Michael A. Matthews

Professor and Chair

Adjunct Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery

The Matthews research group works on understanding thermodynamic, transport, and kinetic behavior of solvents and materials that may promote more green and sustainable methods of chemical and material manufacturing.

With funding from the National Institutes of Health (National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering), Matthews directs a Bioengineering Research Partnership team of three universities that is investigating the mechanisms by which supercritical carbon dioxide-based solvents sterilize bacterial spores. The potential application is low temperature, non-toxic methods for sterilizing and cleaning novel temperature sensitive biomaterials.

Professor Matthews and Professor Weidner are supported by the National Science Foundation to investigate novel, low-temperature electro-organic synthesis of specialty chemicals using ionic liquids as the solvent and electrolyte. This may provide means to eliminate environmentally-harmful solvents and decrease the energy required for chemical manufacturing.

The Department of Energy and Department of Defense are funding research on the low-temperature gas/solid hydrolysis of chemical hydrides to produce hydrogen for fuel cell applications.

Matthews also leads a large NSF educational project (the Research Communications Studio) on behalf of the department and college, investigating the cognitive development of undergraduate and graduate students who work in collaborative teams. Matthews and collaborators in engineering and liberal arts are developing effective tools for mentoring education and cognitive development by focusing on the various kinds of communications required in a research team.