engineering

Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos

Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos rather than just read about it. In short: Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos (1950 - October 28, 2019) was a Greek chemical engineer and, at the time of her death, had been the Robert and Marcy Haber Endowed Professor in Energy Sustainability and a distinguished professor at Tufts University. Flytzani-Stephanopoulos had also been the Raytheon Professor of Pollution Prevention at Tufts.

Key takeaways

Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
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Reproduce the core statement of Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos (1950 - October 28, 2019) was a Greek chemical engineer and, at the time of her death, had been the Robert and Marcy Haber Endowed Professor in Energy Sustainability and a distinguished professor at Tufts University. Flytzani-Stephanopoulos had also been the Raytheon Professor of Pollution Prevention at Tufts. She published more than 160 scientific articles with over 14,000 citations as of April 2018. She was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and American Institute of Chemical Engineers. She lived in the Greater Boston Area with her husband, Professor Gregory Stephanopoulos of MIT.

Early life and education Maria Flytzani was born and grew up in Greece. In 1973, she earned her diploma in chemical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens. She continued her studies at the University of Florida where she received a master's degree in chemical engineering in 1975. She completed her Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the University of Minnesota in 1975 with advisor Lanny D. Schmidt on the topic of oscillations in heterogeneous catalysis. Her thesis was published in 1978 with the title, "Surface Morphology of Platinum Catalysts and Oscillations in Ammonia Oxidation on Platinum". During her time in graduate school, Maria prepared 5 journal publications with her advisor:

M. Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, L.D. Schmidt, R. Caretta "Steady State and Transient Oscillations in NH3 Oxidation on Pt", Journal of Catalysis 64, 346–355, (1980). S. Wong, M. F. Stephanopoulos, M. Chen, T. E. Hutchinson, and L. D. Schmidt "Morphologies of Pt Catalyst Surfaces", Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology 14, 452, (1977). M. F. Stephanopoulos, S. Wong, and L. D. Schmidt "Surface Morphology of Pt Catalysts", Journal of Catalysis 49, 51, (1977). M. F. Stephanopoulos, L. D. Schmidt "Evaporation Rates and Surface Profiles on Heterogeneous Surfaces with Mass Transfer", Chemical Engineering Science 34, 365, (1979). M. F. Stephanopoulos, L. D. Schmidt "Morphology and Etching Processes on Macroscopic Metal Catalysts", Progress in Surface Science 9, 83, (1979).

Journal Publications Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos authored more than 160 journal articles describing significant advances in catalysis, surface chemistry, and single-atom catalysts including:

Yue Li, Qi Fu, Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos "Low-temperature water-gas shift reaction over Cu-and Ni-loaded cerium oxide catalysts", Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 27(3), 179–191, (2000). Qi Fu, Howard Saltsburg, Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos "Active nonmetallic Au and Pt species on ceria-based water-gas shift catalysts", Science, 301(5635), 935–938, (2003). Rui Si, Maria Flytzani‐Stephanopoulos "Shape and Crystal‐Plane Effects of Nanoscale Ceria on the Activity of Au‐CeO2 Catalysts for the Water–Gas Shift Reaction", Angewandte Chemie, 120(15), 2926–2929, (2008). Yanping Zhai, Danny Pierre, Rui Si, Weiling Deng, Peter Ferrin, Anand U Nilekar, Guowen Peng, Jeffrey A Herron, David C Bell, Howard Saltsburg, Manos Mavrikakis, Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos "Alkali-stabilized Pt-OHx species catalyze low-temperature water-gas shift reactions", Science, 329(5999), 1633–1636, (2010). Ming Yang, Sha Li, Yuan Wang, Jeffrey A Herron, Ye Xu, Lawrence F Allard, Sungsik Lee, Jun Huang, Manos Mavrikakis, Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos "Catalytically active Au-O (OH) x-species stabilized by alkali ions on zeolites and mesoporous oxides", Science, 346(6216), 1498–1501, (2014).

Awards and honors Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos's contributions to research, education and service received numerous awards, many of which highlighted her passion for catalysis and the problems associated with nanoparticle design and catalytic function. In 2008, she was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS).

Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos of Tufts University's School of Engineering has been selected as an AAAS Fellow for distinguished contributions to the field of catalysis, particularly for new insights in oxidation reactions on nanoscale metal oxides in fuel conversion and pollutant processes. In 2014, she was elected a member of the American National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Her NAE election citation noted:

For contributions to atomically dispersed heterogeneous metal catalysts for efficient production of fuels and chemicals. Other awards and honors included:

Tufts Distinguished Scholar Award Henry J. Albert Award of the International Precious Metals Institute Giuseppe Parravano Memorial Award of the Michigan Catalysis Society Carol Tyler Award of the IPMI Graduate Teaching and Mentoring Award of the Tufts School of Engineering Fellow, American Institute of Chemical Engineers

References

External links Chemical Engineering - Tufts University, Prof. Flytzani-Stephanopoulos Archived 2018-04-24 at the Wayback Machine Tufts NanoCatalysis & Energy Laboratory Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos publications indexed by Google Scholar

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos

In research: Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1950 births, 2019 deaths, American chemical engineers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos in simple terms?

Why does Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos.