Fikile Brushett

Fikile Brushett is a tenured Professor and the Chevron Chair of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he has been a faculty member since 2012. He leads a research group focused on advancing electrochemical technologies for a sustainable global economy. His academic journey began at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his B.S.E. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in 2006, followed by M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2009 and 2010, respectively. After completing a Director's Postdoctoral Fellowship at Argonne National Laboratory (2010-2012), he joined MIT as an assistant professor, receiving promotions to associate professor without tenure in 2018, associate professor with tenure in 2020, and full professor in 2024.

Brushett's research focuses on understanding and controlling fundamental processes that govern the performance, cost, and lifetime of electrochemical systems for energy storage and conversion. His work integrates synthesis and characterization of redox-active materials, design and engineering of electrochemical reactors, and techno-economic modeling of electrochemical systems. He emphasizes connecting system-level performance and cost goals to materials-level property requirements, with particular interest in sustainable power delivery, environmental stewardship, and process intensification.

His extensive publication record, including over 130 peer-reviewed articles, demonstrates a strong focus on redox flow batteries, carbon capture technologies, and sustainable energy storage solutions. Recent work shows increasing emphasis on physics-informed modeling frameworks, experimental reproducibility in flow battery testing, and novel applications of electrochemical principles to environmental challenges like ammonia recovery from wastewater.

Scientific Awards

• Appointed as the Chevron Chair of Chemical Engineering (2024)
• Young Alumni Achievement Award, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2024)
• Allan P. Colburn Award for Excellence in Publications, AIChE (2022)
• Charles W. Tobias Young Investigator Award, Electrochemical Society (2022)
• Lloyd N. Ferguson Young Investigator Award, NOBCChE (2020)
• Energy Technology Division Supramaniam Srinivasan Young Investigator Award, ECS (2018)
• Chemical and Engineering News Talented 12 Chemist (2017)

Brushett has delivered over 130 invited national and international lectures and has served in multiple leadership roles within the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR) from 2013-2023. His research group continues to push boundaries in electrochemical energy storage and conversion technologies, with recent work expanding into carbon capture applications and sustainable resource recovery systems.