• 1977 : State Univ. of NewYork at buffalo (Ph.D. in Chem. Eng.)
• 1975 : State Univ. of NewYork at buffalo (M.S. in Chem. Eng.)
• 1969 : Seoul National Univ.(B.S. in Chem. Eng.)

• 1978 ~ Present : Professor, KAIST
• 1983 ~ 1984 : Visiting Professor, Humboldt Foundation
• 1981 ~ 1981 : Visiting Professor, Kyoto Univ.
• 1969 ~ 1972 : Korea Fertilizer Co., Engineer

• Yeosan Catalysis Research Prize, Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers (2009)
• The DuPont Science and Technology awards, DuPont (2003)
• National Merit, Mokryonjang, Korea Government (1998)
• Academic Award, Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers (1986)

• Nano-structured materials
• Environmental Catalysis
• Clean Energy Production
• Petroleum and Fine Chemicals Processes
• Methanol to Olefin(Propylene) Process

Catalysis and Reaction Engineering, Design of Environmental Catalysts, Micro-Structured Particles and Nano Materials, Processes for Clean Energy, Polymerization and Fine Chemicals

Molecular sieves and organic and/or inorganic nanomaterials are synthesized through various techniques including the sol-gel method, CVD, microwave and plasma irradiation, nano-templating, nano-casting, emulsion polymerization, etc. and the nanomaterials are tested for their potential applications as catalysts, adsorbents or other functional materials. The presence of bimodal porosity can offer multiple benefits, which arise from each of the pore-size regimes. For example, micropores and mesopores can provide size-selectivity or shape selectivity for guest molecules, whereas the presence of additional macropores can offer easier transport and access to the active sites. Such phenomena should improve reaction efficiencies and minimize channel blocking. The catalytic performances for typical model reactions are tested over the nanocatalysts to analyze the activities and selectivities.

Catalytic fixation of carbon dioxide through methanol synthesis reaction and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis are the main topics for the clean energy production. The transition metal loaded zeolite catalysts and the hybrid catalyst system composed of copper based methanol synthesis catalyst and zeolite were developed to provide high activity and good selectivity. New types of nanocatalysts are investigated for the hydrogen production for fuel cell through steam reforming of dimethylether(DME).

The interaction between Co and Mo and the nature of active site in Co-Mo(or Ni-W) sulfide and/or nitride catalysts have been investigated for hydrodesulfurization(HDS), and the Al-MCM-41 supported Pt catalysts were developed for hydrodewaxing(HDW).

The MTO technology provides an economically attractive route from natural gas or coal to ethylene and/or propylene via methanol with zeolite catalysts. The methanol conversion consists of the consecutive reaction steps of methanol dehydration to form DME and the equilibrium mixture of ethanol, H2O and DME undergoes further dehydration to produce light olefins. The modified zeolites with medium pore are investigated to optimize the selectivity of propylene under various reaction conditions.