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Professor of Chemistry, received his B.S. in 1997 from Pennsylvania State University, where he worked in the group of Prof. Ayusman Sen on palladium-catalyzed co- and terpolymerizations. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 2003 under the guidance of Prof. T. Don Tilley, primarily focused on the development of new catalytic C–H bond functionalizations. Following postdoctoral work at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich) with Antonio Togni investigating catalytic asymmetric hydroamination and hydrophosphination, Aaron joined the chemistry faculty at Iowa State University in 2005. He was promoted to associate professor in 2011, and to professor in 2016.

Dr. Jenks’ research areas of expertise include surface structure and reactivity, surface structure-property relationships, catalysis, chemical conversions for sustainable energy, and thin film growth.
Biography
Dr. Cynthia Jenks is the director of the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division at Argonne National Laboratory. She has more than 10 years of leadership experience in science management and strategic planning, in addition to a background in both the chemical sciences and chemical engineering.
Before joining Argonne, Dr. Jenks served as the assistant director for scientific planning and as the director of the Chemical and Biological Sciences Division at Ames Laboratory. As assistant director, Dr. Jenks played a central role in developing the laboratory’s new strategic plan and communication plans.
Dr. Jenks’ research areas of expertise include surface structure and reactivity, surface structure-property relationships, catalysis, chemical conversions for sustainable energy, and thin film growth.
In 2011, she was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for contributing “major discoveries about surfaces of aluminum-rich quasicrystals,” and for “sustained scientific outreach and leadership in scientific planning within the Ames Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy.”
Dr. Jenks holds a PhD and an MPhil in chemistry, and an MS in chemical engineering from Columbia University. She holds a BS in chemical engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Di-Jia Liu is Chemist and Principal Investigator in the Catalysis and Energy Conversion group of the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division.
Di-Jia (DJ) Liu is a Senior Chemist at CSE. He joined Argonne National Laboratory in 2002 after 12 year R&D at Honeywell International where he last served as Senior Principal Scientist. His current interests at Argonne cover mainly in nanomaterials for fuel cells, electrocatalysis for water splitting, CO2-to-chemical/fuel conversion, hydrogen/methane storage, lithium-air battery, catalytic reforming for H2 production, advanced x-ray characterization techniques, energy-water research, etc. At Honeywell, he led various projects in fuel cells, automotive emission control catalysis, aviation environmental control system, advanced material characterization and industrial Six-Sigma process improvement. Dr. Liu is a CASE Scientist at Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering of University of Chicago and a Graduate Faculty Scholar at Norther Illinois University. He also serves as the operating agent on behalf of USDOE in coordinating Annex 31 (fuel cell materials) activities in Technology Collaboration Programme on Advanced Fuel Cells (AFC TCP) under the International Energy Agency. He is a member of American Chemical Society, Electrochemical Society and American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Dr. Liu has over 100 scientific publications, 26 granted US patents and numerous patent applications and international patents ranging from PEM and solid oxide fuel cells, electrocatalysis, environmental catalysis, hydrogen production/storage, to sensors. He received Argonne’s Pacesetter Award, DOE Office of Sciences Outstanding Mentor Award, DOE Hydrogen Sorption Center of Excellence Team Award and two R&D 100 Awards (2016, 2019). At Honeywell, he was recognized by Corporate Technical Achievement Award in 1998 and 2000 USA Today Quality Cup among many other recognitions.

Dr. Viktor P. Balema is a Senior Scientist at Ames Laboratory. He joint the laboratory in 2016 to lead new materials development and commercialization at Ames’ led DOE consortium (CaloriCool) founded by US Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office. His technical expertise comprises development of biologically active compounds, hard and hybrid materials, polymers and chemical recycling.
Before joining Ames Laboratory, Viktor served in various leading roles, including Hard Materials Head and Global R&D Manager, at Sigma-Aldrich Corporation - a major materials supplier to research and commercial markets. Once at Ames Laboratory, Dr. Balema served on the laboratory’s Research Management Team and Technical Advisory Committee of REMADE Institute and contributed to the development of the Strategic Plan for Ames Laboratory.
Scientific expertise of Dr. Balema spans over chemistry of bio-active agents, synthetic materials chemistry as well as upcycling of spent products, including rare earths and polymers. Viktor published over 70 papers, reviews and proceedings in open literature and filed ~15 US and international patents and IP disclosures. He also developed and commercialized numerous proprietary materials that have been offered through diverse business channels.
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Massimiliano “Max” Delferro is a chemist and group leader of the Catalysis Science Program in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division at Argonne National Laboratory.
Max’s work focuses on plastics recycling and the development of cleaner, safer solutions that benefit industries and individuals around the world. He is also a principal investigator of the Inorganometallic Catalyst Design Center, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Max earned his doctorate in organometallic chemistry from the University of Parma, Italy in 2008. He is a member of the American Chemical Society and has served as the president and program chair of the Catalysis Club of Chicago since 2016.
His research interests include the synthesis and characterization of multimetallic single-site hydrogenation/dehydrogenation catalysts to atomic layer deposition, polymer recycling and upcycling, additives for tribological applications, and supported organometallic catalysis for C-H and C-C transformation.
Education
- Ph.D., organometallic chemistry, University of Parma, 2008
- M.S., chemistry, University of Parma, 2005
- BS, chemistry, University of Parma, 2003
Awards, Honors, and Memberships
- DOE Polymer Upcycling Roundtable 2019, observer
- DOE Basic Research Needs in Catalysis 2017, observer
- Omar Farha Award for Research Leadership (Northwestern University, 2014)
- Member of the American Chemical Society
- President and Program Chair, The Catalysis Club of Chicago
- Scholars of Global School for Advanced Studies, National Science Foundation, Session on “Catalysis and Materials for Hydrocarbon Conversions”, Doha, Qatar, January 6-8, 2013

Bertt Helms’ research program is devoted to understanding and controlling transport in mesostructured systems assembled from organic, polymeric, or nanocrystalline components. Enhanced capabilities relevant to energy, health, water, and food quality are enabled by his unique approaches to the design of their architectures and interfaces.