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Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens
Room 231
Roberts Building, University College London
Torrington Place
London
WC1E 7JE
Appointment
- Ramsay Memorial Chair and Head of Department of Chemical Engineering
- Dept of Chemical Engineering
- Faculty of Engineering Science
Role
Head of Department
Biography
Born in Gent, Belgium
MSc in chemical engineering, summa cum laude, University of Gent, Belgium (1993).
PhD in chemical engineering, summa cum laude, University of Gent, Belgium (1996).
Visiting scholar Chemical Engineering Department and Department of Mathematics, Yale University, New Haven, USA (1996).
Visiting scholar Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory for Coal Conversion, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China (1996).
Postdoc in Chemical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, USA (1997 - 1998).
Lecturer University of California, Berkeley, USA (Spring 1998).
Assistant Professor (1998), Associate Professor (1999 - 2001), Full Professor in Chemical Reactor Engineering and Catalysis (Dec. 2001 - Feb. 2003), Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands.
Professor and Chair in Physical Chemistry & Molecular Thermodynamics, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands (March 2003 - August 2006).
Full Professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA (Aug. 2006 - 2012). Associate Director of Rensselaer's School of Engineering Multiscale Science and Engineering Center (MSEC) (Sep. 2009 - 2012).
Ramsay Memorial Professor and Head of Chemical Engineering, University College London (UCL), UK (Oct. 2012-). Founder and Director, EPSRC "Frontier Engineering" Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering (CNIE) (2013-). Qiushi Chair Professor of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China (2017-2020).
Research Groups
Research Themes
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See LessResearch Summary
Professor Coppens’s research centers on Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering (NICE), that is, to design and synthesize efficient chemical reaction processes, porous catalysts, and separation systems, guided by the fundamental mechanism underlying desirable properties, like scalability and robustness, in biological systems, from molecular to macroscopic scales. Applications are in the areas of resource efficiency (energy, water and materials), sustainable chemical production, and health.
Research in the Coppens NICE research group is discovery-led and society-oriented, combining theoretical analytical, computational and experimental components.
Marc-Olivier Coppens directs the EPSRC Frontier Engineering Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering at UCL, which applies this approach to engineering challenges related to sustainability and scalable manufacturing, in collaboration with colleagues from a broad variety of disciplines.
Teaching Summary
UCL, UK:
- Nature Inspired Chemical Engineering (NICE) course for MEng (4th year undergraduate) and MSc students in chemical engineering (2015-)
- Advising teams for 3rd year Process Design, UCL (2012-2014)
Rensselaer, USA:
• Rensselaer School of Engineering Education Innovation Award (April 2012)
• Senior capstone class on Chemical Process and Product Design at Rensselaer, Spring 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. Changed class from process- to product-oriented, involving aspects from engineering, policy, economics, etc. Project-based and communication intensive.
• Senior class on Chemical Reactor Design at Rensselaer, Fall 2009, 2010, 2011.
• Senior Undergraduate Laboratory on Heat Transfer at Rensselaer, 2007, 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2010, Spring 2012.
• Developed new Senior Undergraduate Laboratory on Chemical Reactor Engineering at Rensselaer, Spring 2012.
• Graduate class on Thermodynamics at Rensselaer, Fall 2008.
• Contribution to Class on Self-Organization in Science and Society (elective, Prof. R. Eglash), Spring 2010.
• Contribution to Freshman class on Introduction to Chemical Engineering, Fall 2008-2011
• Credited Elective on Fractals and Their Applications in Chemical Engineering, at Rensselaer (Fall 2007) for undergraduate and graduate students. Adapted from a course previously taught at U.C. Berkeley (Spring 1998; course ChE 296) and at T.U. Delft (1998-1999, 1999-2000, 2001-2002, 2003).
TU Delft, the Netherlands:
• Credited M.Sc. course on Advanced Materials at T.U. Delft, together with Prof. H. Zandbergen (2006, 2008).
• Freshman (1st year) course Introduction to Process Technology at T.U. Delft, 2001-2005 (the only orientation specific course for chemical technology for 1st year students). Also, in 2004 and 2005, for freshman students from Delft and Leiden in Sustainable Molecular Science & Technology, and Industrial Ecology MSc students. Awarded ++grade by students in 2005.
• Sophomore (2nd year) course Transport in Living Systems for Life Science & Technology students at T.U. Delft/U. Leiden (new course, together with Prof. L.A.M. van der Wielen, Kluyver Laboratory for Biotechnology, T.U. Delft), 2001-2004
• Credited M.Sc. course on Dynamics and Stability of Physico-Chemical Processes at T.U. Delft, together with Dr. G.J.M. Koper, Prof. S. Kjelstrup (2001, 2002)
• Credited M.Sc. course on Multiphase Reactors, St471 at T.U. Delft (partially), in 1999.
UC Berkeley, USA:
• Credited Elective on Fractals and Their Applications in Chemical Engineering, at U.C. Berkeley (Spring 1998; course ChE 296)
Ghent, Belgium:
• Heterogeneous catalysis and fractals course at Gent University, as part of a program for additional schooling for highschool teachers (1995).Appointments
| 2017 – 2020 | Qiushi Chair Professor | Zhejiang University, China | |
| 2012 | Ramsay Memorial Professor and Head | Chemical Engineering | UCL, United Kingdom |
| 2006 – 2012 | Professor | Chemical & Biological Engineering | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, United States |
| 2003 – 2006 | Chair of Physical Chemistry & Molecular Thermodynamics | Chemical Engineering | TU Delft, Netherlands |
| 2001 – 2003 | Professor (van Leeuwenhoek Chair) | Chemical Engineering | TU Delft, Netherlands |
| 1999 – 2001 | Associate Professor | Chemical Engineering | TU Delft, Netherlands |
| 1998 – 1999 | Assistant Professor | Chemical Engineering | TU Delft, Netherlands |
