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David Simakov received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology working on the design of catalytic membrane reformers for integrated fuel cell systems. After spending two years in industry on research and developing of a new generation of fuel cells based on anion-exchange membranes, he moved back to academia. He first participated in a joint Technion-Princeton University project working on reaction-diffusion modelling of the biological pattern formation and then moved to Harvard University, where he studied the nonlinear phenomena in catalytic oscillatory chemical systems. Prior to joining the University of Waterloo as an Assistant Professor, Dr. Simakov conducted his postdoctoral training in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he worked on thermocatalysis and reactor design for solar thermal reforming. His main research expertise is synthesis of catalytic materials for heterogeneous catalysis applications, reactor design and system integration for thermocatalytic conversion applications. Currently, the main focus of Dr. Simakov’s research group is synthesis of thermocatalytic materials for transformation of CO2 into Renewable Synthetic Fuels and development of related sustainable processes. |
Read David’s Emerging Investigator article, ‘Autothermal CO2 Hydrogenation Reactor for Renewable Natural Gas Generation: Experimental Proof-of-Concept’, DOI: 10.1039/D2RE00236A and check out our interview
How do you feel about RCE as a place to publish research on this topic?
RCE was a perfect fit for publishing my work.
What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment and what do you find most challenging about your research?
The most exciting aspect of my work is the actual practical implementation of the CO2 utilization process via thermocatalytic conversion in a highly efficient way.
In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?
The economic viability of the thermocatalytic CO2 conversion process must be investigated in detail.
Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?
I would advise to be open-minded and to look for creative solutions.
You can follow David on LinkedIn to keep up to date with his research
