Metrohm USA is pleased to announce the winner of its 2021 Young Chemist Award, Ryan Jansonius. Ryan is a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia where his research centers around developing technologies that use inexpensive and abundant renewable electricity to drive otherwise environmentally costly chemical transformations.

The production of fuels, plastics, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, and specialty chemicals consumes 10% of the energy produced worldwide, and is responsible for 5% of all greenhouse gas emissions. By developing ways to produce these useful chemicals using only abundant feedstocks and renewable electricity, Ryan’s research enables ways to offset these emissions. The aim is to produce renewable diesel, pharmaceuticals and a host of bio-derived specialty chemicals in a way that is cleaner, safer, and cheaper than conventional methods.

Ryan is also co-founder of ThorTech, a startup that brings to market a unique membrane reactor technology that uses water and electricity to hydrogenate molecules relevant to the biofuel, pharmaceutical and specialty chemical industries.

Ryan will accept his award and present a short overview of his work at Metrohm’s virtual press conference at PITTCON 2021 on March 8 at 3:00 pm.

One $2,000 runner-up prize and two $1,000 honorable mentions were awarded to Dr. Liang Feng from Northwestern University on his research on editing “genes” of metal-organic frameworks, Elizabeth Brown from Clarkson University for her work on the development of advanced oxidation methods to optimize non-thermal destruction technologies for treating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contaminated water, and to Colby Ott from West Virginia University for his research on simultaneous detection of organic and inorganic gunshot residues using electrochemical sensors.

Metrohm USA has awarded the Young Chemist Award for nine consecutive years. This award is open to all undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate and doctorate students residing and studying in the U.S. and Canada, who are performing novel research in the fields of titration, ion chromatography, spectroscopy and electrochemistry.

Weblink: youngchemistaward.metrohmusa.com

About Metrohm
Metrohm is one of the world’s most trusted manufacturers of high-precision instruments for laboratory and process analysis. The company was founded in 1943 by engineer Bertold Suhner in Herisau, Switzerland, where it is headquartered to this day. Metrohm offers a compre-hensive portfolio of analytical technologies ranging from titration and ion chromatography to near-infrared and Raman spectroscopy, as well as several other techniques. Metrohm sells its products and provides services through its own local subsidiaries and exclusive distribu-tors in more than 120 countries worldwide. Our mission in a nutshell is helping customers from virtually every industry analyze and maintain the quality of their products at every stage in the manufacturing process and beyond. Since 1982, Metrohm has been owned 100% by the non-profit Metrohm Foundation. This foundation keeps to its purpose to support charitable, philanthropic, and cultural projects in eastern Switzerland and, above all, ensure the independence of the company.