Geoffrey Oxberry
PhD Candidate

Mailing Address: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Chemical Engineering 66-363, 77 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA, 02139-4307 Office Phone: 253-6468 Fax: 617-324-0066 goxberry@mit.edu

I did both undergraduate and graduate work in chemical engineering at the University of Delaware, becoming one of a handful of people in the department's history to graduate with both bachelor's and master's degrees in four years. Along the way, I was a Resident Assistant for one year, was involved in the Delaware Alpha chapter of Tau Beta Pi, earned a Goldwater scholarship, and competed in the Mathematical Contest in Modeling in 2005 and 2006, earning Meritorious (roughly top 10%) distinction both times. My work at Delaware kindled a strong interest in mathematical modeling and computational science, and I spent several summers and winters working with Dr. Antony Beris on using proper orthogonal decomposition to create reduced models and interpret results from direct numerical simulation of viscoelastic turbulence; this work eventually became my master's thesis.

I had intended to continue doing work on model reduction in gene regulatory networks when I came to graduate school at MIT and swore that I wanted no part of energy research, and so, of course, I ended up doing energy research. (I am particularly pleased with how everything turned out.) My research focuses on using optimization techniques to create reduced reaction mechanisms, particularly for combustion-related systems.

As of March, 2007, I received a Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship. I am very grateful for the financial support and look forward to completing the required internship at a national laboratory in the summer of 2008.

When not taking classes or doing research, I play ultimate frisbee and volleyball, despite the unpredictable Boston weather.