Field of Research:
Technical Chemistry
In Germany:
01.08.2021 -
Host's project description
A specialist in heterogeneous catalysts, the chemist Ive Hermans conducts research into developing sustainable technologies for manufacturing important chemical building blocks. The aim is to use alternative carbon sources to halt dependency on fossil raw materials.
Technical chemistry
Catalysis can be described as a key technology in the chemical industry: more than half of all chemical processes are based on catalytic processes whilst most products in the chemical industry derive from them. In the case of heterogeneous catalysis, which is Ive Hermans’ speciality, the catalyst and the reactive substances are present in differing phases such as a solid and a gas. In looking ahead to a circular economy – abandoning today’s throwaway society – and moving from fossil to renewable resources heterogeneous catalysts play an important role.
Ive Hermans is known for his work on the selective oxidation of hydrocarbons and biomass as well as for his ability to identify industrially relevant problems for research. He focuses on developing sustainable technologies for producing important chemical building blocks that are used in many branches of industry such as pharmacy, manufacturing and agriculture.
At “The Fuel Science Center” cluster of excellence at RWTH Aachen University, ways are being sought to convert renewable energy into alternative fuels, bio-hybrid fuels, using biomass-based raw materials and CO2. As a Humboldt Professor, Hermans will bridge an existing gap: he combines fundamental catalysis with practical applications and will intensify interaction between chemists and chemical engineers in order to create a solid foundation for the chemistry of the future. His specialist knowledge on hydrocarbon upgrading will help to successfully implement new initiatives on plastic recycling.
Ive Hermans has been selected for the Humboldt Professorship and will now embark on appointment negotiations with the German university that nominated him. If the negotiations succeed, the award will be conferred in 2021.
Professor Dr Ive Hermans was born in Belgium. He holds a professorship in the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States. He completed his doctorate at KU Leuven, Belgium, in 2006, became a postdoc and then an assistant professor for heterogeneous catalysis at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, in 2008. Hermans transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States, as an associate professor in 2014 and assumed the John and Dorothy Vozza Professorship in 2017. He is a member, amongst others, of the American Chemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry as well as numerous advisory boards. His work has earned him many awards, most recently the American Chemical Society’s 2019 Ipatieff Prize for outstanding experimental work in the field of catalysis or high-pressure chemistry by researchers under 40.
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University of Wisconsin-Madison
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