Erdem Sasmaz
Principal Investigator
Assistant ProfessorChemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Henry Samueli School Engineering, UC Irvine
Office: 416 C, Engineering Tower
Email: esasmaz@uci.edu
Phone: (949) 824-8360 Education:
-PhD in Energy Resources Engineering (2011), Stanford University
-M.S in Chemical Engineering, Worchester Polytechnic (2007) Education:
Dr. Sasmaz has rich experiences in many different research areas such as trace metal capture from fossil fuel combustion, low temperature carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon oxidation, selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides, catalytic cracking for hyrdrocarbons, biofuel production, photocatalysis and methane reforming. His current research interests include flame synthesis, high-throughput experimentation, CO2 utilization and alternative production routes for C2-C4 hydrocarbons.
Current Research Members
Sunkyu Kim
Graduate Researcher
Sunkyu is from South Korea and joined the Sasmaz group in the fall of 2016. He is now a Ph.D. candidate in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department at UCI. His experimental research currently focuses on the synthesis and applications of nanomaterials to heterogeneous catalytic reactions such as methane reforming and carbon dioxide hydrogenation. Outside of lab, he enjoys listening to music, eating delicious food, and traveling.
Musa Najimu
Graduate Researcher
Musa is a PhD student in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UCI. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria and his master’s degree from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia. He also has industrial, research and teaching experiences. Musa joined the Sasmaz group in the Fall of 2018. His research interest focuses on the deployment of machine learning for the accelerated discovery of catalysts/materials for diverse applications.
Can Wang
Graduate Researcher
Can Wang comes from China. Now she is a PhD student in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department at UCI. She’s been a member of Sasmaz’s group since 2020Spring. Her research focuses on three-way-catalyst (TWC) and synthesizes the solid solution via flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) method. She is a cat person.
Han Wang
Graduate Researcher
Han joined the Sasmaz group in Fall 2020. She is a Ph.D. student in the department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Her research includes reaction kinetic modelling and CO2 hydrogenation powered by induction heating on catalysts. She likes watching movies and hiking outside research.
Christopher A. Jhaveri
Undergraduate Researcher
From Los Angeles, Chris joined the Sasmaz group in the fall of 2019. He is currently a 4th year undergraduate student majoring in Chemical Engineering. Currently, his research focuses on CO2 hydrogenation to light olefins. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, binge watching Netflix, going camping, and fishing.
Jyeshna Rajan
Undergraduate Researcher
Jyeshna is a 4th year Chemical Engineering major specializing in Material Science and Engineering. She joined the Sasmaz research group in winter of 2019 under the research of graduate student Sunkyu Kim. Her research focuses on achieving dual temperatures in a bifunctional catalyst in order to increase selectivity of Olefins in the CO2 to Olefin process. She enjoys playing badminton, watching movies, hanging out with friends and reading when she gets the chance.
Rene Espinoza
Undergraduate Researcher
Rene is from Los Angeles and joined the Sasmaz group in the fall of 2020. He is currently a 3rd year Chemical Engineering major specializing in Biomolecular Engineering, and Energy and the Environment. Currently his research focuses on TPR modeling of a Cerium Oxide catalyst. Outside of lab, he enjoys playing baseball, listening to music, and cooking.
Vicki Baghdassarian
Undergraduate Researcher
Sung Ron Ko
Undergraduate Researcher
Past Research Members
- Ewa Richard Chukwu, Master of Science
- Nicole Cordonnier, Master of Science
- Brendon Kenn, Undergraduate Researcher