Professor George Huber’s topic is on "Commodity Chemicals from Biomass: Catalytic Conversion of Biomass into α,ω-diols" at the  6^th International Conference on Biomass Energy (ICBE2018).

Education

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 2000 – 2005

Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering

Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, 1992-1993, 1996-2000

M.S. in Chemical Engineering, 2000 

B.S. in Chemical Engineering, 1999

Research Interests

• Biofuels
•  Biochemicals
• Electrofuels
•  Heterogeneous Catalysis
• Renewable Energy

Academic Positions

• Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2012- present
• Professor, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, 2012
• Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, 2010-2012
• Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, 2006-2010

Industrial Experience

• Co-founder of Anellotech (www.anellotech.com) a company that is developing a technology that is producing aromatics from wood.  Anellotech currently have 25+ full time employees and a fully operational pilot plant.

• Co-founder of Pyran a company that is developing a technology to produce 1,5 pentanediol from biomass.

• Consultant on biofuels for startups, chemical companies and oil companies

• Worked on Industrially funded Research projects by: Conoco-Phillips, Cargill, DOW Chemical and Exxon-Mobil.

Awards and Honors

• Allan Colburn Award, AICHE 2017

• Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher 2015-2016 (top 1% cited in chemistry)

• Harvey D. Spangler Professorship 2015-2020

• Guest Professor, Southeast University, Nanjing, China 2015

• Visiting Professorship from Chinese Academy of Sciences 2015

• Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013-present

• Vilas Associate, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2013-2015

• Top 100 People in Bioenergy 2012-2016 by Biofuels Digest

• Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award 2011

• Outstanding Young Faculty Award College of Engineering University of Massachusetts-Amherst 2010

• Armstrong professional development professor 2007-2010

• NSF CAREER Award

• Discovery of Raney-NiSn catalyst named one of top 50 technology breakthroughs of 2003 by Scientific American

Selected Published Patents and Patent Applications

  1. GW Huber, SA Rankin MJ Lindsay, Method of converting lactose containing dairy by-products into monosaccharides, US Patent Application.
  2. GW Huber, JA Dumesic, KJ Barnett, Solid Acid Catalyzed Hydration of DHP for the Production of 1,5 Pentanediol, US Patent Application.
  3. GW Huber, JA Dumesic, KJ Barnett, ZJ Brentzal, Production of 1,5-pentanediol via upgrading of tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol, US Patent Application 20170210688A1 (2017).
  4. GW Huber, F Cao, JA Dumesic, TJ Schwartz, Method for selectively preparing Levoglucosenone and other anhydrosugars from biomass in polar aprotic solvents, US Patent 9376451B1 (2016).
  5. GW Huber, AA Upadhye, HJ Kim, I Ro, IM Tejedor-Anderson; Method to Reduce CO2 to CO using Plasmon-Enhanced PhotoCatalysis, US Patent 20,150,291,434 (2015).
  6. JA Dumesic, GW Huber, R Weingarten; Method for Selectively Preparing 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural from Biomass in Polar Aprotic Solvents, US Patent 9242952B2 (2016).
  7. Huber, G.W.; Jae, J.; Cheng, Y-T.; and Gaffney, A.M.; Catalytic Pyrolysis of Solid, Systems and Processes for Catalytic Pyrolysis of Biomass and Hydrocarbonaceous Materials for Production of Aromatics with Optional Olefins Recycle and Catalysts Having Selected Particle Size for Catalytic Pyrolysis,  US Patent 9169442 (2015). (Licensed to Anellotech)
  8. Huber, G.W.; Tompsett, G.A.; Green, S.K.; Kim, W.B.; and Kim, H.J.; Method of Producing Hydrocarbons using a fuel cell and, fuel storage system comprising the fuel cell, US Patent Application US 20140083237 A1 (2014).
  9. GW Huber, YT Kim, Method for preparing triols and diols from biomass-derived reactants, Patent Application US20140275638A1 (2014).
  10.Huber, G.W.; Cheng, Y-T; Wang, Z.; and Fan, W.; Method for converting a hydrocarbonaceous material to a fluid hydrocarbon product comprising p-xylene, WO 2013185149 A1; US 20130324772 A1 (2013) (Licensed to Anellotech)

