Dr. Shirts's group designs and characterizes new materials at the nanoscale through the use of theory and computation. The group's focus include drug design through prediction of physical properties and binding affinities and the design of novel biomimetic materials. Dr. Shirts is especially interested in the development of computational tools that can fundamentally change molecular design by making searches through chemical and configurations space much more predictive, reliable and efficient.
keywords
Molecular simulation, biophysics, organic crystals, molecular details of transport, thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, drug design, software development
CHEN 1203 - General Chemistry for Engineers 2
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2025
Designed for students whose academic plans require advanced work in chemistry. Topics include kinetics, solubility/solubility equilibria, acid-bases, buffers and titrations, thermodynamics, and electrochemistry. Examples and problems illustrate the application of chemistry to engineering sub-disciplines. AP Chemistry credit not accepted in lieu of any of these prereq classes. Recommended corequisite: CHEM 1221.Degree credit not granted for this course and CHEM 1133 and CHEM 2100.
CHEN 1211 - Accelerated Chemistry for Engineers
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2018 / Fall 2019 / Fall 2020 / Fall 2021
One-semester lecture and recitation course designed for engineering students with more advanced chemistry backgrounds. Topics include stoichiometry; thermodynamics; gases, liquids, and solids; equilibrium; acids and bases; bonding concepts; kinetics; reactions; and materials science. Examples and problems illustrate the application of chemistry to engineering sub-disciplines. Recommended corequisite: CHEM 1221. Degree credit not granted for this course and CHEM 1113 and CHEM 1400 and CHEN 1201 and MCEN 1024.
CHEN 4521 - Physical Chemistry for Engineers
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2024 / Spring 2025
Examines the laws of classical thermodynamics followed by physical transformations of pure substances, the thermodynamics of simple mixtures and chemical equilibrium. Applies quantum theory to atomic and molecular structure. Presents the concepts and applications of statistical thermodynamics. Introduces rates of chemical reactions, reaction dynamics and catalysis.
CHEN 5838 - Special Topics in Chemical Engineering
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2019 / Spring 2021 / Spring 2022 / Fall 2023 / Fall 2024 / Fall 2025
Graduate-selected topics courses offered upon demand. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.
CHEN 5919 - Special Topics in CHBE
Primary Instructor
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Summer 2018 / Spring 2019 / Fall 2020 / Spring 2022 / Fall 2022 / Fall 2024 / Spring 2025 / Spring 2026
May be repeated up to 5 total credit hours.
