BASF Catalysis Research Commits $600,000 to Support Related Research Initiatives at Columbia University

20 August 2007

BASF Catalysis Research has made a three-year research commitment of $600,000 to the Earth and Environmental Engineering Department of Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science for graduate and post-doctoral studies into environmentally-benign technologies utilizing heterogeneous catalysts.

The program will support the research of four Columbia students exploring promising areas of renewable energy, pollution control and catalysts for the hydrogen economy.

The program is directed toward ‘green/sustainable’ technology and pollution abatement—issues that are of great importance to the world, to Columbia and to BASF. Environmental technologies are a significant portion of BASF’s business, especially as they relate to emissions reduction from autos, trucks, buses and other vehicles and devices powered by internal combustion engines.

—Robert Farrauto, research fellow at BASF Catalysis Research and adjunct professor at Columbia University

Columbia Professor Marco Castaldi of the Earth and Engineering Department will jointly supervise the research efforts with Farrauto. Potential research topics include:

• “Catalytic Reforming of Biofuels to Hydrogen”

• “Conversion of Greenhouse (e.g. Landfill gases) Gases to Useful Chemicals and Fuels”

• “Catalytic Issues Related to Pollution Abatement from Diesel Combustion Engines”

The program offers participating graduate and postdoctoral students an opportunity to take basic research concepts into a production environment, and publish their findings in professional journals. Student researchers will interact with scientists at BASF Catalysis Research Centers in both Iselin, New Jersey and Ludwigshafen, Germany, which is also the location of BASF’s global headquarters.

BASF Catalysts, a division of BASF group, is the world’s leading supplier of environmental and process catalysts.