April 19, 2024
We had a great time hosting Dr. Ryan Lively from Georgia Tech for MIT ChemE’s student-invited seminar, “Membrane Technologies are Key Enablers of the Energy Transition”. Afterward, we enjoyed a lab group dinner in Kendall Square!
April 4, 2024
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November 27, 2023
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March 17, 2023
December 11, 2022
November 18, 2022
November 18, 2022
Congratulations to Duha for winning 3rd place in the AIChE Poster Competition (Separations II Division)! Duha has contributed tremendously to the development of the poly(arylene) ether platform for membrane-based gas separations in our lab!
September 20, 2022
Check out our latest paper in Advanced Functional Materials on ‘Network-Nanostructured ZIF-8 to Enable Percolation for Enhanced Gas Transport‘. Congratulations to Hyunhee, Moonjoo, Fatima, Kat and Stephen!
May 25, 2022
It is commencement week at MIT and we want to congratulate Dr Katherine Mizrahi Rodriguez for receiving the 2022 Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis Award!
May 23, 2022
Congratulations to Pablo and Wanny on receiving the Dow Travel Award for Professional Development!
May 19, 2022
The Smith Lab, Kat, TJ and Hyunhee were at NAMS 2022! TJ won 3rd place in the Applications Session for his poster on “Effect of Free Volume Modification on the Physical Aging Behavior of Amine-Functionalized PIM-1 Membranes for Gas Separation”! Congratulations!
May 13, 2022
Naksha has been awarded the ‘2022 Outstanding UROP Student Award’ by MIT School of Engineering on the basis of her outstanding contribution to research. She also won is the Phyllis A. Brauner Memorial Award at the Northeast Student Chemistry Conference (NSCRC), which is awarded to the to the student who gives the best talk or poster as judged by the Education Chair of the Northeast Section of the American Chemical Society (NESACS) and a committee of the Conference judges. Congratulations Naksha!
May 11, 2022
Congratulations Kat on winning a Silver Graduate Student Award at the MRS Spring Meeting!
April 4, 2022
Congratulations to Pablo on receiving the NSF GRFP Award for 2022. Well deserved!
March 25, 2022
MIT News covered our latest research! Check out the news article ‘A better way to separate gases’ and our research paper in Science Magazine!
March 24, 2022
Check out our latest paper in Science Magazine on ‘Hydrocarbon ladder polymers with ultrahigh permselectivity for membrane gas separations’ in collaboration with Xia Lab and Pinnau Lab. Also here is a perspective from Peter M Budd on our latest research.
March 8, 2022
Congratulations to Katherine Mizrahi for being selected as a Graduate Student Award Finalist for the 2022 MRS Spring Meeting! We wish her all the best for her presentation on ‘Sorption and Permeation of H2S, CO2, CH4, and N2 in Amine-functionalized Microporous Polymers.’
February 9, 2022
Congratulations to Prof. Smith for his upcoming promotion to Associate Professor (effective in July)! At MIT, this promotion is part of a two-step process on the way to tenure.
February 7, 2022
Congratulations Hyunhee on being awarded the Elias Klein Travel Award, named in honor of one of NAMS’ founding members!
February 7, 2022
Congratulations Katherine for the NAMS Student Fellowship Award! Catch her presenting her research at a special NAMS Award Session.
February 7, 2022
Congratulations Francesco on being awarded an Honorable Mention for the Young Membrane Scientist Award! Look out for the article about his research and commercialization efforts in the North American Membrane Society’s Newsletter (Membrane Quarterly).
January 27, 2022
Congratulations Pablo on passing his written and oral qualifier! He is now a PhD candidate in the Chemical Engineering Department!
January 14, 2022
Congratulations to Katherine for successfully defending her PhD! It is an extraordinary milestone for her! We are excited to see what’s next for you, Dr. Mizrahi Rodriguez!
January 11, 2022
We are thrilled to announce that Naksha was awarded the Mohr Scholarship for her IAP research work in the Smith Lab! Congratulations Naksha!
December 14, 2021
Congratulations Jing Ying on passing her written and oral qualifier! She is now a PhD candidate in the Chemical Engineering Department!
November 18, 2021
Katherine’s paper has been selected for the 2022 Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research Symposium at the San Diego ACS meeting! We are so excited for you, Kat! Check out more about the symposium here!
November 18, 2021
Congratulations to Kayla for winning an outstanding poster presentation award at the WIC+/CADI Poster Symposium! Your poster looks really great!
November 8, 2021
We are happy to share that Naksha won the First Place Award in the Separations I Section of the 2021 AIChE Conference (#ASC21)! Congratulations Naksha!
October 13, 2021
Check out our latest publication on Sorption-enhanced mixed-gas transport in amine functionalized polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs)! Congratulations to Katherine, Francesco, Naksha and Albert for their amazing work!
