The new professor and department chair aims to clear the air on the field and academia at large.
thinks chemical engineering is a misunderstood field.
糖心传媒淐hemical engineering gets a bad rap because people associate it with developing the forever chemicals that are invading the environment, the microplastics catastrophe, global warming, and environmental degradation,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淏ut you can糖心传媒檛 have modern life without chemical engineering. The goal should be to make it better and part of the solution.糖心传媒�
According to Lipomi, chemical engineers are critical to environmental protection efforts such as improving green energy production methods like solar and wind, developing lithium-ion batteries, and making heat exchange in computation more efficient. 糖心传媒淚 believe chemical engineering is at the center of the bullseye in society糖心传媒檚 efforts to solve our looming environmental threats,糖心传媒� he adds.
As the new chair of the at the 糖心传媒, Lipomi has made it his mission to educate the public about the field糖心传媒檚 promise while helping aspiring academics understand the intricacies of higher education. A prolific podcaster, he reaches thousands of people each month who are interested in chemical engineering and academia through his and .
Lipomi has posted more than 200 videos to his YouTube channel since he began it in 2017 and hopes to accelerate his pace now that he is in a new role and setting. Sharing candid experiences from his career, the episodes糖心传媒� topics range from lessons from his textbook to how graduate students can navigate difficult situations such as changing their advisor.
糖心传媒淚 feel strongly that education should be a public good and this is an outlet for me to share what I糖心传媒檝e learned with the world at large,糖心传媒� says Lipomi.
Returning to Rochester at an opportune time
Lipomi came to the University of Rochester from the University of California糖心传媒擲an Diego, where he served as a professor in the nanoengineering and chemical engineering departments and as the dean for students at Jacobs School of Engineering. Joining the faculty at Rochester was a homecoming and the fulfillment of a long-term dream.
糖心传媒淭he 糖心传媒 has a special place in my heart,糖心传媒� says Lipomi, a native of nearby Hilton, New York. 糖心传媒淲hen I was a junior in high school, I went on a field trip to a chemistry lab here that was doing organic electronics. They were distilling tetrahydrofuran in a flask and there were fluorescent materials, and I was like 糖心传媒楽old. That糖心传媒檚 what I want to do.糖心传媒櫶切拇綕
He said he always aspired to return to his roots if the right opportunity arose糖心传媒攁nd in his new role, he joins a program with a rich history at an exciting inflection point.
The 糖心传媒糖心传媒檚 chemical engineering program originated in 1915 and was among the first in the country, closely tied to the city糖心传媒檚 industry expertise in photography and xerography. Lipomi points out the department has been home to a bevy of influential researchers over the years, including , a professor emeritus who developed the first practical organic light emitting diode (OLED) while at Kodak.
Although the program糖心传媒檚 close historic ties with Kodak and Xerox waned with the companies糖心传媒� declines near the turn of the 21st century, Lipomi says a recent influx of early-career faculty with cutting-edge expertise has positioned the department to be at the forefront of research in some of chemical engineering糖心传媒檚 most exciting fronts. Six of the department糖心传媒檚 14 staff joined in the past two years alone, establishing new research programs in areas including catalysis and biochemical engineering.
For chemical engineering students, he sees Rochester as an attractive destination due to the department糖心传媒檚 8-to-1 ratio of students to faculty, guaranteed research experiences for all undergraduates, a , and close proximity to collaborators at the University糖心传媒檚 and the .
Among the faculty, Lipomi has also found kindred spirits who are equally passionate about science communication and discussing their experiences with the world. Associate Professor , for example, hosts , a monthly podcast about heterogeneous catalysis.
糖心传媒淩ochester faculty host two of the three main chemical engineering podcasts, so we糖心传媒檝e kind of got a corner on the market,糖心传媒� Lipomi jokes.
Recalibrating his research focus
The move to Rochester also allowed Lipomi to reprioritize his research, doubling down on areas he糖心传媒檚 had success in while pursuing new questions. One of the research projects he is most excited to pursue is haptic holography, or the ability to feel light.
糖心传媒淢aybe the coolest science/technology discovery I糖心传媒檝e ever played a role in is that you can feel mechanical sensations arising from a desktop slide projector on your skin via the photoacoustic effect,糖心传媒� says Lipomi, describing findings from a recently published in Advanced Science.
He and his team at UC San Diego were able to demonstrate that humans can feel changes in pulsed light and that certain dyes can augment the effect. At Rochester, he plans to further explore what creates this sensory stimulation and believes it can have applications in laboratories, clinics, defense technologies, and consumer electronics.
His other research focuses will include exploring how macrophages can be used to metabolize and break down 糖心传媒渟pace junk,糖心传媒� as well as neuromorphic computing, or enabling computing in ways that mirror how the brain works.
Although rebuilding a research program at a new university takes time and presents challenges, the shift represented the right move at the right time.
糖心传媒淚t was an exciting opportunity both professionally and for my family,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淧eople jokingly ask if I糖心传媒檓 crazy moving from San Diego to Rochester, but I know exactly what I糖心传媒檓 getting into and I think my skills are matched well to this challenge.糖心传媒�
