes that occur on catalytic surfaces used for the conversion of carbon-based feedstocks (e.g., biomass, petroleum, natural gas, waste plastics) to chemicals and fuels. He is active in the ACS Division of Catalysis Science & Technology, the AIChE Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Division, and the North American Catalysis Society. He was a Technical Program Chair for the NAM28 meeting (Providence, RI), served as a program chair for the ACS CATL division, and is currently the Chair of the New England Catalysis Society and a member of the Early Career Editorial Board of the Journal of Catalysis. Schwartz received an ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator award in 2016, an NSF EPSCoR RII Fellowship in 2020, and the NSF CAREER Award in 2021. He is author of 40 peer-reviewed publications and holds two patents, and he has been honored by the University of Maine with the College of Engineering Early Career Research Award in 2018 and the Pulp and Paper Foundation’s Joseph M. Genco Award in 2020.
Education:
- B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Maine (Orono, ME), granted 2010
- B.S. in Biological Engineering from University of Maine (Orono, ME), granted 2010
- Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, WI), granted 2015
Professional Certifications:
Licensed Professional Engineer (Maine)