REACT - Personnel

REACT Operations Director

Neil Schweitzer is a Research Assistant Professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering. He obtained his B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Toledo in 2004, then went on to receive his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan in 2010. He was co-advised by Levi Thompson and Suljo Linic. Next, Neil spent two years as a post-doc at Argonne National Lab working with Jeff Miller and Chris Marshall. He currently oversees instrumentation in the REACT reactor lab.  Contact   //   GOOGLE SCHOLAR PROFILE

REACT Core Scientist

Selim Alayoglu is REACT’s full-time Core Scientist. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey in 2003 and graduated with a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2009. He worked as a post-doc at the University of California, Berkeley until 2014, then as a scientist at the Berkeley Lab until 2017. He joined REACT in 2018 and oversees equipment in its spectroscopy lab.  Contact   //   GOOGLE SCHOLAR PROFILE

REACT Core Scientist

Nathan La Porte is REACT’s part-time Core Scientist. After a brief time spent in the pharmaceutical industry, he worked as a research at the University of Pennsylvania before moving to the University of Chicago to work with Michael Hopkins, receiving his PhD in 2015. He then moved to Northwestern University for a post-doc with Michael Wasielewski. In 2019, he was promoted to Research Assistant Professor. Nathan joined REACT in 2021, where he oversees the Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) equipment and assists with other projects involving thin-film deposition, electrochemistry, and photochemistry.  Contact   //   GOOGLE SCHOLAR PROFILE

REACT Faculty Director

Justin M. Notestein is Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Director of the Center for Catalysis and Surface Science at Northwestern. Professor Notestein meets regularly with the Operations Director to provide oversight, guidance, and direction to the core facility at REACT.

REACT Business Administrator

James Puricelli was hired as the Catalysis Center’s Business Administrator in August of 2011. He received his Master’s in Healthcare Administration from Washington University in Saint Louis in 1999 and has more than 24 year of experience in operations and research administration in various healthcare and academic institutions.

Northwestern Faculty Advisory Committee

• Prof. Tobin Marks – Chemistry
• Prof. Justin Notestein – Chemical and Biological Engineering
• Prof. Michael Bedzyk – Materials Science and Engineering