Hi! I am Yeonsu Kwak, a fifth-year PhD candidate in Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware, working with Prof. Dion Vlachos. My research focuses on electrifying catalytic and thermochemical processes to enable scalable and intensified chemical manufacturing.
Much of my work explores opportunities for catalytic and reactor performance gains in systems traditionally considered constrained by conventional thermal operation.
Prior to my PhD, I worked as a researcher at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology and Institute for Advanced Engineering, where I contributed to hydrogen and biofuel process development and bench/pilot-scale validation. I received an M.S. in Energy from Texas A&M University and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from POSTECH.
My lead-author publications span electrified and intensified reaction systems, including microwave-assisted propane dehydrogenation (Science Advances, 2023), rapid pulse Joule heating for tandem methane and CO₂ upgrading (ACS Energy Letters, 2025), internally-heated short contact time ethane cracking (Chemical Engineering Journal, 2025), and scalable ALD-titania layered oxide-supported catalysts for low noble metal dehydrogenation (Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2024). Together, these works demonstrate integrated strengths in reactor design, process intensification, catalyst engineering, and scalable implementation.
Much of my work explores opportunities for catalytic and reactor performance gains in systems traditionally considered constrained by conventional thermal operation.
Prior to my PhD, I worked as a researcher at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology and Institute for Advanced Engineering, where I contributed to hydrogen and biofuel process development and bench/pilot-scale validation. I received an M.S. in Energy from Texas A&M University and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from POSTECH.
My lead-author publications span electrified and intensified reaction systems, including microwave-assisted propane dehydrogenation (Science Advances, 2023), rapid pulse Joule heating for tandem methane and CO₂ upgrading (ACS Energy Letters, 2025), internally-heated short contact time ethane cracking (Chemical Engineering Journal, 2025), and scalable ALD-titania layered oxide-supported catalysts for low noble metal dehydrogenation (Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2024). Together, these works demonstrate integrated strengths in reactor design, process intensification, catalyst engineering, and scalable implementation.