{"248821":{"#nid":"248821","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Associate VP for Research Will Help Foster Industry Collaboration","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EChristopher W. Jones, a chemical engineering professor whose research focuses on catalyst materials, has been named Georgia Tech\u2019s new associate vice president for research. A faculty member in the Georgia Tech School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Jones has conducted research for a variety of industrial and federal sponsors, including Fortune 500 corporations and startup companies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EReporting to Stephen E. Cross, Georgia Tech\u2019s executive vice president for research, Jones will help strengthen collaborative partnerships between faculty members and all of Georgia Tech\u2019s research sponsors. He will also play a key role in identifying and creating new research opportunities, planning for large proposals and fostering improved communication with faculty and staff.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cChris has a wealth of experience working with many important federal and industry sponsors,\u201d said Cross. \u201cHe also has a keen interest in providing support to researchers from every corner of Georgia Tech. I am looking forward to working with him.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan and California Institute of Technology, Jones joined Georgia Tech in 2000 and is now the New-Vision Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, a position created by an anonymous donor.\u0026nbsp; Over the past 13 years, he has been principal investigator or co-principal investigator for research projects worth more than $30 million, and has published more than 140 papers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMy group makes new materials that act as catalysts to promote specific chemical reactions, or that act as mass separating agents, allowing us to remove specific molecules from gas or liquid mixtures,\u201d Jones explained. \u201cWe design new materials tuned for specific applications in carbon dioxide capture or catalysis. We try to solve practical societal problems by designing novel materials that can be incorporated into practical and scalable processes.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe work of his research team has attracted a broad range of industrial sponsors, including Corning, Chevron, Dow Chemical, Exxon-Mobil, Phillips 66, DuPont, GE, Lonza \u2013 and even startup company Global Thermostat, which licensed Georgia Tech intellectual property for extracting carbon dioxide from dilute mixtures. Jones says the perception that industrial sponsors only care about near-term product applications isn\u2019t true.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAll sponsors want you to push science and technology forward,\u201d he said. \u201cThe industrial sponsors with whom I have worked want an intellectual partner who can work alongside their scientists and engineers to solve practical problems or uncover fundamental aspects about their materials, products or processes. It\u2019s not correct to say that industry only wants to fund practical work because I\u2019ve worked in several collaborations where fundamental scientific knowledge was valued as much as new products or processes.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe keys to successful industrial collaborations, he said, are to understand the company\u2019s needs and identify how Georgia Tech can contribute to the company\u2019s long-term goals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs part of his research program, Jones has directed more than 20 Ph.D. students and post-doctoral fellows. He finds that teaching and research complement one another.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn many ways, teaching and research go hand-in-hand,\u201d he said. \u201cThe ability to explain a complex subject to a student in class helps you give clearer descriptions of research results in your papers and lectures at conferences. At the same time, being engaged in the frontier of a research field allows you to better connect the basic concepts taught in class to practical implementations of the ideas in a contemporary context.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJones will be cutting back on his research and teaching to accommodate the associate vice president responsibilities. The position is budgeted for 50 percent time, but he\u2019s well aware of the real time demands. Jones said he sees the new responsibilities as an opportunity to learn more about the broader research enterprise at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJones fills a vacancy left by Ravi Bellamkonda, who left the associate vice president position to become chair of the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile his Georgia Tech responsibilities consume most of his time, Jones does pursue two major outside interests: hockey and auto racing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBefore the Atlanta Thrashers hockey team left Atlanta, he was a season ticket holder. He attended as many as 35 of their games each year, and still tries to see NHL games when he\u2019s visiting other cities that have professional hockey teams. Jones can also be seen driving his cars, including an Audi TT-RS, at road courses around the Southeast, including Road Atlanta.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis very effectively causes me not to think about my work at Georgia Tech for a while,\u201d he explained. \u201cI am a fairly intense guy, but everybody needs a little downtime.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Brett Israel (404-385-1933)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EChristopher W. Jones, a chemical engineering professor whose research focuses on catalyst materials, has been named Georgia Tech\u2019s new associate vice president for research. A faculty member in the Georgia Tech School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Jones has conducted research for a variety of industrial and federal sponsors, including Fortune 500 corporations and startup companies.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Christopher Jones has been named Georgia Tech\u0027s new associate vice president for research."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-10-25 13:00:06","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:14","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-10-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-10-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"248811":{"id":"248811","type":"image","title":"Christopher Jones","body":null,"created":"1449243772","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:42:52","changed":"1475894926","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:46","alt":"Christopher Jones","file":{"fid":"198036","name":"jones7189.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/jones7189_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/jones7189_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":421878,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/jones7189_1.jpg?itok=ImvseWH8"}}},"media_ids":["248811"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"10325","name":"Associate Vice President for Research"},{"id":"1700","name":"Chris Jones"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"167317","name":"Steve Cross"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39491","name":"Renewable Bioproducts"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}