October 5, 2021
Congratulations to Naksha and Sherrie for receiving the travel award to attend the 263rd ACS National Meeting & Exposition in San Diego! They will share their research work at the Undergraduate Research Poster Session in the Division of Chemical Education. Click here to find out more about the ACS Spring 2022 meeting!
September 2, 2021
Our work on low-temperature H2S/CO2/CH4 separation in mixed-matrix membranes containing MFU-4 has been published in ACS Chemistry of Materials. The article can be found at this link. Congratulations Qihui and Hyunhee!
August 9, 2021
Congratulations to Sharon for successfully defending her PhD! It is a huge accomplishment and an extraordinary milestone for her! We are excited to see what’s next for you, Dr. Lin!
August 8, 2021
We want to congratulate Kayla for being one of the 9 graduate students and postdocs who received the Department of Chemistry Award for Outstanding Service! This award serves to recognize graduate and postdoctoral researchers for making a positive impact in the community. We are so proud of you Kayla!
July 2, 2021
Check out our latest publication on Non-equilibrium Lattice Fluid Modeling of Gas Sorption for Fluorinated Poly(ether imide)s! Congrats to Albert, Katherine, Francesco, Taigyu Joo, Aristotle, Kayla, Naksha and Duha!
June 25, 2021
Check out our latest publication on revisiting group contribution theory for estimating fractional free volume of microporous polymer membranes! Congrats to Albert, Sharon, Katherine, Francesco, Taigyu Joo, Aristotle, Kayla, Naksha and Duha!
June 10, 2021
We want to congratulate Qihui and Albert for becoming Smith Lab’s first ever graduated PhD students! Thank you for playing a big part in making the lab what it is today! We are so excited to see what’s next for you both!
June 7, 2021
We are proud to share that Professor Smith has been awarded the Frank E. Perkins Award for Excellence in Graduate Advising! His guidance and support have been invaluable in our research journey at MIT and we are so happy to see his efforts recognized!
May 24, 2021
We are proud to announce that Osmoses, a startup led by Professor Smith, Francesco, Katherine and our former researcher Holden has won the 2021 MIT $100K grand prize! Osmoses is developing novel membrane technology for industrial gas separations in hopes of minimizing energy waste and greenhouse gas emissions! Click here to find out more about Osmoses and the MIT $100K competition.
May 15, 2021
Congratulations to our former postdoc, Dr. Gang Han, who recently accepted a professorship position at Nankai University. Congratulations, Prof. Han!
May 13, 2021
Naksha has been selected as one of the 3 winners for the MIT ChemE UROP Poster Contest! Congratulations Naksha!
April 8, 2021
We are proud to announce that Wan-Ni has been selected to receive the T.S. Lin Fellowship 2021-2022 from MIT! Congratulations Wan-Ni! We are so happy for you!
February 1, 2021
Katherine has been selected as one of the recipients of the 2021 NAMS Elias Klein Travel Supplement! Congratulations Katherine!
January 1, 2021
The Smith Lab has added three new graduate students, one new postdoc, and one visiting postdoc. Welcome to the group Eric, Jing Ying, Pablo, Stephen, and Eleonora!
December 17, 2020
Our work on elucidating the role of fluorine content on gas sorption properties of fluorinated polyimides has been published in Macromolecules. The article can be found at this link. Congratulations Albert, James, Katherine, Francesco, Qihui, and Sharon!
December 11, 2020
Congratulations to Katherine on being selected to participate in the Global Young Scientists Summit (GYSS)! We are very excited for you and look forward to January 2021!
December 5, 2020
Our work on amine‐functionalized PIM‐1 with improved gas separation via free volume manipulation has been published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. The article can be found at this link. Congratulations Katherine, Sharon, Albert, Andy, and Justin!
November 20, 2020
Our work in collaboration with Prof. Sanat Kumar Group at Columbia University on tuning selectivity in gas separation applications with the addition of free polymer to composite membranes featuring polymer-grafted nanoparticles has been published in ACS Nano. The article can be found at this link. Congratulations Francesco!
October 13, 2020
Katherine Mizrahi Rodriguez was selected to present an early career research talk at the 2020 Soft Matter for All Symposium. Congratulations Katherine!
October 7, 2020
Our work on demonstrating manipulation of free volume in a 6FDA-HAB polyimide with a solid state protection/deprotection strategy has been published in Polymer. The article can be found at this link. Congratulations Sharon, Taigyu, Francesco, Laura, Albert, Katherine, and Qihui!
September 23, 2020
The Smith Lab is proud that Professor Zachary Smith has been awarded the AIChE 35 Under 35 Award, which honors engineers under the age of 35 who have made significant contributions to the Institute and to the chemical engineering profession.
September 18, 2020
Duha Syar awarder the Mohr scholarship for the Fall 2020 Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). Congratulations Duha!
