Fabio H. Ribeiro is the R. Norris and Eleanor Shreve Professor of Chemical Engineering and Director of the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center on the Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources (CISTAR) at the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University. CISTAR is a successful five-university and 32 industry partner collaboration that allies with industry to develop technological innovations and build a diverse and innovative workforce to responsibly realize U.S. shale gas potential in reducing carbon footprints. He received his Ph.D. degree from Stanford University in 1989, worked for Catalytica, Inc. in Mountain View, California, held a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California – Berkeley, and was on the Worcester Polytechnic Institute faculty before joining Purdue University in August 2003. His research interests center on the kinetics of heterogeneous catalytic reactions and on the energy transition.

The energy transition will happen only if new technological innovations in electrified processes will make them better and cheaper than fossil-driven ones. The final cost will be heavily depending on policy decisions, on a global scale. A major breakthrough in diplomacy is needed to guide public funds and legislation to create the nexus point of industrial productivity for our nation, ensure global economic competitiveness, and increase U.S. energy security. Perhaps no other area of tech diplomacy will be more important.