Alexis Bell, a principal investigator in Berkeley Lab’s Chemical Sciences Division and Professor of Chemical Engineering at UC Berkeley, has been honored by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers with its William H. Walker Award. The prize honors individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to chemical engineering literature. Bell’s citation credits his “pioneering the application of quantum methods to elucidate the siting and reactivity of exchanged cations in zeolites and the detailed pathways of chemical reactions."

The award will be presented to Bell at the institute’s annual meeting in Cincinnati in October.

The award recognizes contributions to the literature made during the last three years. Bell’s nomination was based on work he had done showing the applications of electronic structure calculations, as well as other elements of theory, for elucidating the pathways by which homogeneously and heterogeneously catalyzed proceed. This work has also led to novel and highly efficient means for identifying transition states for elementary reactions and the calculating rate coefficients for such processes ab initio. Portions of this work were done in collaboration with Arup Chakraborty, and more recently with Martin Head-Gordon.

To learn more about the AIChE and the Walker prize, go here.