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“A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men and women, living and dead and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving”. -- Albert Einstein
About Dr. Nelson Dzade
Dr. Nelson Y. Dzade is a passionate educator and an interdisciplinary research scientist. He is an assistant professor of Energy and Mineral Engineering and the Chair of the Undergraduate Energy Engineering program in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering. He also holds the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences College Endowed Virginia S. & Philip L. Walker, Jr. Faculty Fellowship in Materials Science and Engineering & Fuel Sciences. He serves as the Co-Director of AESEDA - Alliance for Education, Science, Engineering and Design with Africa, a coordinating body that promotes Penn State’s engagement in Africa. Dzade also holds affiliate positions with Penn State EMS Energy Institute (EI); Materials Research Institute (MRI), Institutes of Energy and the Environment (IEE); Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS), and the Alliance for Education, Science, Engineering and Design with Africa (AESEDA). Before joining Penn State, Dr. Dzade was the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Innovation Research Fellow and Independent Group Leader at the School of Chemistry, Cardiff University. Before that, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, the Netherlands.
EDUCATION & TRAINING
EDUCATION & TRAINING
2010−2014: Ph.D. Computational Materials Science
University College London (UCL), London, United Kingdom
2009−2010: Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) Materials Science
Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore, India
2008−2009: MSc Materials Science (Distinction)
African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria
2003−2007: BSc Mathematical Science (Statistics option) 1st Class Honors
University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana
RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2025 - Date: Virginia S. & Philip L. Walker, Jr. Faculty Fellow in Materials Science and Engineering & Fuel Sciences Program. This is an Endowed Faculty Position at the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences awarded to teachers and researchers who are among the most distinguished scholars in their fields.
2024 - Date: Chair of Energy Engineering Program
John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, Penn State University.
2024 - Date: Co-Director of Alliance for Education, Science, Engineering, and Design with Africa (AESEDA), College of Earth & Mineral Sciences, Penn State University.
2021 - Date: Assistant Professor of Energy and Mineral Engineering
John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, Penn State University.
2018 – 2021: EPSRC (Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council) Innovation Fellow
School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, UK.
2018 - Date: Visiting Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja-FCT, Nigeria.
2015–2023: Supervisor/Trainer for Chem4Energy Research Consortium
Funded by the UK Department for International Development, to strengthen research and training capacity in Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana, and the Universities of Namibia and Botswana.
2014-2017: Postdoctoral Training in Materials Design and Heterogeneous Catalysis
Department of Earth Sciences - Utrecht University, The Netherlands
2012–Date: Visiting Research Fellow
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology via the UCL-KNUST Leverhulme-Royal Society Africa Award initiative program on “Computational design of materials for energy efficiency”.
2012–2013: Research Assistant
British Petroleum (BP), Pangbourne Technology Center, Project: “Computer simulations of the effect of fuel additives on metal oxide surfaces, an important problem in chemical fouling of fuel pipeline in car engines”.
2007−2008: Teaching Assistant
Department of Mathematics, University for Development Studies, Ghana.
HONORS & AWARDS
HONORS & AWARDS
2025: U.S.-Africa Frontiers Fellowship Award, by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). This highly competitive fellowship supports high-impact research collaboration and capacity building between U.S. scientists and their counterparts across the African continent. This initiative will enable Dr Dzade to strengthen collaborations with Dr. Lahoucine Atourki at Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco, and Dr. Linda Nyamen at the University of Yaoundé I in Cameroon. The fellowship aims to advance science and technology cooperation by fostering the development of new research ideas, enabling technical skill-building, and laying the groundwork for long-term international partnerships.
2025: G. Montgomery and Marion Mitchell Award for Innovative Teaching. This award is given in recognition of Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences faculty who use innovative teaching techniques in their courses. (The Award Citation READS): "Nelson’s solid commitment to innovative teaching has profoundly enhanced student learning experiences in the EME Department. His ability to integrate real-world applications, foster critical thinking, and create an engaging and inclusive classroom environment sets him apart as an exceptional educator. By embracing project-based learning, incorporating open-ended questions, and building strong relationships with his students, Dr. Dzade has inspired a generation of learners to think beyond the textbook and apply their knowledge in meaningful ways.”
2024: Department of Energy (DOE) Early Career Research Awards. This five-year prestigious award is given to the nation's outstanding early-career research scientists who are helping to tackle some of the toughest challenges that will secure the economic competitiveness of the United States for decades to come.
2018-2021: UK Research and Innovation Fellowship Award, which is aimed at innovative individuals in the early stages of their research career, whose research can help to achieve the aims of the UK’s Industrial Strategy.
