Rate My Professor Robert Enick

Robert Enick is the Bayer Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering. He earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering with a Petroleum Option in 1980, M.S. in Petroleum Engineering in 1983, M.S. in Chemical Engineering in 1983, and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 1985, all from the University of Pittsburgh. Enick has been with the University of Pittsburgh since 1985, holding positions including the James T. MacLeod Professorship from 2000-2006, William Kepler Whiteford Faculty Fellow from 1991-1994, and various teaching fellowships such as the Lilly Teaching Fellowship in 1987-1988. He also serves as a researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).

Enick's research interests encompass chemical engineering, physical chemistry, fluid mechanics, resources engineering, high-pressure phase behavior, CO2 solubility and carbon capture, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in shale resources, CO2-soluble surfactants and thickeners for supercritical CO2, viscosity measurements at extreme conditions, and process intensification. His contributions include leading the development of the Natural Gas, Renewables, and Oil Engineering undergraduate program at the University of Pittsburgh. Enick has received major awards such as the SSOE Board of Visitors Award in 2014, Carnegie Science Center Environmental Award in 2013 for phase-changing solvents for CO2 capture with GE Global, multiple Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Academic Awards (2002, 2006-2008, 2009-2012), Secretary's Achievement Honor Award from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2011, Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award in 1998, AspenTech Award for University Teaching Excellence in 1999, and Beitle-Veltri Teaching Award in 1996-1997. Key publications include "Maximising CO2 sequestration efficiency in deep saline aquifers through in-situ generation of CO2-in-brine foam incorporating novel CO2-soluble non-ionic surfactants" (Chemical Engineering Journal, 2025), "Suppressing undesired solid byproducts formation in Maleic anhydride processing" (Chemical Engineering Journal, 2025), "Thickening supercritical CO2 at high temperatures with rod-like reverse micelles" (Colloids and Surfaces A-Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 2024), "Advances in thickeners of CO2: Application potential of poly-1-decene" (Gas Science and Engineering, 2024), and "CO2-Soluble Nonionic Surfactants for Enhanced CO2 Storage via In Situ Foam Generation" (Energy & Fuels, 2023). His work is highly influential, with over 11,600 citations on Google Scholar.