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Eric McFarland

Eric McFarland

Professor
Chemical Engineering

Affiliation: 
Chemical Engineering

Contact

(805) 893-4343
3331 Engineering II

University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106

Honors

Dow Chemical Professorship in Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland, Australia, NSF Presidential Young Investigator; Am. Nuc. Soc. Special Award for Outstanding Advances in Nuc. Tech; Edgerton Assistant Professorship; NIH Grad. Fellowship; Nuclear Engineering Department Citation for First in Department (1980); Stephen Bechtel Scholarship for top engineering junior; University of California Regent's Fellowship.

Research

Energy Efficiency & Sustainability

Professor McFarland's research activities are focused on coupling fundamental processes at surfaces with novel material systems for the cost-effective production and use of energy and energy related chemicals. In particular, fundamental catalytic and molecular reaction phenomena on complex surfaces are under investigation. The group develops and uses new experimental systems to investigate chemical transformations on surfaces of molten metals and strong electrolytes at high temperatures. Investigations of reactions of natural gas in molten metals and salts to produce hydrogen and solid carbon as a means of utilizing fossil resources for zero CO2 fuel production are underway to improve our understanding of heterogeneous catalysts at high temperature on liquid surfaces.

Education

PhD Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MD Harvard Medical School
MS Nuclear Engineering, University of California, Berkeley 
BS Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, University of California, Berkeley