Our People

B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Rochester. Undergraduate research at Cornell and Brookhaven National Lab sparked his interest in AI-driven catalyst design. Focuses on NLP-based catalyst discovery for CO₂ valorization. Co-author on 2025 Langmuir paper.

B.S. (Honors) in Chemical and Process Engineering and M.S. in Sustainable Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa. Prior industrial experience includes polymer product and process design, wastewater and effluent treatment, and enterprise resource planning (ERP). Joined the UR in 2022. His research focuses on catalyst design for the conversion of C₁–C₂ species to value-added products and reaction mechanisms, and in situ thermal profiling of catalysts.

Devansh Pathak is from Nashik, Maharashtra, India. He completed his Integrated Master’s in Chemical Engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai – Marathwada Campus, Jalna in 2025. He joined the Department of Chemical and Sustainability Engineering at the University of Rochester in Fall 2025 as a PhD student. Devansh’s research focuses on process electrification for catalyst synthesis using Joule heating reactors. Specifically, he works on developing methods to synthesize tungsten carbide (W2C) phases on carbon fiber paper (CFP) through rapid resistive heating. This work aims to enable energy-efficient synthesis of catalytically active carbide materials, particularly the β-W2C phase, which shows promise for CO2 conversion and other energy-related catalytic applications. Outside of research, Devansh enjoys watching sports, reading, playing video games, and going for walks.