Biography

Photo of Dr. Michael Janik.

John J. and Jean M. Brennan Clean Energy Chair
Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering
Pennsylvania State University

Dr. Janik is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and holds the John J. and Jean M. Brennan Clean Energy Chair. He began his appointment at Penn State in August, 2006. His research interests are in the use of computational methods to understand and design materials for alternative energy conversion systems. Current activities address a wide-range of energy technologies including fuel cells and batteries, hydrogen generation, desulfurization, zeolite catalysis, organic photovoltaics, and CO2 capture and utilization. Research methods emphasize atomistic simulation using quantum chemical methods and kinetic modeling. Janik is affiliated with the PSU Electrochemical Engine Center, Battery and Energy Storage Technology Center, Energy Institute, PSU-Dalian University of Technology Joint Center for Energy Research, and the PSU Institutes of Energy and the Environment. He also holds the title of HaiTian (Sea-Sky) Scholar from Dalian University of Technology.

The Janik group currently includes 11 graduate students and 9 undergraduate students. Dr. Janik received his B. S. in Chemical Engineering from Yale University. Following three years as a Process Engineer for Procter and Gamble, Janik completed his doctoral studies at the University of Virginia under the advisement of Bob Davis and Matt Neurock. He has co-authored approximately 75 peer reviewed papers, and co-edited the book "Computational Catalysis" (with Aravind Asthagiri), published by the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2013.