Thomas Schwartz

Prof. Thomas J. Schwartz earned BS degrees in Chemical Engineering and Biological Engineering from the University of Maine and a PhD at University of Wisconsin under the supervision of Prof. James Dumesic. Schwartz joined the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Maine in 2015 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2021. His research group seeks to develop a molecular-level understanding of processes that occur on catalytic surfaces used for the conversion of carbon-based feedstocks (e.g., biomass, petroleum, natural gas, waste polymers) to chemicals and fuels. Since 2023 he has also been the Associate Director of the Forest Bioproducts Research Institute, where he helps lead a larger team pursuing scale-up of chemical processes, including “Thermal DeOxygenation” for producing SAF and marine diesel. He is active in the ACS Division of Catalysis Science & Technology, the AIChE Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Division, and the North American Catalysis Society, and he serves on the Early Career Editorial Board for the Journal of Catalysis and as an editor for Scientific Reports. Schwartz received an ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator award in 2016, an NSF EPSCoR RII Fellowship in 2020, and the NSF CAREER Award in 2021. He has been honored by the University of Maine with the College of Engineering Early Career Research Award in 2018 and the Pulp and Paper Foundation’s Joseph M. Genco Award in 2020.

Research Interests

Heterogeneous Catalysis, Reaction Kinetics, in situ and operando Spectroscopy, Biomass Conversion, Biorenewable Chemicals, Renewable Carbon Refining

Awards

• NSF CAREER Award (2021)
• Joseph M. Genco Award, UMaine Pulp and Paper Foundation (2020)
• NSF EPSCoR RII Fellowship (2020)
• ACS Petroleum Research Fund Doctoral New Investigator (2016)

Professional Certifications

Maine PE License