Nick Brunelli

Nick Brunelli is a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at The Ohio State University, holding the Ervin G. Bailey Chair in Energy Conversion. He specializes in catalytic material design, focusing on structure-function relationships in heterogeneous catalytic systems. His work integrates organic and inorganic synthesis methods to create uniform catalytic sites for enhanced reactivity and selectivity.

Education: B.S. from The Ohio State University (2004), Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology (2010) as a NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Postdoctoral training included Georgia Tech (2010-2013) and Emory University (Center for C-H Functionalization).

Research emphasizes advanced spectroscopic techniques (NMR, XAS) to study synthesis-structure-reactivity relationships. His group aims to improve catalyst design for sustainable chemical production from petroleum and biomass.

• Awards: NSF Career Award (2017), Robert Augustine Award (2019), multiple Emerging Investigator recognitions (2018-2021).
• Labs/Teams: Catalytic Material Design Group (CMDG).