Chau-Chyun Chen, Sc.D.

Biography

Dr. Chau-Chyun Chen, ScD, is Horn Professor and holds the distinguished Jack Maddox Chair in Sustainable Energy in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering, Texas Tech University.  Soon after completing his doctoral degree, he co-founded AspenTech, where his leadership in many positions including as the Vice President of Technology, was instrumental in shaping the trajectory of the company.  Dr. Chen played a key role in the development of AspenTech's pioneering first-principles process modeling approach that revolutionized the chemical industry.  The process modeling and simulation design paradigm created by the company has now become an industry standard.  In his career spanning five decades, he has made seminal contributions to the field of process simulation in chemical engineering.  Dr. Chen was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2005 for “contributions to molecular thermodynamics and process-modeling technology for designing industrial processes with complex chemical systems.”  Dr. Chen is also a fellow of the AIChE and AAAS. 

Throughout his industrial and academic career, Dr. Chen has demonstrated exceptional prowess in tackling challenges associated with intricate chemical systems. His groundbreaking work encompasses the thermodynamic modeling of electrolytes and complex molecule systems such as polymers and pharmaceuticals. Notably, he spearheaded the development of the widely acclaimed electrolyte NRTL (e-NRTL) activity coefficient model, a testament to his ingenuity and influence in the scientific community.  Dr. Chen joined Texas Tech University in 2013, where he continued the development of the e-NRTL model with an emphasis on molecular interpretation of model parameters.  In recent years, Dr. Chen has turned his focus to adsorption phenomena and has developed the adsorption NRTL model which has significantly improved the ability to quantitatively represent adsorption equilibria. 

Dr. Chen obtained his bachelor's degree in chemistry from the National Taiwan University in 1973.  He continued his academic journey at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he obtained both his master's and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering in 1977 and 1980, respectively.  

Research Interests

• Molecular thermodynamics, Thermophysical properties and fluid phase equilibria, Process modeling and simulation
• Petroleum crude characterization, Hydraulic fracturing and flow-back fluids
• CO₂ capture systems, Energy storage systems
• Pharmaceutical solubility modeling

Personal Information

Curriculum Vitae

Education

• Sc.D., Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, (1980)
• M.S., Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, (1977)
• B.S., Chemistry, National Taiwan University, (1973)