Wesley R. Burghardt

Northwestern University

Chemical Engineer

Fellow, Elected 2017

Prof. Wesley R. Burghardt currently serves as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Engineering at Northwestern University. Prof. Burghardt began his academic career by completing a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, with Highest Distinction, at the University of Illinois in May of 1985. He went on to receive his M.S. in Chemical Engineering, from the University of Illinois, in August of 1986 and then his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, from Stanford University, in January of 1991. After completing his doctoral work, he was hired by Northwestern University as an assistant professor.

Prof. Burghardt began his professional career at Northwestern University pursuing research in the field of rheo-optical methods, specifically, developing “off-normal incidence” flow birefringence and spectroscopic birefringence. The former technique allows for the simultaneous retrieval of shear, 1st normal, and 2nd normal stress difference measurements on materials that obey the stress-optical rule; and enabled reconstruction of 3D stress profiles in non-Newtonian fluids during steady flow, enabling him to test and validate numerical simulation procedures. The latter technique, spectroscopic birefringence, produced the first time-dependent measurements of highly birefringent materials, subject to transient flows, in a manner that directly reported their degree of flow-induced anisotropy. Following his early research in rheo-optical methods, a majority of Prof. Burghardt’s career has been dedicated to developing and utilizing x-ray scattering as a rheometric tool. This research has engaged him in the development of novel flow devices that provide access to exploring evolving microstructure within different planes of shear and extensional flows. These devices have been adopted by many other research groups both nationally and internationally and their success has been widely documented. Prof. Burghardt and his students have utilized these flow devices in conjunction with the power of synchrotron x-ray scattering to examine a wide range of complex fluids, including polymer liquid crystals, nanocomposites, microemulsions, and block copolymers. Additionally, his extensive knowledge of x-ray scattering and flow devices has resulted in a number of important collaborations. He worked with Julie Kornfield to map out director orientation “phase diagrams” and establish conditions for flow-alignment in polymeric liquid crystals. His collaboration with Tim Lodge and Frank Bates uncovered flow-induced phase separation in polymer microemulsions; this paper, published in the Journal of Rheology, was awarded the Society’s Publication Award in 2003.

In addition to Prof. Burghardt’s academic contributions to rheology, he has an extensive record of service to the rheological community and specifically, The Society of Rheology. Prof. Burghardt has served on the committee for the Bingham Award and chaired the SOR Nominating Committee. Additionally, he chaired the Technical Program Committee for the 2005 and 2013 meetings and was elected to the Executive Committee in 2003. His contributions to science as a whole have been recognized through his election as Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), through which he received the Dillon Award, and his appointment as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).