Sam West

samwest@utexas.edu 
​CV

Biography
​Sam West is currently pursuing his PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He previously graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2021 with a B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. While at Georgia Tech, he did research in Dr. Blair Brettmann's lab, working to develop new methods of recycling multi-layer plastics using photoactive small molecules. At the University of Texas, his project focuses on sustainable, biologically-based separation of rare earth elements (REE) from industrial processes. He is interested in creating a bioreactor system containing REE-binding proteins embedded in a hydrogel framework to drive REE separation. Sam is co-advised by Manish Kumar and Adrianne Rosales.