Dr. Mark A. Snyder

Prof. Mark A. Snyder, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

Professor

Director of on-campus ChBE Master’s Programs

Contact

Office:
Health, Science & Technology Building, HST-217
124 E. Morton St.
Bethlehem, PA 18015-1629

ChBE Department:
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
5 East Packer Ave.
Whitaker Lab, Room 470
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA 18015-1629
Email: snyder@lehigh.edu
P: (610) 758-6834
F: (610) 758-5057

 

Education

Lehigh University Chemical Engineering B.S. (Highest Honors) / 2000
University of Delaware Chemical Engineering Ph.D. / 2006

 

Academic Appointments

Professor

Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Lehigh University

 May 2023-present

Associate Professor

Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Lehigh University

 June 2015-May 2023

Frank Hook Assistant Professor

Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Lehigh University

 Aug. 2011- Aug. 2013

P.C. Rossin Assistant Professor

Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Lehigh University

 July 2009-July 2011

Assistant Professor

Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Lehigh University

 Aug. 2008-June 2015

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Dept. of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

University of Minnesota

Supervisor: Prof. Michael Tsapatsis

 May 2006-July 2008

 

Bio

Mark Snyder is Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Snyder’s formal education in Chemical Engineering has provided him with a complementary set of computational, materials synthesis, and characterization skills. His Ph.D. research at the University of Delaware with Prof. Dion Vlachos (2000-2006) focused on multi-scale modeling of molecular transport through crystalline microporous thin films (e.g., zeolite membranes), with parallel efforts aimed at establishing and exploiting non-destructive 3D characterization of grain boundaries in those materials. His postdoctoral work with Prof. Michael Tsapatsis (2006-2008) in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Minnesota expanded his research focus to include development of mechanistic insights into novel inorganic materials synthesis, with a focus on amino-acid assisted synthesis of size-tunable silica (and GeO2) nanoparticles (nanocrystals), nanoparticle crystals, and interfacial and structural engineering of zeolitic materials. Taken together, the computational and experimental focus on amorphous and crystalline siliceous materials has provided the framework for traversing the synthesis, characterization, and simulation legs of the ‘materials triangle’.  Snyder’s research with his students focuses broadly on the fundamental engineering and assembly of functional inorganic nanoparticles and template-mediated growth of porous inorganic materials (films, powders) for applications spanning separations, catalysis, and alternative energy technologies. Driving all aspects of his work is the goal of developing new fundamental synthesis-structure-function relations enabling rational and seamless materials design across length scales spanning the mesoscopic (pore size, topology) to the molecular (surface function, crystal polymorphism, pore transport).

Since joining Lehigh, Snyder has been honored with a Doctoral New Investigator Award from the ACS Petroleum Research Fund (ACS-PRF DNI) and an NSF CAREER Award (2014). He has also been recognized with a P.C. Rossin Assistant Professorship for academic years 2009-2011 and a Frank Hook Assistant Professorship for academic years 2011-2013. In addition to research, Snyder is strongly committed to high-quality education. He has been honored by three teaching awards from Lehigh, the Stabler Award for Excellence in Teaching from Lehigh in 2020, an Educational Excellence Award from Lehigh’s Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science (RCEAS) in 2018, and Lehigh’s Early Career Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2014. In 2023, Snyder received the Rossin College Faculty Citizenship Award.

