Richard West is a Professor and Associate Chair for Research in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University's College of Engineering. He joined the department in Fall 2011 and has established himself as a leading researcher in computational chemical engineering, with a focus on microkinetic modeling and reaction mechanism generation. Education: B.A., M.Eng. (Chemical Engineering), University of Cambridge, 2004 Ph.D. (Chemical Engineering), University of Cambridge, 2009 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2008-2011 Professor West's research primarily focuses on the development of detailed microkinetic models for complex reacting systems. His approach involves automating the discovery of reaction pathways and the calculation of key parameters using ab initio quantum chemistry calculations. This work spans applications in combustion, heterogeneous catalysis, electrochemical synthesis, and bio-fuel processing. His research group has developed computational tools that link microkinetic models to multi-scale reactor system models, enabling comprehensive process understanding and optimization. The ultimate goal of this research is to contribute to catalyst design and discovery through predictive modeling, with particular emphasis on creating computational frameworks that can accelerate innovation in catalytic processes. His recent publications demonstrate a strong trend toward automation and integration of computational methods in chemical kinetics. West's work increasingly combines machine learning approaches with traditional quantum chemistry calculations to accelerate reaction pathway discovery and parameter estimation. There's a clear progression from fundamental microkinetic modeling toward integrated systems that connect molecular-scale phenomena with reactor-scale performance, reflecting his vision of creating end-to-end computational frameworks for catalytic process design. Scientific Awards: 2025 Outstanding Faculty Service Award 2021 College of Engineering Faculty Fellow 2018 NSF CAREER Award 2017 Dick Sioui Teaching Award in Chemical Engineering 2014 American Chemical Society Doctoral New Investigator Award Professor West has secured significant research funding as Principal Investigator on multiple major grants, including an NSF CAREER award for predictive kinetic modeling of halogenated hydrocarbon combustion, an ARPA-E grant for accelerating electrocatalyst innovation, and collaborative NSF funding for autonomous systems in combustion kinetics research. He has also served as Co-Investigator on Department of Energy projects focused on exascale computing tools for chemical systems. His work on the Reaction Mechanism Generator (RMG) software has been particularly influential in the field, with Version 3.0 representing a major advancement in automatic mechanism generation capabilities. West leads the Computational Modeling Lab at Northeastern University, which focuses on developing computational tools for chemical kinetics and reaction engineering. His lab collaborates extensively with experimental groups to validate and refine computational models, creating a strong feedback loop between theory and experiment. The lab is particularly known for its work on the Reaction Mechanism Generator (RMG) software platform, which has become a widely used tool in the chemical kinetics community, and their recent work on integrating machine learning with traditional computational approaches to accelerate catalyst discovery.
