About
Amir Haji-Akbari is an Assistant Professor of Chemical & Environmental Engineering at Yale University. He leads the Computational Soft Matter Group which leverages modern theoretical and computational tools rooted in statistical physics to study the thermodynamics and kinetics of phase transitions in a variety of biological and soft matter systems. He is a faculty member in Yale’s Integrated Graduate Program in Physical & Engineering Biology and a principal investigator in the multi-institutional MIT Center for Enhanced Nanofluidic Transport (CENT). He also co-organizes the virtual seminar series on Statistical Thermodynamics & Molecular Simulations (STMS) together with Prof. Sapna Sarupria (University of Minnesota).
Previously, Amir was a Princeton Center for Complex Materials Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton University in the group of Prof. Pablo Debenedetti. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in Prof. Sharon Glotzer’s group. Amir’s research and teaching have been noted by several awards including the NSF CAREER Award (2018), the AIChE COMSEF Young Investigator Award (2019), the Yale Engineering Ackerman Award for Excellence in Teaching & Mentoring (2023), etc.
Professional Experience
- Assistant Professor, Yale University, Dept. of Chemical & Environmental Engineering (2017-present)
- PCCM Postdoctoral Fellow, Princeton University, Dept. of Chemical & Biological Engineering (2012-2016)
Education
- Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan (2006-2011)
- B.S. Biotechnology, University of Tehran (2003)
Honors and Awards
- Yale Ackerman Award for Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring, Yale University (2023) [Yale Engineering News]
- AIChE COMSEF Young Investigator Award (2019) [announcement]
- NSF CAREER Award (2018) [Yale Engineering News]
- Distinguished Young Scholars’ Seminar Series, University of Washington (2014)
- PCCM Postdoctoral Fellowship, Princeton Center for Complex Materials (2012)
- Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship, University of Michigan (2010)
- MSRT Fellowship For Exceptional Talents, Tehran, Iran (2002)