Andrew Jark-Wah Wong

I am Post Doctoral Scholar at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Plank Society working in the area of computational heterogeneous (electro)catalysis and machine learning. I am passionate about using modern computational chemistry tools to advance technologies regarding the production and storage of renewable energy.

I recently graduated the Mike Janik lab here at Penn State University, where I joined Aug. 2019. I am an expert at using DFT methods to elucidate the complexities of the electrode-electrolyte interface to rationally design better electrocatalysts. My Ph.D. work has developed design principles for catalysts in the electrocatalytic reduction of nitroaromatics, electrochemical conversion of CO2, fuel cell chemistry, electro-oxidative upgrading of biomass molecules, as well for the elucidation of intermetallic alloys as electrocatalysts. At a more fundamental level, i’ve developed an analytical Grand Canonical DFT workflow to study electrocatalytic kinetics, cation effects, and the role of specifically adsorbed ions with the assistance of force field MD methods.

I’ve also been grateful to collaborate with many faculty across the U.S. These include Prof. Anne Co (Ohio State University), Prof. Adam Holewinski (University of Colorado at Boulder), Prof. Scott Milner (Penn State), Prof. Ezra Clark (Penn State), Prof. Chris Arges (Argonne National Lab), Prof. Matthias Waegele (Boston College), Prof. Bryan Goldsmith (University of Michigan), Prof. Craig Plaisance (Louisiana State University), and Dr. Lauren Greenlee (XPRIZE). I completed a summer internship at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where I worked with Dr. Sneha Akhade and Dr. Chris Hahn to study the role of oxides in biomass electro-oxidation.

I believe my experience working with multi-discpline teams with various expertise has prepared me to be a dependable and productive researcher.

In my free time, I enjoy composing music, playing guitar, photography, traveling to try new foods, cooking, basketball, and playing both video and board games. I also am a cat dad to my grey cats, Lyla and Levi.