Robert Kee

Robert Kee holds the George R. Brown Distinguished Professor chair in Mechanical Engineering at Colorado School of Mines. His research focuses on chemically reacting flow modeling and simulation for clean energy applications, including fuel cells, photovoltaics, combustion, and electrochemistry. He is renowned as the principal architect of the CHEMKIN software, a leading global tool for chemically reacting flow simulation.

• Developed computational methods for stiff differential equations and chemical kinetics
• Work spans solid-oxide fuel cells, advanced combustion, and catalytic processes
• Current efforts address electro-chemo-mechanical coupling in batteries and hydrogen production

Scientific Contributions: Recent publications emphasize Li-ion battery optimization, protonic ceramic electrochemical cells, and hydrogen production technologies. His work integrates thermodynamics, transport phenomena, and chemical kinetics across multiple energy domains.

Research Trends: Focus areas include multi-physics battery modeling, solid-state electrolysis, ammonia synthesis, and catalytic hydrocarbon processing. Methodologies combine computational modeling, experimental validation, and materials optimization.

Awards:

• George R. Brown Distinguished Professor

Software Development: Creator of CHEMKIN, a foundational tool for reacting flow simulations. His NSF-funded work demonstrates ongoing contributions to computational thermochemistry and energy systems.