Department Personnel
Associate Professor Michael Janik | News
09/17/14
Researchers awarded $1.5M to develop new multicomponent catalyst materials
A research team led by Michael Janik, associate professor of chemical engineering and John J. and Jean M. Brennan Clean Energy Early Career Professor in the College of Engineering, has received a four-year $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through its Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) initiative.
View the entire story, "Researchers awarded $1.5M to develop new multicomponent catalyst materials" on the College of Egineering Events and News website.
07/16/14
Graduate Student Thomas Senftle wins 2nd place for
his presentation at the Gordon Research Conference on Catalysis
Thomas Senftle, Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering, won 2nd place for his poster presentation at the Gordon Research Conference on Catalysis, held at Colby-Sawyer College from June 22nd to the 27th. Tom's poster was titled "Multi-scale Investigation of Oxide Formation on Pd/ceria Catalysts via DFT and ReaxFF Simulations."
Tom's graduate work is jointly advised by Dr. Michael Janik in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Dr. Adri van Duin in the Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering.
07/03/14
Graduate student Ian McCrum wins the Best Presentation Award
at the Pittsburgh-Cleveland Catalysis Society Annual Symposium
Ian McCrum, a doctoral student advised by Dr. Michael Janik, received the Best Oral Presentation Award for his talk on June 2nd at the Pittsburgh-Cleveland Catalysis Society Annual Symposium held at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Ian's presentation was titled "Alkali cation effects on the hydrogen oxidation reaction in alkaline solutions." Ian's doctoral research, working in collaboration with Professor Mike Hickner's group in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, seeks to optimize the catalyst-membrane interface for optimal anion exchange membrane fuel cell performance.
12/18/13
Faculty member Michael Janik lends his expertise to co-editing the new book, "Computational Catalysis"
Congratulations to faculty member Dr. Michael Janik and his research group on the publication of a new book co-edited by Dr. Janik, with chapters co-authored by group members.
"Computational Catalysis," co-edited by Michael Janik and Aravind Asthagiri (The Ohio State University) was recently published in the Catalysis Series of the Royal Society of Chemistry. In addition to editing the book, 2 chapters were co-authored by Janik and two of his group members.
These group members are graduate students Kuan-Yu Yeh and Thomas Senftle.
View Dr. Michael Janik's group website.
11/15/13
Faculty and students talk with "The Daily Collegian Newspaper"
about the Chemical Engineering graduate program at Penn State
Dr. Andrew Zydney, Chemical Engineering Department Head, Associate Professor Michael Janik, and graduate student Trevor Zuroff talked with "The Daily Collegian Newspaper" about Penn State Chemical Engineering's number one rank in a recent graduate programs survey.
View the "PSU's Chemical Engineering graduate program ranks first in U.S. by graduateprograms.com" article on "The Daily Collegian" website.
09/20/13
Graduate Student Matthew Krcha formally
recieves the Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award
Congratulations to graduate student Matthew Krcha formally recieved his "Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award" at the 2013 Chemical Engineering Department Research Symposium.
The 2013 Chemical Engineering Research Symposium was held at the Celebration Hall Convention Center in State College, PA on September 17, 2013.
08/20/13
Outstanding Chemical Engineering Teaching Assistant Award for 2012-13
Matt Krcha has been named the recipient of the Outstanding Chemical Engineering Teaching Assistant Award for 2012-13.
This award is given in recognition of Matt's outstanding contributions as a Teaching Assistant in CHE 360 this past Spring (along with his previous efforts as a Teaching Assistant in CHE 220). Matt is advised by Dr. Michael Janik.
We also want to take this opportunity to thank all of the Department's Teaching Assistants for their efforts in helping us provide the best possible educational experience for our students.
05/14/12
Michael Janik named Associate Professor
It is our pleasure to let you know that Michael Janik was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure.
we received the official letter on the week of May 7th from President Erickson.
Congratulations Dr. Janik.
05/04/12
Penn State Engineering Alumni Society Awards
Faculty member Dr. Michael Janik received the Outstanding Teaching Award from the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society at the society's annual award ceremony on April 13th 2012.
