Dr. Tibor Szilvási
Dr. Tibor Szilvási, assistant professor and graduate program coordinator in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, is the 2026 recipient of the American Chemical Society’s Catalysis Science and Technology Division Early Career in Catalysis Award.
The Early Career in Catalysis Award recognizes and encourages accomplishments and innovation of unusual merit by an individual in the early stages of their career. Nominees must be members of the ACS Catalysis Science and Technology division who received Ph.D.s after January 2016.
“It is both a tremendous honor and a reflection of the collective effort of my research group, collaborators and mentors. It is especially encouraging as an early-career researcher,” Szilvási said. “I see this award not only as recognition of past work, but as motivation to continue pushing the boundaries of what catalysis can achieve for society.”
A catalyst is a substance that accelerates a chemical reaction without being consumed. Consequently, catalysis refers to the process of using a catalyst to drive the reaction toward the desired outcome.
Szilvási’s research improves how catalytic behavior is modeled and predicted, with a goal of reaching predictive design to accelerate breakthroughs in clean energy technologies, carbon management and advanced sensing systems.
“The majority of industrial chemical processes rely on catalysis in some form. My research contributes by developing new ways to engineer complex catalyst interfaces where chemical reactions occur to reduce the time and cost needed to discover new materials,” he said.
Szilvási thinks investing in students can lead to impactful discoveries and encourages those he teaches to think broadly.
“Research and teaching are inseparable. By exposing students to the same predictive design approaches we use in research, I help them develop the skills needed to innovate responsibly and efficiently,” Szilvási said. The American Chemical Society is the world’s largest scientific society and one of the leading sources of authoritative scientific information. The division of Catalysis Science and Technology offers programming to bridge the gap between fundamental aspects of catalysis and applied catalytic reaction engineering.