Bala Subramaniam

Bala Subramaniam is the Dan F. Servey Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Kansas (KU) and Director of the Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis (CEBC), initiated in 2003 as a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center (NSF-ERC).  Subramaniam earned a B. Tech. degree from the University of Madras (A. C. College of Technology), India, and his Master’s/Ph. D. degrees from the University of Notre Dame (working under the late Professor Arvind Varma), all in chemical engineering. He has been at KU since 1985. He has held visiting professorships at the University of Nottingham (United Kingdom), Institute of Process Engineering, ETH, Zürich (Switzerland), University of California, Davis and at his alma mater. Subramaniam has also served as the chair of KU Chemical and Petroleum Engineering (C&PE) department. He also holds a courtesy professor appointment in the KU Department of Chemistry.

Subramaniam’s primary research interests are in catalysis and reactor engineering with emphasis on developing sustainable processes for fuels and chemicals from both traditional and renewable feedstocks. His research focuses simultaneously on all aspects of a catalytic process (novel catalytic materials, solvents with unique tunability of physical and transport properties, multifunctional reactors, and sustainability assessment), exploiting the synergies among these elements to develop alternative process concepts. He has authored 280+ publications, one textbook and 36 issued patents, edited two books, presented ~200 invited talks at universities, companies, and conferences. As principal/co-principal investigator, he has developed ~$56 M in research funding from federal, state and industry sources. Subramaniam has directed the research of 85 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, with many of them enjoying successful careers in industry and academia.

Subramaniam is the founding director of CEBC, whose mission is to develop novel, leading-edge technologies that bring about sustainable transformations in the chemical end energy industries. The CEBC has attracted nearly $75 million in support from federal, industry and state sources. In partnership with member companies (that have included ADM, BASF Catalysts, BP, ConocoPhillips, Chevron Phillips, DuPont, Eastman Chemicals, Evonik, ExxonMobil, Invista, Johnson Matthey, Procter&Gamble, Novozymes, SABIC, SI Group, UOP & Zeachem), the CEBC is developing and providing licensing opportunities for sustainable technologies related to fuels and chemicals.  An example is CEBC’s CO2-free ethylene oxide technology that was recognized by an ACS George W. Hancock Green Chemistry Award.  Subramaniam is also a co-founder of CritiTech, Inc., a pharmaceutical company commercializing the production and application of fine-particle compounds.

As Chair of KU C&PE Department, Subramaniam led the implementation of a strategic plan with major outcomes such as establishing the first NSF ERC in Kansas, addition of several faculty lines for interdisciplinary initiatives in catalysis and bioengineering, and the mentoring of several award-winning faculty in teaching and research. These successes transformed the department to attract outstanding faculty and student talent from around the world. Between 2003 and 2015, Subramaniam chaired search committees that recruited nine C&PE faculty members.

Subramaniam serves as Executive Editor of ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering. He has served on the editorial boards of several journals including Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, Chemical & Engineering Technology and Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research. He has served on several national and regional technical panels including the National Academies’ Chemical Study Committee, NSF/EPA panels on environmentally benign processing, the Midwest Biomass Research & Development Roadmap, and Schmidt Futures’ Feedstocks of the Future for a Circular U.S. Bioeconomy. He has also been on the scientific and organizing committees of several international symposia in catalysis and reaction engineering, co-chairing the 18th International Symposium on Chemical Reaction Engineering (ISCRE-18, Chicago, 2004), the 2nd North American Symposium on Chemical Reaction Engineering (NASCRE-2, Houston, 2007), the 2nd and 3rd Joint India-U.S. Chemical Engineering Conference on Energy and Sustainability (Chandigarh, 2008; Mumbai, 2013) and the 2018 Gordon Research Conference on Green Chemistry (Castelldefels, Spain). Subramaniam served as the President of ISCRE, Inc. and the Great Plains Catalysis Society as well as on the Board of Directors of the Organic Reactions Catalysis Society (ORCS), the ACS Green Chemistry Institute Advisory Committee and Dow’s Technical Advisory Board.

Subramaniam has received several awards and honors including the American Chemical Society (ACS) Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Fellows Award; Dow Outstanding Young Faculty Award from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE); a “Distinguished Catalyst Researcher” lectureship from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; “Chemcon Distinguished Speaker Award” from the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers; and several from KU as follows: Henry Gould Award for Excellence in Engineering Education, Silver Anniversary Teaching Award, Miller Award for Research, Miller Award or Professional Service and a Higuchi Research Achievement Award, the highest research recognition in the State of Kansas. Subramaniam is a Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS), American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).