Swihart named fellow of American Institute of Chemical Engineers

BUFFALO, N.Y. — University at Buffalo chemical engineer Mark T. Swihart has been elected a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

Fellow is AIChE's highest grade of membership. Recipients are chosen by election by the AIChE Board of Directors. Election as an AIChE fellow recognizes outstanding “service to the profession” and “significant professional accomplishment.”

Swihart, PhD, UB Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Empire Innovation Professor in the RENEW Institute, has been recognized for:

• Modeling and experimentation to develop fundamental understanding of particle nucleation and growth.
• Development of new post-processing steps to treat nanomaterials in order to make them into highly effective functional materials.
• Application of these materials to develop new light-harvesting technologies, as well as new bioimaging capabilities. Several of these advances have led to commercialization and startup companies. 

Founded in 1908, AIChE is the world's leading organization for chemical engineering professionals, with more than 50,000 members from over 100 countries. AIChE will present Swihart with a fellows plaque and pin at its annual meeting in November in Florida.

An acclaimed researcher, teacher and collaborator, Swihart is co-holder of five U.S. patents and four pending applications, co-author of more than 240 research publications, and has given more than 60 invited lectures worldwide.

His research focuses on the creation of new nanomaterials with applications in: optoelectronics, such as light-emitting diodes and solar cells; biomedical imaging and therapy; and diverse energy-related applications. The work has been funded primarily by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and industry.

He has received numerous awards recognizing his research, including being named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2015; the 2013 Jacob F. Schoellkopf Medal, given annually by the Western New York section of the American Chemical Society; the J.B. Wagner Young Investigator Award from the High Temperature Materials Division of the Electrochemical Society; and the Kenneth Whitby Award from the American Association for Aerosol Research.

Since joining UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences as a faculty member in 1998, Swihart has served as research adviser to more than 70 graduate students and more than 110 undergraduate researchers.

He has been selected four times as “Professor of the Year” by undergraduates in his department and has been honored by the McNair Scholars program and the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation. In 2015, he received The President Emeritus and Mrs. Meyerson Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring at UB.

Swihart has served in various leadership roles at UB, including executive director of the New York State Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics from 2015-18, and director of the UB 2020 Strategic Strength in Integrated Nanostructured Systems from 2007-15, where he guided the university’s diverse nanoscience and nanotechnology research.

Swihart was raised in rural Indiana, near Goshen. He earned a bachelor’s of science degree in chemical engineering from Rice University in 1992, and a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1997.