Successful 2020 ChE Faculty Search

We are pleased to announce our new assistant professors: Andrew Allman, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota; Jouha Min, a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School; Xiwen Gong, a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University, and Albert Liu, a recent graduate of MIT.

Allman completed his PhD in chemical engineering at University of Minnesota under the guidance of Prodromos Daoutidis, who received his PhD from the University of Michigan in 1991. Allman received a BS in chemical engineering from Penn State University. He will begin his new post in Fall 2020

Min received her PhD in chemical engineering from the MIT working with advisors Paula Hammond and Richard Braatz. She completed her BS at Cornell University in chemical and biomolecular engineering. Min will join the department in Winter 2021.

Gong received her PhD in electrical and computer science from the University of Toronto under the guidance of Edward H. Sargent. She received her BaSc in Materials Physics from Fudan University. Gong will join the department in Winter 2021.

Liu received his PhD in chemical engineering in 2020 with adviser Michael Strano. He will begin his new position in Fall 2022 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship.

This year, the department interviewed 15 faculty candidates. Twelve candidates visited campus and presented lectures and met with faculty and students. The last candidate was on campus on March 13th. On March 16th, the department began conducting the interviews remotely.

“Although we would have prefered to bring all applicants to campus, everyone involved understood the gravity of the situation and adapted well. The seminars continued without disruption,” reports LaKisha Evans, Chair Sharon Glotzer’s assistant, who organized all the seminars. She says that the candidates pre-recorded their lectures so faculty could view them on their own time and then could join a live online Q&A session with the candidate on BlueJeans during the hour previously scheduled for the lecture.

Evans says that faculty were happy with the remote seminars and adds, “we all made the best of our new normal.”