ProOptiMA Lab
Principal Investigator
Marianthi Ierapetritou is the Bob and Jane Gore Centennial Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at University of Delaware. Prior to that, she was a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at Rutgers University. During the last year at Rutgers University, she led the efforts of the university advancing the careers in STEM for women at Rutgers as an Associate Vice President of the University. Dr. Ierapetritou’s research focuses on the following areas: 1) process operations; (2) design and synthesis of flexible production systems focusing on pharmaceutical manufacturing; 3) energy and sustainability process modeling and operations; and 4) modeling of biopharmaceutical production. Her research is supported by several federal (FDA, NIH, NSF, ONR, NASA) and industrial (BMS, J&J, GSK, PSE, Bosch, Eli Lilly) grants.
Among her accomplishments are: the appointment as the Gore Centennial Professor in 2019, the promotion to distinguished professor at Rutgers University in 2017, the 2016 Computing and Systems Technology (CAST) division Award in Computing in Chemical Engineering, the highest distinction in the Systems area of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the Award of Division of Particulate Preparations and Design (PPD) of The Society of Powder Technology, Japan; the Outstanding Faculty Award at Rutgers; the Rutgers Board of Trustees Research Award for Scholarly Excellence; and the prestigious NSF CAREER award. She has also been appointed as a Consultant to the FDA under the Advisory Committee for Pharmaceutical Science and Clinical Pharmacology, elected as a fellow of AICHE and as a Director in the board of AIChE. She has more than 250 publications and has been an invited speaker to numerous national and international conferences. Dr. Ierapetritou obtained her BS from The National Technical University in Athens, Greece, her Ph.D. from Imperial College (London, UK) in 1995 and subsequently completed her post-doctoral research at Princeton University (Princeton, NJ).
Education
1991-1995
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Ph. D., Chemical Engineering Department, Imperial College, London, UK.
Faculty Advisor: Prof. Efstratios Pistikopoulos
Thesis Topic: "Optimization Approaches for Process Engineering Problems under Uncertainty"
1986-1991
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Diploma (Summa cum Laude), Chemical Engineering Department, NTUA, Greece
Faculty Advisor: Prof. Z. Maroulis
Thesis Topic: "Synthesis of Heat Exchanger Network"
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2019-present Gore Centennial Professor
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering University of Delaware, Newark, DE
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2018- 2019 Associate Vice President
Office of Women in STEM Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ
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2017- 2019 Distinguished Professor
Department of Chemical & Biochemical Engineering Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ
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2016- 2019 Special Government Employee (SGE) Consultant to the FDA under the Advisory Committee for
Pharmaceutical Science and Clinical Pharmacology (ACPS-CP)Professor
2013- 2018 Chair
Department of Chemical & Biochemical Engineering Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ
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2009- 2017 Professor
Department of Chemical & Biochemical Engineering Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ
2004-2009 Associate Professor
Department of Chemical & Biochemical Engineering Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ
2005-2006 Visiting Associate Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA
1998-2004 Assistant Professor
Department of Chemical & Biochemical Engineering Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ
Piscataway, NJ
1996-1998 Post Doctoral Research Associate
Department of Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Faculty Advisor: Prof. Christodoulos A. Floudas
1995-1996 Post Doctoral Research Associate
Center for Process Systems Engineering, Imperial College, London, UK
Faculty Advisor: Prof. Efstratios Pistikopoulos
Professional Experience
Honors and Awards
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2022 AICHE Excellence in Process Development Research Award, sponsored by Pfizer, Inc.
2019 Gore Centennial Professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware
2018 The Research & Development Council of New Jersey Chairman’s Award as part of the Center for Structured Organic Particular Systems, NSF funded ERC center
2017 Distinguished Professor promotion effective July 1st of 2017 – Rutgers University
2017 Board of Directors of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
2016 Computing in Chemical Engineering from American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), Computing And Systems
Technology (CAST) division
2016 Fellow of American Institute of Chemical Engineers
2016 Keynote Speaker. International Conference on Sustainable Chemical Product and Process Engineering (SCPPE 2016),
May 31- June 3, Nanjing, China
2016 Keynote Speaker. ESCAPE26, Slovenia, June 12-15, 2016.
2015 EPA's 2015 Scientific and Technological Achievement Highest Level Award.
2015 Award of Division of Particulate Preparations and Design (PPD) in PPD division of The Society of Powder Technology, Japan
(SPTJ).
2015 Plenary Speaker. PSE2015/ESCAPE25, Copenhagen, May 31-June 4, 2015.
2015 Invited Speaker. 50th AAPS Arden Conference: Continuous Manufacturing of Solid Oral Drug Products, Baltimore,
March 16-18, 2015.
2015 Invited Speaker. QAFCO-Texas A&M at Qatar Conference 2015.
2014 Best Teacher award (selected by the students – Engineering Governing Council)
2014 Invited keynote lecturer at the Foundations of Computer-Aided Process Design (FOCAPD)
2014 Invited Seminar Speaker. BMS, Syracuse, March 2014.
2013 PSE Model-Based Innovation (MBI) Prize for 2013
2013 Invited Visiting Faculty, ETH Zurich, 2013.
2012 Outstanding Faculty Award, School of Engineering, Rutgers University
2012 Invited International Seminar on Planning and Scheduling, Rio de Janeiro, Oct 2012.
2011 Invited speaker on 5th International Graz Congress on Pharmaceutical Engineering, Graz, Austria, September 2011
2009 Keynote lecture, 20th International Symposium of Process Systems Engineering (PSE), Brazil, August 2009.
2008 Invited Seminar Speaker Pan American Advanced Studies Institute Program on Process Systems Engineering (PASI), Mar Del
Plata, Argentina, August 2008.
2006 Keynote lecture ADCHEM (Advanced Control of Chemical Processes) Gamado, Brazil, 2006.
2005 Invited Seminar Speaker Pan American Advanced Studies Institute Program on Process Systems Engineering (PASI), Iguassu
Falls, Brazil, August 2005.
2004 Board of Trustees Research Award for Scholarly Excellence, Rutgers University
2002 Teaching Excellence Award from Chemical Engineering Department, Rutgers University
2001 Plenary Speaker, ENPROMER 2001, 3rd Mercosur Congress on Process Systems Engineering, Argentina, September 2001.
2001 Invited Speaker University of Iceland, May 2001.
2000 NSF CAREER Award, CTS 99-83406
1992 Postgraduate Grant, Commission of European Community (ERB CHBI CT 93 0484)
1991 Research/Teaching Fellowship, Imperial College
1986 Undergraduate Fellowship, National Scholarship Foundation of Greece Award
1990 Tiftixis Foundation Award, Athens Greece
1991 Economou Award for Academic Excellence, Athens, Greece
1991 Best Student of Chemical Engineering Department Award, National Technical University of Athens
Teaching Activities
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2013-2016 Professional Skills Development Course: Sophomore level Course
2013-2014 Design of Separations Processes: Junior level Course
2012 Process Systems Engineering: Modeling and Optimization of Process Design and Operations - Graduate level Course
2010-2011 Chemical Analysis I – Sophomore level course
2004-2009 Freshmen Orientation Lectures
2004-2012 Process Dynamics and Control: Senior level course
2004 Modeling and Optimization of Process Design and Operations: Graduate level Elective Course
2005-2007 Analytical Methods in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering: Graduate level Core Course
2001-2002 Analytical Methods in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering: Graduate level Core Course
2000-2002 Design of Separation Processes: Senior Level Course:
1999-2000 Advanced Transport Phenomena: Graduate level Core Course
1999 Process Systems Engineering: Graduate level Course