Matteo Salvalaglio

Professor of Molecular Systems Engineering

Biography

Matteo is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at University College London, where he leads the Molecular Modelling & Engineering research group and is a member of the Thomas Young Centre and the Centre for Process Systems Engineering.
Matteo obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in 2011 and joined UCL in 2015 after conducting postdoctoral research at ETH Zurich in a joint position between the Chemical and Mechanical Engineering Departments.

Teaching Summary 

Matteo teaches classes in the second and fourth years of the Chemical Engineering curriculum. In the second year Matteo teaches Particulate Systems and Separation Processes II, a module focussed on developing an understanding of separation techniques that involve separation agents and solids, such as Adsorption, Membrane separations and Crystallization. In the fourth year Matteo teaches Molecular Thermodynamics, in collaboration with Dr. Ozgur Yazaydin. Matteo also teaches classes on molecular simulation techniques in the Materials Modelling course organised by the Thomas Young Centre.

Research Summary

Matteo's research is focused on applying and developing molecular modeling methods to understand chemical and biochemical processes in the liquid phase, with an emphasis on rare events, nucleation from solution, polymorphism in molecular materials, and crystal growth.

Awards 

2021

European Research Council Consolidator Grant 2021

2021

Included in the 2021 Rising Star issue of Chemical Engineering Research and Design (Elsevier)

UCL Student Choice Awards Roll of Honour, Outstanding Research Supervision

UCL Student Choice Awards Roll of Honour, Active Student Partnership

2018

Included in the 2018 class of Emerging Investigators by Molecular Systems Design and Engineering (Royal Society of Chemistry).

Education

1996

PhD, Chemical Engineering, University of Ghent, Belgium

1993

MSc, Chemical Engineering, University of Ghent, Belgium

Professional Affiliations  

• MIChemE – member of IChemE
• MAIChE – member of AIChE
• FHEA – member of HEA
• CEng – chartered engineer
• CSci – chartered scientist

Publications

• Systematic finite-temperature reduction of crystal energy landscapes. Francia NF, Price LS, Nyman J, Price SL, Salvalaglio M. Crystal Growth & Design, Sep 9;20(10):6847-62, 2020.
• Promoting transparency and reproducibility in enhanced molecular simulations. The PLUMED Consortium, Nature Methods 16.8 (2019): 670-673.
• Molecular Level Understanding of the Free Energy Landscape in Early Stages of Metal–Organic Framework Nucleation. Kollias L, Cantu DC, Tubbs MA, Rousseau R, Glezakou VA, Salvalaglio M. Journal of the American Chemical Society. Mar 19;141(14):6073-81, 2019.
• Understanding Metal–Organic Framework Nucleation from a Solution with Evolving Graphs. L Kollias, R Rousseau, VA Glezakou, M Salvalaglio Journal of the American Chemical Society 144 (25), 11099-11109, 2022
• Electrochemistry, Ion Adsorption and Dynamics in the Double Layer: A Study of NaCl (aq) on Graphite AR Finney, IJ McPherson, PR Unwin, M Salvalaglio Chemical Science 2021 (12), 11166-11180

See more publications.