Selected Recent Journal Publications

  1. SH Krishna, K Huang, KJ Barnett, M DeBruyn, J He, BM Weckhuysen, CT Maravelias, JA Dumesic, GW Huber, Oxygenated commodity chemicals from chemo-catalytic conversion of biomass derived heterocycles, AICHE Journal (2018) 64, 1910-1922
  2. W Liu, L Dang, Z Xu, HQ Yu, S Jin, GW Huber, Electrochemcial Oxidation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural with NiFe Layered Double Hydroxide (LDH) Nanosheet Catalysts, ACS Catalysis (2018) 8, 5533-5541. 
  3. TW Walker, AK Chew, H Li, B Demir, ZC Zhang, GW Huber, RC Van Lehn, JA Dumesic, Universal kinetic solvent effects in acid-catalyzed reactions of biomass-derived oxygenates, Energy and Environmental Science (2018) 11, 617-628.
  4. SH Krishna, RS Assary, ZR Schmidt, LA Curtiss, JA Dumesic, GW Huber, Mechanistic insights into the hydrogenolysis of levoglucosanol over bifunctional platinum silica-alumina catalysts, ACS Catalysis (2018) 8, 3743-3753
  5. M Lindsay, TW Walker, JA Dumesic, S Rankin, GW Huber, Production of monosaccharides and whey protein from acid whey waste streams in the dairy industry, Green Chemistry (2018) 20, 1824-1834.
  6. Z Xu, JP Chada, L Xu, D Zhao, DC Rosenfeld, JL Rogers, I Hermans, M Mavrikakis, GW Huber, Ethylene Dimerization and oligomerization to 1-Butene and Higher Olefins with Chromium-Promoted Cobalt on Carbon Catalyst, ACS Catalysis (2018) 8, 2488-2497.
  7. I Ro, IB Aragao, ZJ Brentzel, Y Liu, KR Rivera-Dones, MR Ball, D Zanchet, GW Huber, JA Dumesic, Intrinsic Activity of Interfacial Sites for Pt-Fe and Pt-Mo Catalysts in the Hydrogenation of Carbonyl Groups, Applied Catalysis B: Environmental (2018) 231, 182-190.
  8. K Huang, JB Miller, GW Huber, JA Dumesic, CT Maravelias, A General Framework for the Evaluation of Direct Nonoxidative Methane conversion Strategies, Joule (2018) 2, 349-365.
  9. P Galebach, DJ McClelland, NM Eagan, A Wittrig, JS Buchanan, JA Dumesic, GW Huber, Production of alcohols from cellulose by supercritical methanol depolymerization and hydrodeoxygenation, ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, (2018) 6, 4330-4344.
  10. Z Zhang, GW Huber, Catalytic oxidation of carbohydrates into organic acids and furan chemicals, Chemical Society Reviews, (2018) 47, 1351-1390.
  11. J He, SP Burt, M Ball, D Zhao, I Hermans, JA Dumesic, GW Huber, Synthesis of 1,6-Hexanediol from cellulose derived tetrahydrofuran-dimethanol with Pt-WOx/TiO2 catalysts, ACS Catalysis (2018), in-press.
  12. Z Zhang, GW Huber, Catalytic oxidation of Carbohydrates into Organic Acids and Furan Chemicals, Chemical Society Reviews (2018), in-press.
  13. IB Aragao, I Ro Y Liu, M Ball, GW Huber D Zanchet, JA Dumesic, Catalysts Synthesized by Selective Deposition of Fe onto Pt for the Water-Gas Shift Reaction, Applied Catalysis B: Environmental (2018) 222, 182-190. 
  14. I Ro, IB Aragao, JP Chada, Y Liu, KR Rivera-Dones, MR Ball, D Zanchet, JA Dumesic and GW Huber, The role of Pt-FexOy interfacial sites for CO Oxidation, Journal of Catalysis (2018) 358, 19-26.
  15. K Huang, W Won, KJ Barnett, ZJ Brentzel, DM Alonso, GW Huber, JA Dumesic, CT Maravelias, Improving economics of lignocellulosic biofuels: An integrated strategy for coproducing 1,5-pentanediol and ethanol, Applied Energy (2018) 23, 585-594. 
  16. Z Huang, KJ Barnett, JP Chada, ZJ Brentzel, Z Xu, JA Dumesic GW Huber, Hydrogenation of γ-butyrolactonse to 1,4-butanediol over CuCo/TiO2 bimetallic catalysts, ACS Catalysis (2017) 7, 8429-8440.
