Justin Notestein

j-notestein@northwestern.edu

Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering

Director, Center for Catalysis and Surface Science

Education

Post-Doc (2006-2007) University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign

Ph.D. (2006) University of California-Berkeley

B.S.E. (2001) Princeton University

C.V.

LinkedIn

Kenton Hicks

kentonhicks2022@u.northwestern.edu

Kenton is coadvised by Professor Omar Farha

Education

B.A. (2017) Wabash College, Biochemistry and French

Research Snapshot

Kenton is developing structure-activity relationships in heterogeneous catalysts using metal organic frameworks.

Joshua Kirkham

joshuakirkham2021@u.northwestern.edu

Josh is coadvised by Professor Randy Snurr

Education

B.S. (2017) Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Chemical Engineering

Research Snapshot 

Josh is working on data science strategies for better integrating experimental catalysis with computation.

Brianna Ruggiero

briannaruggiero2023@u.northwestern.edu

Brianna is coadvised by Professor Linsey Seitz

Education

B.S. (2018) Lehigh University, Chemical Engineering

Research Snapshot 

Brianna is working to develop active, selective, and stable catalysts for the electrochemical production of hydrogen peroxide that function in acidic conditions and build a flow cell for coupling with downstream thermal-catalytic processes.

Qining Wang

qining.wang@northwestern.edu

Qining is coadvised by Professor Joe Hupp

Education

B.A. (2018) Rutgers University – New Brunswick, Chemistry

Research Snapshot 

Qining is working on sulfide catalysts for hydrogenation using metal-organic frameworks as supports.

Jordy Ramos-Yataco

jordyramosyataco2021@u.northwestern.edu

Education

M.S. (2021) Northwestern University, Chemical Engineering

B.S. (2014) National University of Engineering-Peru, Chemical Engineering

Research Snapshot

Jordy works on catalytic transformations of methane.

Katie Chase

emilychase2025@u.northwestern.edu

Education

B.S. (2020) University of Tennessee Chattanooga, Chemical Engineering 

Research Snapshot

Katie studies the development of oxide-oxide interfaces, in part for creating shape selectivity in the MPV reduction reaction.

Hiyab Tsegabrhan Mekonnen

hiyabmekonnen2025@u.northwestern.edu

Education

B.S. (2019) Addis Ababa University, Chemistry

Research Snapshot

Hiyab is working on Lewis acid catalysts to understand the ring-opening of epoxides.

Xinrui Zhang

xinruizhang2025@u.northwestern.edu

Xinrui is coadvised by Professor Tobin Marks

Education

M.S. (2020) Stanford University, Materials Science and Engineering

B.S. (2018) Wuhan University, Chemistry 

Research Snapshot

Xinrui is working on methane dehydroaromatization.

Lauren Cho

laurencho2026@u.northwestern.edu

Lauren is coadvised by Professor Omar Farha

Education

B.S. (2021) University of Maryland at College Park, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

B.S. (2021) University of Maryland at College Park, Chemistry

Research Snapshot

Lauren is synthesizing metal oxide nanosheets and clusters as materials for heterogenous catalysis.

Alexander Simon

afsimon@u.northwestern.edu

Education

B.S. (2020) University of Michigan, Chemical Engineering

Research Snapshot

Alex is designing catalytic processes to utilize dilute, humid nitrous oxide for selective oxidation.

Sunyang Xu 

sunyangxu2023@u.northwestern.edu

Education

B.S. (2021) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Chemical Engineering

Research Snapshot

Sunyang is working on the kinetic study of fluoroarylborane catalysts in the ring-opening of epoxides.

Dawson Grimes

dawsongrimes2027@u.northwestern.edu

Dawson is co-advised by Professor Omar Farha

Education

B.S. (2022) The University of Texas at Austin, Chemistry

Research Snapshot

Dawson is researching the modification of metal-oxide based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) into metal-sulfide based MOFs to be applied as sulfide catalysts for hydrogenation and carbonylation.

Sarah Friedman 

sarahfriedman2023@u.northwestern.edu

Education

B.S. (2021) University of Central Arkansas, Chemistry with Mathematics minor

Research Snapshot

Sarah is studying cyclic carbonate synthesis with bifunctional titanium-amine catalysts.

Yasser Shalabi

yassershalabi2024@u.northwestern.edu

Education

B.S. (2018) University of Michigan, Chemical Engineering

Research Snapshot

Yasser is studying metal interactions in Tandem Catalysts

Simon Hedin

simonhedin2025@u.northwestern.edu

Education

Pursuing B.S. in Chemical Engineering (Expected graduation in June 2025) 

Research Snapshot

Simon is studying how alterations in ALD and CLD synthesis conditions alter the deposition characteristics and surface chemistry of layered metal-oxides.