IIT Names Leon Shaw as First Rowe Endowed Chair in Sustainable Energy
Illinois Institute of Technology’s Armour College of Engineering is pleased to announce that Leon Shaw will join the university as the Rowe Family Endowed Chair in Sustainable Energy and Professor of Materials Engineering, effective August 1, 2012.
Shaw joins IIT from the University of Connecticut where he has been a member of the engineering faculty since 1995 and is currently a professor in the Department of Chemical, Materials & Biomolecular Engineering and head of NMR facilities of Biotechnology & Bioservices Center. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. in materials science and engineering (‘92) from the University of Florida, and his M.Eng. in mechanical engineering (’87) and B.S. in materials engineering (‘80) from Fuzhou University, China.
Shaw brings with him a robust multidisciplinary portfolio of research projects and experience in sustainable energy. An accomplished educator, he is also an active recruiter and mentor of exceptional graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. He has a strong record of funding that includes industrial, foundation, and federal agencies along with clear success as a research collaborator and project leader.
Shaw is a leading researcher with worldwide recognition in nanomaterials synthesis and processing for structural and energy applications. In energy, his research interests focus on energy storage and conservation, ranging from hydrogen storage materials to supercapacitors, sodium-ion batteries, and solid oxide fuel cells. His research in nanomaterials has attracted worldwide attention and been featured in many magazines, including High Tech Ceramics News, Small Times Magazine, Chemical Engineering, Ceramic Industry, The Hydrogen Journal, Battelle Newsletter, and NSF Highlights. He has authored or co-authored more than 240 publications on nanomaterials for structural and energy applications, including three edited books, seven book chapters and 155 archival refereed journal articles.
Shaw’s enthusiasm for student education, mentorship and his passion for bringing innovative approaches to complex research challenges are an exciting addition to IIT Armour College of Engineering. His experience and leadership make him well positioned to bridge IIT research efforts with faculty in three of the five engineering departments at Armour College, as well as with IIT’s chemistry and physics departments.
Shaw is a fellow of ASM International and the World Academy of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering. He was also elected to the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering in 2006.
He serves on the editorial board and as guest editor for seven journals in multidisciplinary engineering fields and is widely published in science and engineering fields relating to materials, metallurgy, and sustainable energy.
“Please join me in welcoming Professor Shaw to MMAE, Armour College and IIT,” adds Carol and Ed Kaplan Armour Dean of Engineering Natacha DePaola. “I would also like to thank the members of the search committee for their efforts and commitment to a thorough, efficient, and successful process.”
Committee Chair Hamid Arastoopour, Director of the Wagner Institute for Sustainability and Energy Research (WISER) and Professor of Chemical Engineering
Mahesh Krishnamurthy, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering
Candace Wark, Professor or Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Paul Anderson, Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering
Special thanks to the external search committee advisor Dr. Al Sattelberger, Associate Director of Argonne.
Rowe Family Endowed Chair
The Rowe Family Endowed Chair in Sustainable Energy was established to support a professor who has a record of distinguished research and educational achievements in areas related to energy and sustainability. The endowed chair professor will have a unique opportunity to work with more than 50 IIT faculty members affiliated with the Wanger Institute for Sustainable Energy Research (WISER) from all disciplines across the university including engineering, design, architecture, business, psychology, the sciences, and law.
About IIT
Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting university with more than 7,700 students in engineering, sciences, architecture, psychology, design, humanities, business and law. IIT's interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum is designed to advance knowledge through research and scholarship, to cultivate invention improving the human condition, and to prepare students from throughout the world for a life of professional achievement, service to society, and individual fulfillment. Visit www.iit.edu.
