Debasmita Halder is a Ph.D. candidate in chemical engineering at the University of Houston, specializing in zeolite synthesis, catalyst design, defect engineering, and carbon dioxide capture. Her research addresses the growing need for efficient and scalable carbon-capture materials.
She earned her Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati and her Master of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur before joining the University of Houston in 2021.
Under the guidance of Professor Jeffrey D. Rimer, her doctoral research focuses on tailoring zeolite structures through heteroatom incorporation, demetallation, and defect engineering to develop advanced porous materials for enhanced CO2 capture. Her work combines materials synthesis with advanced characterization techniques, including in situ hydrothermal atomic force microscopy, to investigate zeolite crystallization and surface-growth mechanisms.
Debasmita has received several honors, including the Chevron Graduate Fellowship for her contributions to energy-related research, the UH Presidential Fellowship, the Kalia-Parekh Scholarship, and the AIChE Separations Division Award. She has also received multiple best-poster awards, including awards from the Materials Engineering and Sciences Division at the AIChE Annual Meeting and the Southwest Catalysis Symposium, as well as recognition in the Three Minute Thesis competition.
Beyond research, she mentors graduate and undergraduate students, serves as a teaching assistant, and also serves on the board of the IIT Alumni of Greater Houston.
Halder gives an overview of her work