B.S. Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, 2019
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, UC Berkeley, 2024
Postdoctoral Research Associate, California Institute of Technology
Schmidt Science Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Hi! My name is Justin Bui.
ELECTROCHEMICAL ENGINEER
I am an Incoming Assistant Professor at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering starting in Fall 2026. I received my Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at University of California, Berkeley, working with Dr. Adam Weber and Prof. Alexis Bell in the Liquid Sunlight Alliance. At Berkeley, my research focused on the use of continuum-level theory to understand the impact of transport and catalysis in bipolar ion-conducting polymer membranes, as well as to elucidate the influence of the catalytic microenvironment on the CO2 reduction to value-added chemical products. As a Postdoctoral Researcher with Prof. Karthish Manthiram at Caltech, I developed flow electrochemistry systems to generate plastics and fertilizer precursors sustainably from air. Now at MIT, I am working with Prof. Connor Coley and Prof. Klavs Jensen to identify and automate promising electrochemical reactions for medicinal chemical synthesis. I am the recipient of the NDSEG, NSF, and Schmidt Science Fellowships, and was selected for the Forbes 30 Under 30 Science list in 2025. At NYU, my laboratory will develop electrochemical technologies to valorize waste and perform industrially-relevant chemical syntheses, leveraging perspectives of high-throughput optimization, reaction engineering, and multi-physics modeling. When I’m not doing science, I enjoy playing music and making digital art. Feel free to reach out to me if you are interested in joining my group, or even if you’d just like to chat!
PH.D. STUDENTS
Sebastian is a Chemical Engineering Ph.D. student at New York University from Tampa, FL. His research includes both computational and experimental components, focusing on modeling, understanding, and optimizing electrochemical processes and materials to improve energy sustainability. He earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Florida State University in Spring 2025, where he investigated cation and organic film effects on CO₂ reduction and ionomer membrane morphology effects on ion transport. Outside of research, he enjoys all things music, biking/running, playing soccer, and traveling.
Sebastian Castro
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Florida State University, 2025
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Maya is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering co-advised with Prof. Miguel Modestino. She obtained her B.S. in Chemical Engineering (2024) from Columbia University and went on to develop industry experience maturing efuel technology. She is interested in sustainable applications of electrochemistry and reducing their barriers to scale. Her project involves the development of automated reactors for the simultaneous optimization of electrochemical process conditions and parameterization of coupled transport-kinetic models. She is from New York City and in her free time enjoys exploring the city’s art and culture.
Maya Schuchert
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, 2024
We are looking for talented Ph.D. students and postdocs interested in developing and advancing physical understanding of next-generation electrochemical systems to join the Bui Lab at NYU starting in Fall of 2026. Our research will span modeling and experiment, leveraging multi-scale understanding to accelerate and inform the implementation and translation of electrochemical reactors for chemical synthesis and environmental remediation. Interested Ph.D. students and postdocs should reach out to Justin to discuss potential projects and research interests.
This could be you!