This is an acknowledgement of Dr. Janik's dedication to his teaching and advising of undergraduates and graduate students. Congratulations Dr. Janik.
View past recipients of the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society (PSEAS) Faculty/Staff Awards.
View photos of the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society Awards Ceremony on Flickr.
05/01/12
Eunmin Lee graduates with B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering
Eunmin Lee will receive his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering at the Penn State Commencement on Saturday, May 5th.
Eunmin performed research in the Janik lab during his final two years at Penn State, assisting graduate student Kyungtae Lee in his studies of hydrocarbon reforming for hydrogen production.
Eunmin will continue his studies following graduation, pursuing a doctoral degree at Washington University in Saint Louis.
04/18/12
Graduate Student Kyungtae Lee
receives a travel award from the American Chemical Society
On March 25th 2012 graduate student Kyungtae Lee received a travel award from the American Chemical Society, Energy and Fuels Division.
Kyungtae presented a talk titled "Density Functional Theory Examination of Enhanced Sulfur Tolerance in Steam Reforming by Bimetallic Catalysts" at the spring ACS meeting in San Diego.
04/16/12
Michael Janik named Faculty Fellow for Penn State's Institute for Cyberscience
Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering & John J. and Jean M. Brennan Clean Energy Early Career Professor in the College of Engineering Michael Janik has been selected as a Faculty Fellow for Penn State's Institute for Cyberscience.
Along with this recognition, Dr. Janik will receive funding for a project with fellow Chemical Engineering faculty member Enrique Gomez entitled "Developing Tools for the Design of Next-Generation Organic Semiconductors".
February 29, 2012
"2012 Penn State Engineering Alumni Society Awards Announced"
Faculty member Dr. Michael Janik has been awarded the Outstanding Teaching Award by the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society in recognition for his contributions to Penn State and the Department of Chemical Engineering.
View past recipients of the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society (PSEAS) Faculty/Staff Awards.
January 27, 2011
"Adam Mayernick successfully defends his doctoral dissertation"
Congratulations to Adam Mayernick on his accomplishment. Adam's thesis is titled "Hydrocarbon Conversion Catalysis on Ceria-based Mixed Metal Oxides."
Adam will be leaving the group early this semester to start a research position with Shell in Houston, TX. We wish Adam the best in his future endeavors.
01/06/11
John J. and Jean M. Brennan Clean Energy Early Career Professor Endowment
Michael Janik has been selected as the first John J. and Jean M. Brennan Clean Energy Early Career Professor in the College of Engineering.
This endowed position was established to promote the advancement of clean energy -- Dr. Janik was selected based on his outstanding record of research and teaching in the energy area.
The Janik and Colby groups received a joint grant from the NSF
The Janik group and the group of Ralph Colby (PSU, MATSE) have received a joint grant from the National Science Foundation. The project is titled "First Principles Design of Ionomers for Facile Ion Transport," and is funded by the Energy for Sustainability program within the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems of NSF.
The grant will provide support of $303,530 from September of 2009 through August of 2012. For more information on the project, please visit Janik Group Research page:
08/11/09
Adam Mayernick and Joe McDermott attended
The Nobel Laureates meeting
Graduate Students Adam Mayernick and Joe McDermott attended the Nobel Laureates meeting in Lindau, Germany. From June 28th to July 3rd, 2009 23 Nobel Laureates and 580 young researchers from 67 countries attended the 59th Meeting of Nobel Laureates dedicated to chemistry.
View the Lindau, Germany, Nobel Laureates Meeting Web Site
11/01/07
Gholamreza (Reza) Rostamikia, a graduate student working with Michael Janik, won a first place award for his poster at the Student Poster Session of the 212th National Meeting of the Electrochemical Society in Washington, D.C. in October 2007.
Reza's poster was titled "A First Principle Study of Borohydride Oxidation Electrocatalysis" and his award consisted of a certificate and a monetary price. His poster was selected for an award out of a session containing over 75 posters.