Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Chemical Engineering

Trout Group Member

Nicholas Musolino Graduate Student Department of Chemical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology Rm. E19-528 77 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, Mass. 02139 Phone: (617) 253-6675 Fax: (617) 253-2272 E-mail: musolino@mit.edu

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Education and Qualifications

Ph.D. candidate in Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sept. 2006 to present

B. Eng. summa cum laude, Chemical Engineering, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, May 2006

Engineer-in-Training, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, July 2006

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Research Summary

The evaporation of water from its liquid is well understood phenomenologically, and in the past two decades the nature of water's equilibrium liquid-vapor interface has attracted considerable investigation, both through experimental work and by molecular- and electronic-resolution computer simulation. The objective of my work is to apply the techniques of computer simulation to learn about the former process -- that is, to gain a molecular-level, mechanistic understanding of the dynamic process of evaporation. In the near future, this will involve applying thermodynamic analysis and rare event sampling to molecular mechanics simulations.

If successful, I would also like to apply this understanding to design an additive that (a) would be soluble in water and (b) would alter the free energy landscape that a water molecule traverses as it leaves the liquid and passes through the interface. By increasing the energetic barrier associated with this "reaction," such an additive could impede the process of evaporation.

I am also interested in methodological developments for rare event sampling and other techniques for the analysis of physical and chemical reactions.

Last Updated: June 12, 2007