Energy use and energy transfer are central to all real processes and essential to life as we know it. Further, many engineered systems could be optimized, reconfigured or transformed. Understanding the in and outs of how to improve or innovate energy use will require systems or multidisciplinary perspectives. This theme of my research makes use of such perspectives to innovate new systems that make use of energy and make existing applications more efficient. One specific interest involves the utilization of renewable energy sources such as sunlight, biomass or other organic waste.

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Water in the hydrologic cycle undergoes many transformations and is in high demand in many geographic regions. As the universal solvent, water also has the proclivity to to harbor compounds that are beneficial or detrimental to life while also being a receptacle of many forms of waste and or pollution. The challenges to maintain appropriate qualities and manage water supplies will never end. Ever evolving policies will be required to help manage water use effectively. Natural systems and microbial based processes present means to more efficiently treat water while also providing for renewable fuels or chemicals.

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Craft industries have experienced renaissance not only in the United States but also in developing and rapidly growing areas of the world. Niche beverage industries employ biochemistry, chemistry and engineering trades to bring products to market. There are many interesting scientific questions and techniques to learn about and probe in brewing alone. Examples include the use of 'wild' strains, various barrel aging strategies, and numerous hop related topics from the ever expanding variety of hops, their various forms and interactions with other ingredients or changes during processing.

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Chemical engineering is grounded in manufacturing chemicals. However, information technology is one of many skills that serve as a basis for careers directly in chemicals industries, in focused subsets thereof, or in sectors outside of chemical production entirely. Recently, I've begun exploring data science applied to nano materials, am actively involved with app development and am interested in systems applications involving sport (e.g. soccer).

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At the crux of economics and long term benefits lay the challenges of incorporating social science with physical sciences applied to the future well being of human kind. Sustainability science applied narrowly fails to incorporate peripheral support systems and when applied too broadly is unwieldy (a challenge of addressing so called 'Wicked Challenges'). There are spaces in-between that with the use of policy and transformative technology aid in longer term benefits outside of traditional siloed perspectives.