Prof. Robert Farrauto

Farrauto focuses on technical applications directed toward solving environmental problems. His research is both applied and fundamental and is focused on world needs. His research, sponsored by the agencies within the Department of Energy with collaborating industries, allows his students to see selective adsorption and catalysis applied to problem-solving. His focus is now exclusively on engineering solutions to climate change via direct air capture of CO2 and optionally, catalytic conversion to useful products.

Farrauto received his BS in chemistry from Manhattan College in 1964, and his PhD in chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1968. He spent 44 years in the catalytic industry (1968-2012) and has developed a number of commercial products. He holds 60 U.S. patents and his research has appeared in 141 peer-reviewed publications. After retiring from BASF as a Vice President of Research, he has been a Professor of Professional Practice in the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia Engineering in the City of New York since 2012. He is the 2016 recipient of the Columbia Alumni Teaching Award based on graduate and undergraduate teaching. He is a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors and has received numerous awards in catalysis.