Process Systems, Reaction Engineering, and Molecular Thermodynamics

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is seeking proposals for the Process Systems, Reaction Engineering, and Molecular Thermodynamics program. The goal of this program is to advance fundamental engineering research on chemical reactions, systems engineering, and molecular thermodynamics. The program supports the development of advanced optimization and control algorithms for chemical processes, molecular and multi-scale modeling of complex chemical systems, and the integration of these methods into the design of novel chemical products and manufacturing processes. • Chemical reaction engineering: development of novel reactor designs and studies of reactions in supercritical fluids • Process design, optimization, and control: development of process modeling, design, control, and optimization theory and algorithms • Reactive polymer processing: research that integrates synthesis and processing to engineer specific nanoscale structures and compositions • Molecular thermodynamics: fundamental research that combines principles of classical thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and atomistic-scale simulations to improve chemical processing and facilitate synthesis of novel functional materials