UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Sarma Pisupati, professor of energy and mineral engineering in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) at Penn State, was elected a 2018 Fellow by the American Chemical Society (ACS). Pisupati was one of 51 scientists selected as part of the 2018 class of ACS Fellows. He was honored during the society’s fall national meeting held this past August in Boston.
The ACS Fellows Program recognizes and honors members of the American Chemical Society for their outstanding achievements in and contributions to the science and the profession and for their equally exemplary service to the ACS Society. Only 1,059 of the society’s more than 157,000 members from academia, industry, government labs and small business have been distinguished with this honor.
“This is a great honor to be appreciated by professional colleagues and elected a Fellow for my work in helping to solve industrial problems through fundamental research and training the future workforce. I am very grateful for this recognition,” Pisupati said.
The ACS recognized Pisupati for “contributions impacting the availability and operation of gasifiers and fluidized bed combustors through excellence in fundamental and applied clean energy research, and outstanding energy engineering education.” His contributions to the ACS community were also cited. He served in several leadership roles in the ACS Division of Fuel Chemistry and Division of Petroleum Chemistry, initiated a trust fund for student travel, revitalized technical programming, and established an outreach web portal.
Pisupati serves as director of online education in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering. He also co-directs Coal Science and Technology Program in the EMS Energy Institute.
Pisupati earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering from Osmania University and the Indian Institute of Technology, respectively, and a doctorate in fuel science from Penn State.
Founded in 1876 and chartered by Congress, ACS identifies itself as the world’s largest scientific society with more than 150,000 members. Its vision is to improve people’s lives through the transforming power of chemistry.