2020-date: DUO-India Professor Fellowship Award, which funds the exchange of professors between India and European countries, Cardiff University, UK.
2010−2014: Overseas Research Scholarship, University College London, UK. Awarded to exceptional international students with strong academic achievements.
2010−2014: UCL Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences Studentship, UK.
2012−2013: British Petroleum (BP) Research Studentship, University College London, UK.
2008−2009: World Bank Scholarship, African University of Science and Technology, Nigeria.
2009−2010: Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India scholarship, International Centre for Material Science (ICMS), Bangalore, India.
2006–2007: Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) Scholarship for Brilliant Students, University for Development Studies, Ghana.
Dec. 19, 2009, Gold Medalist, Best graduating MSc. Materials Science student, African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria.
Dec. 15, 2007, Overall Best-Graduating Student and Valedictorian of the 2006/2007 academic year, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Dr. Dzade leads the Materials and Minerals Theory (MMT) Group, which sits on the interface of Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, Machine Learning, Materials & Minerals Science and Engineering. The MMT Group specializes in developing and applying advanced theoretical methods to unravel structure-property-performance relationships in solid-state materials. Often taking place in close collaboration with experiments, Dr. Dzade’s current research emphasizes the development of ab initio methods and harnessing the predictive capacity of first-principles calculations to gain a detailed understanding of the fundamental science needed to rationally design and engineer novel functional materials with unparalleled performance in several renewable energy technologies such as photovoltaics, heterogeneous catalysis, high-capacity batteries, and mineral processing and separation. The four main strands of research in the MMT Group are (i) the rational design of active and robust catalysts for green hydrogen production and carbon dioxide conversion to chemicals and fuels, (ii) unraveling the complex interfacial phenomena and charge carrier and mobile ion dynamic processes in solar cells and optoelectronic devices, (iii) the development of earth-abundant cathode materials for superior rechargeable battery chemistries capable of higher charge capacities and specific energy densities, and (iv) providing atomic-level insights into environmentally relevant reactions and geochemical processes occurring at mineral surfaces/interfaces, including crystal growth, adsorption reactions, mineral extraction, and mineral dissolution.
ADVOCACY, OUTREACH, AND PASSION
Dr. Dzade is a strong advocate for the advancement of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in Africa. He is passionate about strengthening research and training capacity in sub-Saharan African Institutions of Higher Education. He has been involved in several collaborative research and training initiatives across Universities in Africa, including the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana, the University of Botswana (UB), the University of Namibia (UNAM), the University of Limpopo, South Africa, and the African University of Science and Technology, Nigeria, where he currently serves also as a Visiting Professor. Dr. Dzade actively mentors, inspires, and encourages young people (especially underrepresented minorities) to be lifelong learners (i.e., to always have a growth mindset and an innate curiosity about the world, where they constantly push themselves to acquire new skills and capabilities and discover more by way of new challenges, ideas, and experiences). He has also launched the Africa Network of Computational Materials Scholars (AFRINETCOMS) platform, bringing together computational materials scholars across Africa and the world at large with the goal of building capacity, knowledge sharing, training and support, coaching, and mentoring. He is also a strong advocate for gender, ethnic, and social diversity in the sciences, as well as for policies that invest in renewable energy, championing green efficient manufacturing (circular economy), and upholding strong environmental protections.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSIPS
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSIPS
Research Committee Member, School of Chemistry, Cardiff University
Postgraduate Research (PGR) Progress Monitoring Committee Member
EPSRC Full College Membership (Reviews EPSRC-UKRI research grant applications)
SUPERGEN SUPERSOLAR, The network for solar research in the UK
Materials Research Society (MRS)
American Chemical Society (ACS)
European Association of Geochemistry (EAG)
SCIENTIFIC REVIEWING ACTIVITIES
SCIENTIFIC REVIEWING ACTIVITIES
Currently a reviewer for the following scientific journals: ACS Energy Letters; Journal Applied Surface Science; ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces; Physical Chemistry C; Catalysts (MDPI); RSC Environmental Science: Nano; RCS Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics; CO2 Utilization; Surface and Coatings Technology; Computational Material Science; Molecular Catalysis; Journal of Chemical Physics; Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids and Journal of Applied Physics; RSC Advances; Chemical Physics Letters; Advanced Functional Materials; ChemSusChem; RSC Catalysis Science & Technology, Physical Review B; Journal of Molecular Graphics and Modelling.
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
EME 301: Thermodynamics in Energy and Mineral Engineering
EGEE 437: Design of Solar Energy Conversion Systems
EME 597: Molecular Modelling of Materials and Minerals
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