Mark A. Stadtherr

Mark A. Stadtherr
Keating-Crawford Professor Emeritus

Professor Stadtherr received his BChE from the University of Minnesota in 1972 and his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin in 1976. He taught at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) from 1976 to 1995 and joined the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering faculty at the University of Notre Dame in 1996. Dr. Stadtherr holds a 1982 Xerox Award for Engineering Research. He gave the GTE Emerging Scholar Lecture at the University of Notre Dame in 1986 and has lectured internationally on the use of interval mathematics in chemical engineering.  He is the winner of the 1998 Computing in Chemical Engineering Award, presented by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). In 2008, he received the James A. Burns, C.S.C., Graduate School Award from the University of Notre Dame for exemplary contributions to graduate education. Dr. Stadtherr is also very active in the AIChE, serving in a number of significant leadership roles, including Chair of the Computer and Systems Technology (CAST) Division (2002-2003), Chair of the Publications Committee (2007-2010), and Chair of the Chemical Technology Operating Council (CTOC) (2014). He is a Fellow of the AIChE. Currently Professor Stadtherr is serving as a Research Professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was honored with a 2020 Cockrell Family Dean's Chair in Engineering Excellence.

Research Interests

Our current research focuses on the formulation and solution of modeling and optimization problems that arise in the development of sustainable, energy-efficient and environmentally-conscious processing technology.

One active interest is the use of room-temperature ionic liquids (ILs) as environmentally-benign replacements for traditional organic solvents, with applications in aromatic/aliphatic separations and in CO2 capture. This involves work at scales ranging from the molecular to the process and potentially to the ecosystem levels, and using techniques from computational chemistry, machine learning, molecular thermodynamics, transport phenomena, process engineering, and ecological dynamics.

Another active interest is the assessment of new technology for exploiting light alkane resources, specifically natural gas liquids (NGLs), that are increasingly available due to shale gas production. In this work, we seek to evaluate technology not on a standalone basis, but as part of the hydrocarbon ecosystem, an interconnected network of technologies that transforms primary raw materials (oil, natural gas, NGLs) into final end products (chemicals and fuels). This involves the use of industry network models, and the formulation and solution of mathematical programming problems. This work is conducted as part of the National Science Foundation Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources (CISTAR).

A further area of interest is the development and application of strategies for reliable engineering computing. In dealing with nonlinear models of complex phenomena, the reliability with which computations can be done is often an important issue. For example, if there are multiple solutions to the model, have all been located? If there are multiple local optima, has the global optimum been found? If there are uncertain parameters and/or initial conditions in a dynamic model, have the effects of these uncertainties been rigorously quantified. We use interval mathematics to develop the tools needed to resolve these issues with mathematical and computational certainty, thus providing problem-solving reliability not available when using standard methods.

Recent Publications -- Find here a list of recent publications.  Also find here links to abstracts and preprints of selected recent publications.


 

E-Mail: markst (at) nd.edu

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