Morgan honored for innovations in oxide catalysts

On April 29, 2026, Grainger Dean Devesh Ranjan hosted a celebration at which he recognized engineering faculty and staff for outstanding daily work that shapes the heart of our college.

Dane Morgan, the Harvey D. Spangler Professor in materials science and engineering, received the Byron Bird Award for Excellence in a Research Publication.

Oxide catalysts are important in industrial and energy technologies ranging from chemical manufacturing to vehicle emissions control to renewable energy conversion. Published in 2011 in the journal Energy & Environmental Science, Morgan’s work transforms how researchers design and understand these catalysts—replacing slow, costly trial and error methods with fast, accurate computational screening.

In short, Morgan and his colleagues identified a descriptor called the “oxygen p-band center” that not only is a strong predictor of key catalyst characteristics, but also provides a framework for using high-throughput computation to accelerate materials discovery.

The impact of this work is broad. The publication itself has more than 650 citations and guides the work of research groups worldwide, while its predictive power has translated into patented technologies and high-performance materials.