Download the 2025 nomination form here
Rutherford Aris Award
The 2023 Rutherford Aris Award recognizes outstanding contributions in experimental and/or theoretical reaction engineering research of investigators in early stages of their career. The recipient must be less than 40 years of age at the end of the calendar year in which the award is presented. The Aris Award has been historically supported by a grant from Honeywell UOP. The award is made every three years at a North American ISCRE or NASCRE meeting. It consists of a plaque, an honorarium of $3,000, and up to $2,000 in travel funds to present at ISCRE 27.
View past Aris Award winners
View past Aris Award winners
2016
The ISCRE Board is pleased to announce that Professor Paul Dauenhauer of the University of Minnesota has emerged as the inaugural winner of the Aris award, from a pool of seven outstanding candidates.
Prof. Dauenhauer was nominated "for advancing molecular understanding of complex reacting systems including biomass pyrolysis and renewable biochemicals such as p-xylene via novel reactors and analysis of large mixtures". His creativity in research is highlighted by five patent applications, which serve as the scientific foundation of three startup companies.
Excerpts from the nomination include:
A hallmark of Paul's work is that he combines excellent experimental skills with traditional reaction engineering analysis and entrepreneurial creativity.His mechanistic work on the cellulose pyrolysis is most elegant. Even more impressive is his recent discovery that one can react dimethylfuran with ethylene over a zeolite catalyst to produce high yields of para-xylene.Paul is the most creative and most accomplished young reaction engineer in academia in the country. His talks are clear and interesting and he is willing to share the rewards from his ideas. He is definitely of the same spirit as Gus Aris.Paul has the ability to integrate chemical kinetics, heat and mass transfer, insight into reaction mechanisms and deep understanding of analytical techniques in ways that make him stand out from his peers in the field.
Prof. Dauenhauer was nominated "for advancing molecular understanding of complex reacting systems including biomass pyrolysis and renewable biochemicals such as p-xylene via novel reactors and analysis of large mixtures". His creativity in research is highlighted by five patent applications, which serve as the scientific foundation of three startup companies.
Excerpts from the nomination include:
A hallmark of Paul's work is that he combines excellent experimental skills with traditional reaction engineering analysis and entrepreneurial creativity.His mechanistic work on the cellulose pyrolysis is most elegant. Even more impressive is his recent discovery that one can react dimethylfuran with ethylene over a zeolite catalyst to produce high yields of para-xylene.Paul is the most creative and most accomplished young reaction engineer in academia in the country. His talks are clear and interesting and he is willing to share the rewards from his ideas. He is definitely of the same spirit as Gus Aris.Paul has the ability to integrate chemical kinetics, heat and mass transfer, insight into reaction mechanisms and deep understanding of analytical techniques in ways that make him stand out from his peers in the field.
2019
The ISCRE Board is pleased to announce that Professor Yuriy Román-Leshkov of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been selected as the winner of the Aris award, from a pool of 10 outstanding candidates
Prof. Román-Leshkov was nominated “For innovative advances in heterogeneous catalysis and processes for renewable energy applications". Professor Román-Leshkov’s contributions to advancing knowledge in the areas of reaction engineering and heterogeneous catalysis are made evident by the 60+ papers that have been published from his group at MIT over the last 8 years as well as the fact that his work has been cited over 9000 times in that same time period.
Excerpts from the nomination include:
"Yuriy has established a unique and highly impactful research program, addressing fundamental scientific and technological questions, underpinning serious societal problems, through the combination of reaction engineering and catalyst design.""Yuriy has developed very successful research program that blends core principles of reaction engineering, materials science, and green chemistry to solve the complex, multiscale challenges associated with the transition to a sustainable economy.""Dr. Román has already made many important contributions to reaction engineering that demonstrates how to more efficiently transform alternative feedstock into fuels and chemicals. He is the clear leader in the field."
Prof. Román-Leshkov was nominated “For innovative advances in heterogeneous catalysis and processes for renewable energy applications". Professor Román-Leshkov’s contributions to advancing knowledge in the areas of reaction engineering and heterogeneous catalysis are made evident by the 60+ papers that have been published from his group at MIT over the last 8 years as well as the fact that his work has been cited over 9000 times in that same time period.
Excerpts from the nomination include:
"Yuriy has established a unique and highly impactful research program, addressing fundamental scientific and technological questions, underpinning serious societal problems, through the combination of reaction engineering and catalyst design.""Yuriy has developed very successful research program that blends core principles of reaction engineering, materials science, and green chemistry to solve the complex, multiscale challenges associated with the transition to a sustainable economy.""Dr. Román has already made many important contributions to reaction engineering that demonstrates how to more efficiently transform alternative feedstock into fuels and chemicals. He is the clear leader in the field."
2023
The ISCRE Board is pleased to announce that Professor Rajamani Gounder, Larry and Virginia Faith Professor at Purdue University has been selected as the winner of the Aris Award from a large pool of outstanding candidates.
Prof. Gounder was nominated for breakthrough discoveries of how porous catalysts regulate the diffusion of molecules and active sites to control catalytic behavior for hydrocarbon upgrading and nitrogen oxide reduction. Raj is the L.V. Faith Professor at Purdue and completed a post-doc at the California Institute of Technology and his doctoral thesis at Berkeley. Since 2015, he has garnered over 20 awards and honors for teaching and national awards for research. Prof. Gounder has published close to 100 articles, many in high impact factor journals. Excerpts from the nomination include:• Raj’s innovative materials synthesis, combined with his mastery of kinetics and mechanisms, enable him to make breakthroughs that elude others.• Raj’s elegant experiments led to the discovery that ammonia solvates Cu ions to form homogeneous-like coordination complexes in situ, and mobilizes them to allow dynamic interconversion of mononuclear and multinuclear complexes during the catalytic cycle• His recent work in olefin oligomerization uncovered that heavier hydrocarbon products accumulate within zeolite micropores during reaction, imposing barriers to molecular transport that govern rate, selectivity, and deactivation
Prof. Gounder was nominated for breakthrough discoveries of how porous catalysts regulate the diffusion of molecules and active sites to control catalytic behavior for hydrocarbon upgrading and nitrogen oxide reduction. Raj is the L.V. Faith Professor at Purdue and completed a post-doc at the California Institute of Technology and his doctoral thesis at Berkeley. Since 2015, he has garnered over 20 awards and honors for teaching and national awards for research. Prof. Gounder has published close to 100 articles, many in high impact factor journals. Excerpts from the nomination include:• Raj’s innovative materials synthesis, combined with his mastery of kinetics and mechanisms, enable him to make breakthroughs that elude others.• Raj’s elegant experiments led to the discovery that ammonia solvates Cu ions to form homogeneous-like coordination complexes in situ, and mobilizes them to allow dynamic interconversion of mononuclear and multinuclear complexes during the catalytic cycle• His recent work in olefin oligomerization uncovered that heavier hydrocarbon products accumulate within zeolite micropores during reaction, imposing barriers to molecular transport that govern rate, selectivity, and deactivation