Assistant Professor Christian Pester joins the ranks in the chemical engineering department

8/24/2017

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Department of Chemical Engineering will welcome Christian Pester during the fall 2017 semester.

“I believe emphasizing critical thinking and scientific questioning, while communicating the passion for discovery, can help students develop both professionally and personally in pursuit of their own career and life goals,” said Pester.

Christian Pester will join as an assistant professor in chemical engineering as his primary tenure home.

Pester will arrive from Santa Barbara, California where he completed an Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral fellowship at the Materials Department and Materials Research Laboratory. He was born in Germany and received his diploma and doctorate in physical chemistry while studying abroad in Bayreuth, Germany and Aachen, Germany. Rheinisch Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen University awarded him the Borchers Medal for an outstanding dissertation.

In 2015-16, Pester received many honors including the Dow Travel Fellowship from the Dow Materials Institute and the Materials Research Laboratory; multiple Science as Art Awards from the Materials Research Society, as well as the Center for Science and Engineering Partnerships; and the International Center for Materials Research Fellowship Award.

During his tenure, Pester developed a novel lithographic platform for chemical patterning, helped secure funding from the Office of Naval Research, and collaborated with The Dow Chemical Company, which helped him to appreciate the importance of external funding and research within industry.

Pester has an extensive background as an invited lecturer at North Carolina State University; Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research, Potsdam, Germany; and Cornell University during his postdoctoral studies. Penn State will be his official entry into academia as a faculty member.

This new faculty’s lab will focus on the study of charged polymers. More specifically Pester looks towards, “both binary polyelectrolyte brush surfaces and ampholyte triblock copolymers which provide intriguing possibilities to regulate their microstructure via electric fields.” Ultimately, Pester is looking to discover new methods to improve the understanding of neurodegenerative diseases.

 

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MEDIA CONTACT:

Jane Horetsky

jeh94@engr.psu.edu

Christian Pester

“I believe emphasizing critical thinking and scientific questioning, while communicating the passion for discovery, can help students develop both professionally and personally in pursuit of their own career and life goals.”
—Christian Pester.

 
 

About

The Penn State Department of Chemical Engineering, established in 1948, is recognized as one of the largest and most influential chemical engineering departments in the nation.

The department is built upon the fundamentals of academic integrity, innovation in research, and commitment to the advancement of industry.

Department of Chemical Engineering

121 Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Building

The Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA 16802

Phone: 814-865-2574