Phillip R. Westmoreland

Phillip R. Westmoreland is a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University, with affiliations as Honorary Professor at Nanjing University of Technology and Professeur invité at Université de Lorraine. He holds a B.S. from NC State, an M.S. from Louisiana State University, and a Ph.D. from MIT. His research focuses on molecular modeling, pyrolysis, combustion chemistry, biomass conversion, and data science. He has pioneered methods for polymer pyrolysis modeling and PFAS remediation through computational and experimental approaches.

Education:

• B.S., Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University (1973)
• M.S., Chemical Engineering, Louisiana State University (1975)
• Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1986)

Research Interests: His work integrates computational quantum chemistry, reactive flow modeling, and experimental techniques to explore reaction mechanisms at molecular scales. Key areas include chemical looping, biomass-to-chemicals conversion, and PFAS destruction. He emphasizes bridging fundamental science and industrial applications.

Awards:

• 2023 AIChE Van Antwerpen Award
• 2019 NC State Alumni Association Outstanding Research Award
• 2018 Fellow of the Combustion Institute
• 2005 Fellow of AIChE
• Recipient of the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award (1990)

Leadership & Service: Served as 2013 AIChE President, NSF Director’s Award recipient (2009), and founding Chair of AIChE’s Computational Molecular Science Forum. Active in CACHE Corporation and the Combustion Institute.

Labs/Teams: Leads a research group focused on molecular-level reaction engineering, with expertise in reactive molecular dynamics and computational chemistry. Collaborates globally on projects involving biomass conversion and environmental remediation.