Bhan Research Group

 

2026 dinner

Group Dinner | June 2026

 

News

Carley Bao receives the CEMS TA Award

May 13rd, 2026

Congratulations to Chuer (Carley) Bao on receiving the 2026 CEMS TA Award! 

Dr. Elizabeth B. Rogers joins the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

October 17th, 2025

Congratulations to postdoctoral scholar Dr. Elizabeth B. Rogers from the Bhan group on her new faculty position at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign!

Professor Bhan receives the Excellence in Postdoctoral Advising Award

September 16th, 2025

Congratulations to Professor Bhan on receiving the 2025 Excellence in Postdoctoral Advising Award! 

Matt Jacob defends doctoral dissertation

August 25th, 2025

Matt Jacob successfully defends his doctoral dissertation: "Selective Combustion of Hydrogen and Hydrocarbons During Chemical Looping". Post-Bhan group, Matt will work at Eli Lilly.

Joe Esposito defends doctoral dissertation

August 7th, 2025

Joe Esposito successfully defends his doctoral dissertation: "The Functional Role of Co-promoters within Propylene Epoxidation". Post-Bhan group, Joe will work at Dow Inc.

Michael Gresh-Sill Honored with IPMI Metalor Student Award

June 2025

Michael Gresh-Sill received the 2025 IPMI Metalor Student Award at the International Precious Metals Institute awards banquet on June 10, 2025. The award recognizes his research on promoter effects in silver-based catalysts for ethylene epoxidation. 

Thomas Lin defends doctoral dissertation

July 8th, 2024

Thomas Lin successfully defends his doctoral dissertation: "Mechanistic investigation of CO2 hydrogenation on copper-based catalysts". Post-Bhan group, Thomas will work in Ed Solomon's group at Stanford University for a postdoc.

Brian Bayer defends doctoral dissertation

July 1st, 2024

Brian Bayer successfully defends his doctoral dissertation: "Pathways and timescales for conversion of nitrogen-based compounds by nonthermal plasma and plasma catalysis". Post-Bhan group, Brian will work at Rimere.

Bhan group welcomes new members

November 2023

The Bhan group welcomes four first year graduate students, Chuer Bao, Jaideep Singh Soodan, Eva Wolfe, and Zilun Xiang. Chuer will be studying catalytic production of acrylates, Jaideep will be studying the kinetics of CO2 hydrogenation, Eva will be studying NOx abatement by plasma catalysis, and Zilun will be studying plasma-assisted dehalogenation of persistent halogen-containing streams. Welcome to the group!

Krishna Iyer defends doctoral dissertation

August 30th, 2023

Krishna Iyer successfully defends his doctoral dissertation: "Strategies to study reaction kinetics, particle size effects, and site requirements over silver-catalyzed ethylene epoxidation". Post-Bhan group, Krishna will work at Corteva.

Bhan group welcomes new member

July 2023

The Bhan group welcomes a visiting graduate student, Tjark Thedens, from the Technical University of Hamburg. He will be studying NOx abatement by plasma catalysis. Welcome to the group!

Benjamin Yeh defends doctoral dissertation

July 6th, 2023

Benjamin Yeh successfully defends his doctoral dissertation: "Olefin Oligomerization on Nickel Based Metal Organic Framework Catalysts". Post-Bhan group, Ben will work at Exxon-Mobil.

Professor Bhan named 2023 Distinguished McKnight University Professor

March 2023

Congratulations to Professor Bhan for being named a Distinguished McKnight University Professor. Read more about the title here: https://cse.umn.edu/cems/news/professor-aditya-bhan-named-2023-distinguished-mcknight-university-professor

Bhan group welcomes new member

January 2023

The Bhan group welcomes Elizabeth Bickel, who is joining the group as a postdoctoral scholar. Elizabeth will be studying CO2 hydrogenation on transition metal carbides.

Professor Bhan wins Emmett Award in fundamental catalysis

November 2022

Congratulations to Professor Bhan for being awarded the Paul H. Emmett Award from the North American Catalyis Society. Read more about the award here: http://nacatsoc.org/news/announcement-of-2023-2024-paul-h-emmett-award-winners/.