 

Awards and Honors

  • Rossin College Faculty Citizenship Award, Lehigh University, P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science
 2023
  • Stabler Award for Excellence in Teaching, Lehigh University
 2020
  • Educational Excellence Award, Lehigh University, P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science
 2018
  • Early Career Award for Distinguished Teaching, Lehigh University
 2014
  • Early CAREER Award, National Science Foundation
 2014
  • Frank Hook Assistant Professorship, Lehigh University
 2011-2013
  • W. David Smith Jr. Graduate Publication Award, AIChE Computing and Systems Technology Division (CAST)
 2010
  • Featured in “Movers & Shakers” column, The Catalyst Review, June 2010 issue
 2010
  • P.C. Rossin Assistant Professorship
    Lehigh University, P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science
 2009-2011
  • Doctoral New Investigator Award, ACS-Petroleum Research Fund
 2009
  • Supercomputing Research Scholarship
    University of Minnesota Supercomputing Institute
 2006-2007
  • AIChE Separations Division Graduate Student Award-Membranes area
 2005
  • Second Place Award, Student Poster Contest, 8th Intl. Conference on Inorganic Membranes
 2004
  • NSF Travel Award, 8th International Conference on Inorganic Membranes
 2004
  • T.W. Fraser and Shirley Russell Teaching Fellowship
    University of Delaware, Department of Chemical Engineering
 2004
  • NSF Travel Award, NATO ASI on Fluid Transport in Nanoporous Materials
 2003
  • Robert L. Pigford Teaching Assistant Award
    University of Delaware, Department of Chemical Engineering
 2003

 

Awards Received by Graduate Student

(undergraduate (ø), and postdoctoral (҂) research advisees)

  • Kenneth A. Earhart Travel Award, Lehigh University Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, H. Guo
 March 2023
  • Student poster award, 23rd North-East Corridor Zeolite Association (NECZA 2019), M. Sharma
 Dec. 2019
  • Chevron Scholars Award, Lehigh University Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, N.K. Ozdemir
 Sept. 2019
  • Elias Klein Founds’ Travel Award, North American Membrane Society (NAMS), M. Sharma
 May 2019
  • Chevron Scholars Award, Lehigh University Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, M. Sharma
 July 2017
  • Poster award (oral presentation), 20th North-East Corridor Zeolite Association (NECZA 2016), M. Sharma
 Dec. 2016
  • 2016 Earhart Award, Emulsion Polymers Institute (EPI), M. Joy
 May 2016
  • 1st place poster award, Catalysis Club of Philadelphia, D. Gregory
 Nov. 2015
  • Chevron Scholars Award, Lehigh University Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, D. Gregory
 July 2015
  • 2015 Earhart Award, Emulsion Polymers Institute (EPI), M. Song
 May 2015
  • 2013 Earhart Award, Emulsion Polymers Institute (EPI), Z. Tian
 May 2013
  • 2nd place poster award, 2013 Symposium of the Catalysis Society of Metropolitan New York, Z. Tian
 Mar. 2013
  • 1st place poster award, Materials Engineering and Science Division (MESD), 2012 Annual AIChE Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, S.-C. Kung
 Oct. 2012
  • 1st place poster award, 2012 Symposium of the Catalysis Society of Metropolitan New York, Q. Guo
 Mar. 2012
  • 1st  place student poster award, David and Lorraine Freed Undergraduate Research Symposium, Lehigh University, D. Cetin(ø), A. Pike(ø) (Advised with B. Berger)
 Apr.2012
  • 1st place poster award, 15th North-East Corridor Zeolite Association (NECZA 2011), Q. Guo
 Dec.2011
  • 1st place poster award, PA Regional Nanotechnology Conference, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, P. Kumnorkaew(҂) (Advised with J. Gilchrist)
 May 2011
  • 3rd place student poster award, Annual Review Meeting of Lehigh’s Engineered Particles Institute, Q.Guo
 Apr. 2011
  • 3rd place student poster award, 2011 Symposium of the Catalysis Society of Metropolitan New York, Z. Tian
 Mar. 2011
  • 2nd place student poster award, 14th North-East Corridor Zeolite Association (NECZA 2010), S.-C. Kung
 Dec. 2010
  • 2nd place student poster award, David and Lorraine Freed Undergraduate Research Symposium, Lehigh University, M. DiRosato(ø), D. Faro(ø), C. Parker(ø)
    (Co-advised with H. Caram)
 Apr. 2010