Timothy Noël
The German Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (Dechema), Frankfurt, has selected Timothy Noël for the Dechema Prize 2017 in recognition of his pioneering work on continuous photochemical conversion in microfluidic systems. Noël, an associate professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, will receive the €20,000 (about $24,400) prize at a ceremony on June 14th at the Achema trade fair in Frankfurt.Dechema cites Noël for developing solar photomicroreactors and combining them with microfluidics. This enables creation of scalable, adaptable solar-powered chemical plants even at remote locations. Using luminescent dyes in a transparent host, sunlight is collected, converted and focused on tiny embedded fluid channels. The approach potentially can catalyze an enormous variety of reactions, opening up opportunities for environmentally friendly and inexpensive production of chemicals and medicines without complex production facilities or even completely without electrical energy.
The Dechema Prize, which is awarded annually, honors outstanding research work related to industrial chemistry, process engineering, biotechnology or chemical equipment.