RESEARCH INTERESTS Catalytic conversion of alternative energy and chemical feedstocks, heterogeneous catalysis and kinetics, catalyst design, surface chemistry and characterization

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering @ From July 2014 to Present (1 year 2 months) Sr. R&D Engineer/Scientist - Adsorption & Gas Processing @ From October 2010 to June 2014 (3 years 9 months) Postdoctoral Researcher @ Planned and conducted kinetics experiments investigating reactions on solid acid zeolite catalysts that produce gasoline range hydrocarbons from methanol, dimethyl ether, and light hydrocarbons Conducted kinetics experiments using 13C-labeled molecules to elucidate mechanistic details of carbon-carbon bond formation reactions during the homologation of dimethyl ether to branched alkanes Managed and maintained gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer instrument From July 2008 to September 2010 (2 years 3 months) Research Assistant @ Planned and conducted kinetics experiments investigating reactions on supported bimetallic catalysts that produce H2, synthesis gas, transportation fuels, and functional molecules from biomass-derived carbohydrate feedstocks Conducted characterization experiments to elucidate bulk and surface features of catalytic materials Constructed microkinetic models to determine essential kinetic features of reaction systems From June 2003 to July 2008 (5 years 2 months) Undergraduate Research Assistant @ Planned and conducted kinetics experiments investigating combustion synthesis reactions of Mo-Si systems Performed scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction experiments to identify reaction products Investigated the effects of synthesis and purification processes on carbon nanotubes From January 2002 to May 2003 (1 year 5 months)

Ph.D, Chemical Engineering @ University of Wisconsin-Madison From 2003 to 2008 B.S, Chemical Engineering @ University of Notre Dame From 1999 to 2003 Dante Simonetti is skilled in: Heterogeneous Catalysis, Catalysis, Chemical Engineering, Characterization, Kinetics, Process Modeling, Trace contaminant..., surface science, Experimentation, Surface Chemistry