Andrew A. Peterson

Andrew A. Peterson is an Associate Professor of Engineering at Brown University, focusing on heterogeneous catalyst design for fuels and energy applications. He integrates electronic structure theory with experimental approaches to advance catalytic processes.

Education:

• PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2009)
• MS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2006)
• BS, University of Minnesota (1999)

His research interests include electrochemical CO2 reduction, strain effects in catalysis, amorphous materials, and computational methods for catalyst optimization. He explores scaling relations in adsorption energies and their exceptions to design better catalysts.

His recent publications (2014–2018) address:

• Proton discharge mechanisms on metal surfaces
• Strain-induced breaking of scaling relations
• Hydrogen evolution on molybdenum sulfide
• CO2-to-CO conversion over gold nanowires
• Competitive reaction pathways in transition metals
• Solar-driven fuel production from metal oxides

Professor Peterson teaches courses such as:

• ENGN 0150: Principles of Chemical and Molecular Engineering
• ENGN 1130: Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics
• ENGN 2770: Atomistic Reaction Engineering

He leads the Catalyst Design Lab at Brown, emphasizing atomistic-level catalyst design and electrochemical process optimization for sustainable energy solutions.