  17. Z Xu, D Zhao, JP Chada, DC Rosenfeld, JL Rogers, I Hermans, GW Huber, Olefin Conversion on Nitrogen-doped carbon supported cobalt catalyst: Effect of Feedstock, Journal of Catalysis (2017) 354, 213-222.
  18. KJ Barnett, D McClelland, GW Huber, Auto-catalytic Hydration of Dihydropyran to 1,5 Pentanediol Precursors via In-situ Formation of Liquid and Solid phase Acids, ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering (2017) 5, 10223-10230.
  19. D Zhao, Z Xu, JP Chada, DC Rosenfeld, JL Rogers, I Hermans, GW Huber, Cobalt oxide on N-doped carbon for 1-Butene Oligomerization to Produce Linear Octanes, ACS Catalysis (2017) 7, 7479-7489.
  20. NM Eagan, JP Chada, AM Wittrig, JS Buchanan, JA Dumesic, GW Huber, Hydroxdeoxygenation of Sorbitol to Monofunctional Fuel Precursors over Co/TiO2, Joule (2017) 1, 178-199.
  21. HJ Kim, Y Kim, D Lee, JR Kim, HJ Chae, SY Jeong, BS Kim, J Lee, GW Huber, J Byun, S Kim, J Han, Coproducing Value-added Chemicals and Hydrogen with Electrocatalytic Glycerol Oxidation Technology: Experimental and Techno-economic Investigations, ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering (2017) 5, 6626-6634.
  22. J He, M Liu, K Huang, TW Walker, CT Maravelias, JA Dumesic, GW Huber, Production of levoglucosenone and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from cellulose in polar aprotic solvent-water mixtures, Green Chemistry (2017) 19, 3642-3653 .
  23. H Bergem, R Xu, RC Brown GW Huber, Low temperature aqueous phase hydrogenation of the light oxygenate fraction of bio-oil over supported ruthenium catalysts, Green Chemistry (2017) 19, 3252-3262.
  24. MD Kumbhalkar, JS Buchanan, GW Huber, JA Dumesic, Ring opening of biomass derived cyclic ethers to diense over silica/alumnia, ACS Catalysis (2017) 7, 5248-5256
  25. J Lee, I Ro, HJ Kim YT Kim, EE Kwon, GW Huber, Production of renewable C4-C6 monoalcohols from waste biomass-derived carbohydrate via aqueous-phase hydrodeoxygenation over Pt-ReOx/Zr-P, Process Safety and Environmental Protection, (in press) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2017.05.015
  26. Y Liu, F Goeltl, I Ro, MR Ball, C Sener, IB Aragao, D Zanchet, GW Huber, M Mavrikakis, JA Dumesic, Synthesis Gas Conversion over Rh-based Catalysts Promoted by Fe and Mn, ACS Catalysis (2017) 7, 4550-4563.
  27. J Gou, Z Wang, C Li, X Qi, V Vattipalli, YT Cheng, GW Huber, WC Conner, PJ Dauenhauer, TJ Mountziaris, W Fan, The Effects of ZSM-5 Mesoporosity and Morphology on the Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis of Furan, Green Chemsitry (2017) 19, 3549-3557.
  28. GW Huber, JQ Bond, Catalysis : The technology enabler for new, low carbon energy technologies, ChemCatChem (2017) 9, 1521-1522.
  29. SP Burt, KJ Barnett, DJ McClelland, P Wolf, JA Dumesic, GW Huber, I Hermans, Production of 1,6-hexanediol from tetrahydropyran-2-methanol by dehydration-hydration and hydrogenation, Green Chemistry (2017) 19, 1390-1398. 
  30. J He, K Huang, KJ Barnett, DM Alonso, ZJ Brentzel, SP Burt, Theodore W Walker, W Banholzer, CT Maravelias, I Hermans, JA Dumesic, GW Huber, New catalytic strategies for alpha-omega diol production from lignocellulosic biomass, Faraday Discussions, (2017) 202, 247-267.
  31. K Huang, ZJ Brentzel, KJ Barnett, JA Dumesic, GW Huber CT Maravelias, Conversion of Furfural to 1,5 Pentanediol: Process Synthesis and Analysis, ACS Sustainable Chemistry (2017) 5, 4699-4706.
