Thomas
M. Truskett, PhD
Associate Professor and Paul D. & Betty Robertson Meek Centennial Fellow
| Office: |
CPE 5.454 |
Mailing Address: |
| Phone: |
(512) 471-6308 |
The University of Texas at Austin |
| Fax: |
(512) 471-7060 |
Department of Chemical Engineering |
| Email: |
truskett@che.utexas.edu |
1 University Station C0400 |
| UT Mail: |
C0400 |
Austin, TX 78712-0231 |
Research Group Site
Presentation Made to Prospective Graduate Students 2008
Educational
Qualifications:
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Princeton University (2001)
M.A., Chemical Engineering, Princeton University (1998)
B.S., Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin
(1996)
NIH Postdoctoral
Scholar, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry,
University of California, San Francisco (2001-2002)
Affiliations
Institute
for Theoretical Chemistry (ITC)
Texas
Materials Institute (TMI)
Center
for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (CCBB)
Center
for Nano- and Molecular Science and Technology
Honors/Awards
Named Lectureships
Hendrick C. Van Ness Award Lectures, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2007)
Major Research Awards
Allan P. Colburn Award, American Institute of Chemical Engineers (2007)
Sloan Research Fellowship, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (2006)
Packard Fellowship, David and Lucile Packard Foundation (2004)
National Awards for Research and Eduaction
NSF CAREER Award, National Science Foundation (2005)
NIH National Research Service Award, National Institutes of Health (2001)
NSF Graduate Fellowship, National Science Foundation (1996)
Teaching Awards and University Recognition
Paul D. & Betty Robertson Meek Centennial Fellowship, The University of Texas at Austin (2006)
William H. Tonn Professorial Fellowship, The University of Texas at Austin (2005)
College of Engineering Award for Outstanding Engineering Teaching by an Assistant Professor, The University of Texas at Austin (2005)
Teaching Excellence Award, Student Engineering Council, The University of Texas at Austin (2004)
Other Honors
Invited Participant, German-American Frontiers of Science Symposium, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and U.S. National Academy of Sciences (2006)
Invited Participant in the U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, National Academy of Engineering (2005)
Kristine M. Layn Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research, Princeton University (1999)
William R. Schowalter Award, Princeton University (1999)
Dean's Travel Award, Princeton University (1999)
Research:
In
broad terms, our research focuses on understanding the structural,
thermodynamic, and kinetic properties of soft condensed-phase
systems, which include, for example, molecular fluids, liquid
crystals, colloidal suspensions, protein solutions, and
glasses. The interparticle forces operating in these material
systems are specific to each substance, and give rise to
a wide variety of stable and metastable phases, each with
distinctive physical properties. To complicate matters,
many real-world samples contain contaminants and/or are
confined to restricted geometries (e.g., in zeolites, clays,
or vesicles), both of which can dramatically affect their
engineering or biological functionality.
Our
basic challenge as chemical engineers is to develop logical
and quantitative means for modeling this important class
of systems from a knowledge of the relevant micro- or mesoscopic
interactions. In my research group, we are actively addressing
this challenge with a number of tools including both analytic
statistical mechanical approaches and molecular simulations.
Current
areas of focus include:
• The physical chemistry
of solid-liquid interfaces and the behavior of nano-confined
materials.
• Protein-protein and protein-surface
interactions.
• Equilibrium and non-equilibrium
behavior of complex fluids
• Statistical geometry
of granular packings and disordered media
Selected Publications are available from Dr. Truskett's Research Group Site.
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