Kristen Fichthorn, the Merrell R. Fenske professor of chemical engineering, has been elected a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). Election to APS fellowship is based on outstanding contributions to the field and is limited to no more than half a percent of the society's membership.
Fichthorn was elected for "simulations that revealed new phenomena in the kinetics of reaction systems, self-assembly of nanostructures and diffusion in mesoporous systems." Her research focuses on applying atomistic simulation techniques, such as Monte Carlo methods and molecular dynamics, quantum mechanics and condensed-matter theory to study materials interfaces.