I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Chemical Engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering in the University of Michigan. During my Ph.D. I have learned to study various heterogeneous catalysis systems on atomistic level using tools like density functional theory, molecular dyanmics, and machine learning. During my masters I also learned to use autoclave reactor for liquefaction and further product characeterization for biofuels and bitumen upgrading.

• Email: [email protected]

• Doctoral of Philosophy Candidate (Chemical Engineering) | Aug 2021 – Present University of Michigan, USA | GPA: 4.0/4.0

• Master of Science (Chemical Engineering) | Jan 2018 – Jan 2020 University of Alberta, Canada | GPA: 3.8/4.0

• Bachelor of Technology (Chemical Engineering) | Jul 2013 – May 2017 IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, India | GPA: 8.9/10.0

• Atomistic Modeling: Atomic Simulation Environment, Pymatgen, VASP, JDFTx, GROMACS, MACE, DeePMD-kit, Microkinetic modeling
• High-throughput Computing: Slurm, PBS, LSF
• Data Science/Machine Learning: Python (Pandas, NumPy, SciPy, scikit-learn), MATLAB

• Graduate Research Assistant, University of Michigan, USA | Aug 2021 – Present

  • Predicting electrocatalytic hydrogenation of organic mixture using density functional theory to understand the synergistic or antagonistic effects of organics on each other in a biooil mixture. (Ongoing)
  • Utilized classical molecular dynamics and quantum mechanical modeling to study the effect of electrolytes on organic adsorption at the liquid/solid interfaces.

• Graduate Intern, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA | Jun – Aug 2024

  • Currently training machine learning interatomic potentials using MACE toolkit for understanding water properties and its effect on organic adsorption at 27 different electrified electrocatalyst interfaces. (Ongoing)
  • Predicting the water coverage and adsorption of reactant on electrodes for different surface charging.

• Research Assistant, University of Alberta, Canada | Oct 2020 – Mar 2021

  • Optimized process parameters to investigate the synergistic impact of agricultural and forest residue on hydrothermal liquefaction. Implemented regression models to establish correlations.

• Graduate Research Assistant, University of Alberta, Canada | Jan 2018 – Jan 2020

  • Initiated the first biofuels project within the coal technology group, focusing on hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass. Conducted independent troubleshooting, optimized process parameters, and established operational procedures, including SOPs and safety inspections.

• Research Assistant (Indian Academy of Science Fellow), IIT Guwahati, India | May – Jul 2016

  • Investigated the synthesis of low-cost tubular ceramic membrane (TCM) via the extrusion process. Experimentally and analytically measured water flux and porosity.

• Undergraduate Dissertation, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, India | May 2016 – Apr 2017

  • Synthesized PEI-impregnated prepared adsorbents for CO₂ capture by preparing fly ash and SBA-15 based adsorbents in laboratory, followed by activation and impregnation process.
  • Modelled and simulated adsorbent packed bed for CO₂ adsorption and compared different breakthrough curves on Aspen Adsorption v8.6.

1. Mathanker, A.; Sharma, G.; Tran, B.; Singh, N.; Goldsmith, B. R. Effect of ions on the aqueous-phase adsorption of small aromatic organics on silver. J. Phys. Chem. C 2025, 129, 29, 13433-13444.

2. Mathanker, A.; Halarnkar, S.; Tran, B.; Singh, N.; Goldsmith, B. R. Synergistic effects in organic mixtures for enhanced catalytic hydrogenation and hydrodeoxygenation. Chem Catalysis 2024, 4, 101135.

3. Mathanker, A.; Yu, W.; Singh, N.; Goldsmith, B.R. Effects of ions on electrocatalytic hydrogenation and oxidation of organics in aqueous phase. Curr. Opin. Electrochem. 40, 101347 (2023).

4. Das, S.; Mathanker, A.; Pudasainee, D.; Khan M.; Kumar, A.; Gupta, R. Synergistic effect of water and co-solvents on the hydrothermal liquefaction of agricultural biomass to produce heavy oil. International Journal of Energy for a Clean Environment 2022, 23(4):31-45.
5. Mathanker, A.; Das, S.; Pudasainee, D.; Khan, M.; Gupta, R. A review on hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass for biofuels production with special focus on the effect of process parameters, co-solvents and extraction solvents. Energies 2021, 14, 4916.
6. Mathanker, A.; Pudasainee, D.; Kumar, A.; Gupta, R. Hydrothermal liquefaction of lignocellulosic biomass feedstock to produce biofuels: Parameter study and products characterization. Fuel 2020, 271, 117534.
7. Mathanker, A. Hydrothermal liquefaction of lignocellulosic biomass to produce biofuels. Thesis 2020.

1. Mathanker, A. Can aqueous ions modify the adsorption of organics on Ag? The Student and Postdoc Summer Seminar Series, CSiDIR, 2025, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.