Alexander Dowling, the Tony and Sarah Earley Collegiate Associate Professor of Energy and the Environment, has won the Outstanding Young Researcher Award from the Computing and Systems Technology (CAST) Division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). The award recognizes his outstanding contributions to chemical engineering computing and systems technology.
AIChE is a professional organization for chemical engineers that has 60,000 members from more than 110 countries.
Dowling’s research integrates chemical engineering, computational optimization, and machine learning to develop advanced models and decision support tools across molecular to systems scales. He has made significant contributions in integrated energy systems and separation systems modeling, including work that couples economic electric grid models with the dynamic operation of industrial systems.
“Professor Dowling is one of the rare examples of a researcher who embodies and excels at all three pillars of the CAST community: research excellence, educational excellence, and computation,” wrote one nominator.
Dowling, who joined Notre Dame’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in 2017, plays a leading role in major international research collaborations involving multiple laboratories and universities. His work spans energy systems, carbon capture, sustainable hydrogen, critical materials, and advanced separation technologies. Supporting these broad applications, Prof. Dowling’s research group contributes to several open-source software projects for mathematical modeling, optimization, uncertainty quantification, and experiment design for complex systems.
“I am deeply impressed with how he has been able to expand his research portfolio to include a range of contemporary applications (e.g. renewable energy systems, data science, and machine learning) while simultaneously providing a better fundamental understanding of such systems from a materials, chemistry, physical properties, and systems engineering perspective,” wrote another nominator.
Dowling has published 56 journal articles and 27 refereed conference publications. His impact has been recognized nationally and internationally with such awards as a 2023 Junior Sargent Medal from IChemE, an NSF CAREER award in 2020, and inclusion in I&ECR’s 2024 Class of Influential Researchers.
His teaching and mentorship have also received accolades. In 2025, he won the James A. Burns, C.S.C., Award for his exceptional aptitude and dedication to mentoring young scholars in his field. He was also invited to present at the Computer Aids for Chemical Engineering (CACHE) 50th Anniversary conference in recognition of his stature as an outstanding young chemical engineering educator.
Third-year Ph.D. student in Dowling’s lab, Shammah Lilonfe, said of his advisor: “Professor Dowling has played a pivotal role in my graduate research and professional development, guiding my research strategy and addressing roadblocks. In short, Professor Dowling is always available and provides the push necessary for his graduate students to be successful.”
—Karla Cruise, Notre Dame Engineering