Ted Oyama receives Alumni Award for Research Excellence

S. Ted Oyama of Blacksburg, the Fred W. Bull Professor of Chemical Engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, recently received the university's 2008 Alumni Award for Research Excellence — the highest research award given at the university.

Sponsored by the Virginia Tech Alumni Association, the Alumni Award for Research Excellence is presented annually to as many as two Virginia Tech faculty members who have made outstanding contributions in the area of research. Alumni, students, faculty, and staff may nominate candidates for the award. Each recipient is awarded a $2,000 cash prize.

Oyama’s research interests are in the areas of catalytic fuel processing, selective oxidation of hydrocarbons, volatile organic compound elimination, steam reforming, and membrane processes. He concentrates on the development of new materials, including novel catalytic materials such as phosphides and advanced inorganic membranes.

After working at Catalytica Inc., in 1988 he became associate professor of chemical engineering at Clarkson University, and then in 1993 joined the faculty at Virginia Tech. He is a recent recipient of a fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and serves as editor of the Journal of Catalysis, the highest-ranked chemical engineering journal. He has published 180 refereed papers, six edited books, and one monograph.

Oyama received his bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Stanford University.