Michael J. Pellin

Dr. Pellin directs a world-class research effort in understanding the surface chemistry of materials that includes operation of the world’s most sensitive trace analysis facility. He served as deputy director of the Argonne Northwestern Solar Energy Research (ANSER) Center, a joint collaboration with Northwestern University to develop and explore solar technologies, since 1998. He has served as deputy director for the Center for Light Energy Activated Redox Processes (LEAP) since its founding in 2018. His research in trace analysis techniques has led the world for the last two decades and his applications of trace analysis to cosmochemistry won the NASA competition for becoming the lead laboratory in solar wind analysis. Dr. Pellin developed a novel method for removing biological tissue without damage to neighboring cells using lasers, an innovative approach which is now utilized worldwide for a variety of surgical procedures. He developed the synthesis technique of atomic layer deposition and applied it to novel solar cell concepts and nanostructured catalytic reactors.