  32. D Gerceker, AH Motagamwala, KR Rivera-Dones, JB Miller, GW Huber, M Mavrikakis, JA Dumesic, Methane Conversion to Ethylene and Aromatics on PtSn Catalysts, ACS Catalysis, (2017) 7, 2088-2100.
  33. ZJ Brentzel, KJ Barnett, K Huang, CT Maravelias, JA Dumesic, GW Huber, Chemicals from Biomass: Combining Ring-opening Tautomerization and Hydrogenation Reactions to Produce 1,5-Pentanediol from Furfural, ChemSusChem, (2017), 10, 1351-1355. 
  34. DJ McClelland, AH Motagamwala, Y Li, MR Rover, AM Wittrig, C Wu, JS Buchanan, RC Brown, J Ralph, JA Dumesic and GW Huber, Functionality and Molecular Weight Distribution of Red Oak Lignin before and after Pyrolysis and Hydrogenation, Green Chem, (2017), 19, 1378-1389.
  35. SKrishna, DJ McClelland, QA Rashke, JA Dumesic, GW Huber, Hydrogenation of Levoglucosenone to Renewable Chemicals, Green Chem, (2017), 19, 1278-1285 (cover article).
  36. H Yang, R Coolman, P Karanjkar, H Wang, P Dornath, H Chen, W Fan, WC Conner, TJ Mountziaris, GW Huber, The Effects of Contact Time and Coking on the Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis of Cellulose, Green Chemistry, (2017), 19, 286-297.
  37. I Ro, Y Liu, MR Ball, DHK Jackson, JP Chada, C Sener,  TF Kuech, RJ Madon, GW Huber, JA Dumesic, Role of the Cu-ZrO2 interfacial sites for Ethanol Conversion to Ethyl Acetate and Methanol Synthesis from CO2 and H2, ACS Catalysis, (2016), 6, 7040-7050.
  38. SH Krishna, TW Walker, JA Dumesic, GW Huber, Kinetics of Levoglucosenone Isomerization, ChemSusChem, (2016) 9, 1-11.
  39. I Ro, C Sener,  TM Stadelman, MR Ball, JM Venegas, SP Burt, I Hermans, JA Dumesic, GW Huber, Measurement of intrinsic catalytic activity of Pt monometallic and Pt-MoOx interfacial sites over visible light enhanced PtMoOx/SiO2 catalyst in reverse water gas shift reaction, Journal of Catalysis (2016), 344, 784-794.
  40. K Routray, KJ Barnett, GW Huber, Hydrodeoxygenation of Pyrolysis Oils, Energy Technology, (2016), 4, 1-15.
  41. Z Xu, JP Chada, D Zhao, CA Carrero, YT Kim, DC Rosenfeld, JL Rogers, SJ Rozeveld, I Hermans, GW Huber, Production of Linear Octenes from Oligomerization of 1-Butene over Carbon Supported Cobalt Catalysts, ACS Catalysis (2016), 6, 3815-3825.
  42. X Sheng, G Li, W Wang, Y Cong, X Wang, GW Huber, N Li, Aiqin Wang, T Zhang, Dual-bed catalyst system for the direct synthesis of high density aviation fuel with cyclopentanone from lignocellulose, AICHE Journal (2016), 62, 2754-2761.
  43. PU Karanjkar, SP Burt, X Chen, KJ Barnett, MR Ball, MD Kumbhalkar, X Wang, JB Miller, I Hermans, JA Dumesic, GW Huber, Effect of Carbon Support on RhRe Bifunctional Catalysts for Selective Hydrogenolysis of Tetrahydropyran-2-methanol, Catalysis Science and Technology (2016), 6, 7841-7851.
  44. S Lee, HJ Kim, EJ Lim Y Kim, Y Noh, GW Huber WB Kim, Highly selective transformation of glycerol to dihydroxyacetone without using oxidants by a PtSb/C-catalyzed electrooxidation process, Green Chemistry, (2016) 18, 2877-2887.
  45. W Chen, DJ McClelland, A Asarpira, J Ralph, Z Luo, GW Huber, Low temperature hydrogenation of pyrolytic lignin over Ru/TiO2: 2D HSQC and 13C NMR study of reactants and products, Green Chemistry (2016), 18, 271-281.
46. I Ro, R Carrasquillo-Floers, JA Dumesic, GW Huber, Intrinsic Kinetics of Plasmon-Enhanced Reverse Water Gas Shift on Au and Au-Mo interfacial 

This is the inside front cover image from Green Chemistry Journal (2017, Volume 19, Issue 5) describing the hydrogenation of levoglucosenone to renewable chemicals over support Pd catalysts.