August 28, 2020
Our work on the synthesis of high surface area amine-functionalized MIL-101(Cr) nanoparticles has been published in ACS Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research. The article can be found at this link. Congratulations Andy, Katherine, and Qihui!
August 12, 2020
Kayla R Storme awarded the MIT Department of Chemistry Award for Outstanding Teaching. Congratulations Kayla!
July 22, 2020
Our work on the efficient synthesis of PIM-COOH and its structure-property relationships has been published in Macromolecules. The article can be found at this link. Congratulations Katherine, Albert, Qihui, Andy, Sharon, Francesco, Hyunhee, and Lucas!
July 1, 2020
Our review paper on MOF-based membranes for gas separations has been published in Chemical Reviews. The article can be found at this link. Congratulations Qihui, Patrick, Moon Joo, Andy, Katherine, Sharon, Francesco, Albert, and Lucas!
June 29, 2020
Our work on the influence of aliphatic and aromatic fluorine groups on gas permeability and morphology of fluorinated polyimide films has been published in Macromolecules. The article can be found at this link. Congratulations Albert, James, Katherine, Qihui, and Sharon!
April 2, 2020
Our work on the hydrothermal synthesis of sub-20 nm amine-functionalized MIL-101(Cr) nanoparticles has been published in ACS Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research. The article can be found at this link. Congratulations Andy, Qihui, and Katherine!
February 26, 2020
Congratulations to Francesco M Benedetti for being accepted to the New England Innovation Corps (NE I-Corps) to investigate commercialization opportunities for polymer membranes.
January 10, 2020
Albert Wu awarded the NAMS Elias Klein Travel Supplement award for the 2020 North American Membrane Society conference. Congratulations Albert!
December 9, 2019
A team lead by Prof. Smith and in collaboration with the Swager Group has been awarded the MIT Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation ignition grant. Congratulations Francesco and Sharon!
December 4, 2019
The Smith Lab has added three new graduate students and two new postdocs. Welcome to the group Aristotle, Wan-Ni, Kayla, Justin, and Shaofei!
November 1, 2019
Congratulation to Francesco for being awarded the 2019-2020 MIT Energy Initiative Fellowship. The Society of Energy Fellows at MIT is a global network of over 400 MIT students and alumni dedicated to expediting a global transition to low-carbon energy solutions.
October 30, 2019
Our work on the impact of thermal and chemical post-synthetic modification routes on mixed-matrix membranes interfacial compatibility has been published in ACS Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research. The article can be found at this link. Congratulations Qihui, Lucas, and Andy!
August 15, 2019
Our work on the fundamental investigation of the gas-transport properties of CANAL ladder polymers has been published in Macromolecules. The article can be found at this link. Congratulations Holden, Francesco and Albert!
July 31, 2019
Our work on mixed-matrix membranes for improved interfacial compatibility has been published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. The article can be found at this link. Congratulations Qihui, Albert, Lucas, Patrick, Sharon and Asia!
June 25, 2019
Our work on defining a new theoretical upper bound has been published in AIChE Journal. The article can be found at this link. Congratulations Albert and James!
April 13, 2019
Katherine Mizrahi awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Congratulations Katherine!
April 13, 2019
Our work on a new ultra-permeable ROMP polymer has been published in Advanced Materials. The article can be found at this link. Congratulations Francesco and Sharon!
March 18, 2019
Congratulations to Katherine Mizrahi for being awarded a Ford Foundation 2019 Predoctoral Fellowship through the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.
March 14, 2019
Congratulations to Sharon Lin for winning an Elias Klein Student Travel Award to present on her work at the upcoming North American Membrane Society (NAMS) meeting in Pittsburgh, PA.
March 12, 2019
Our work on multi-dimensional HKUST-1 has been published in ChemSusChem. The article can be found at this link. Congratulations Lucas!
January 1, 2019
The Smith Lab has added two new graduate students. Welcome to the group TJ Joo and Hyunhee Lee!
July 12, 2018
July 12, 2018
Prof. Smith awarded the ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator Award to investigate solubility and diffusion in fluorinated polymers.
June 12, 2018
Francesco Benedetti awarded 1st place poster award in Materials at the 2018 North American Membrane Society conference. Congratulations Francesco!
May 25, 2018
Smith Lab awarded funding to develop new boron-removal technologies for water purification.
April 27, 2018
MIT Visiting Student Association, founded by Francesco Benedetti, awarded two institute awards: the Golden Beaver Award and the William L. Steward, Jr. Award. Congratulations Francesco and MIT VISTA!
April 3, 2018
Albert Wu awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Congratulations Albert!
December 8, 2017
Smith Lab research highlighted by the MIT Industrial Liaison Program.
May 3, 2017
April 7, 2017
January 5, 2017
