Bazant earned a B.S. in mathematics and physics in 1992 and an M.S. in applied mathematics in 1993 from the University of Arizona. Subsequently, he undertook research in physics for a Ph.D. at Harvard University, under the supervision of E. Kaxiras, and graduated in 1997. His dissertation was titled, Interatomic Forces in Covalent Solids.[6] He then spent a year at Harvard as a postdoctoral fellow in engineering and applied sciences under the guidance of Howard A. Stone.[7]
Career
Bazant began his academic career in 1998 as an instructor of applied mathematics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was appointed as assistant professor of mathematics in 2000 and promoted to associate professor in 2003.[8] He joined the department of chemical engineering in 2009 and built an experimental laboratory to compliment his theoretical research. He was promoted to full professor in 2012 and named the inaugural Edwin G. Roos (1944) Chair Professor of Chemical Engineering in 2015.[9] He has held visiting faculty positions as the Paris Sciences chair at ESPCI Paris (2001, 2007-2008) and as the Global Climate and Energy Project chair at Stanford University (2015-2016).
Bazant was the executive officer of the department of chemical engineering at MIT from 2016 to 2020 and then created the new role of digital learning officer. He has co-founded multiple research centers and serves as director of D3BATT: Data-Driven Design of Rechargeable Batteries[10] and of the Center for Battery Sustainability.[11]
After organizing the 13th International Electrokinetics Symposium (ELKIN) in 2019,[12] he co-founded the International Electrokinetics Society and became its first president.[13] He served as associate editor of SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics from 2011 to 2021. He has consulted for Saint-Gobain Research North America on ceramics and plastics since 2008 and became chief scientific advisor in 2013.
Bazant co-founded two MIT startup companies: ICEO in 2005, which developed induced-charge electro-osmoticmicrofluidic devices, and Lithios in 2022, developing electrochemical lithium extraction.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bazant developed a safety guideline to limit indoor airborne transmission,[37] beyond arbitrary social distancing. The guideline was popularized by an online app and MOOC[17] and used in controls for healthy buildings.
Awards and honors
2015 – Alexander Kuznetsov Prize in Theoretical Electrochemistry, ISE[38]
2018 – Andreas Acrivos Award in Chemical Engineering, AIChE[40]
2019 – MITx Prize for Teaching and Learning in MOOCs[16]
Selected articles
Bazant, M. Z., Thornton, K., & Ajdari, A. (2004). Diffuse-charge dynamics in electrochemical systems. Physical review E, 70(2), 021506.
Bazant, M. Z. (2004). Conformal mapping of some non-harmonic functions in transport theory. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, 460(2045), 1433–1452.
Bazant, M. Z., Kilic, M. S., Storey, B. D., & Ajdari, A. (2009). Towards an understanding of induced-charge electrokinetics at large applied voltages in concentrated solutions. Advances in colloid and interface science, 152(1-2), 48–88.
Bazant, M. Z., Storey, B. D., & Kornyshev, A. A. (2011). Double layer in ionic liquids: Overscreening versus crowding. Physical review letters, 106(4), 046102.
Bazant, M. Z. (2013). Theory of chemical kinetics and charge transfer based on nonequilibrium thermodynamics. Accounts of chemical research, 46(5), 1144–1160.
Bazant, M. Z. (2017). Thermodynamic stability of driven open systems and control of phase separation by electro-autocatalysis. Faraday discussions, 199, 423–463.
Bazant, M. Z., & Bush, J. W. (2021). A guideline to limit indoor airborne transmission of COVID-19. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(17), e2018995118.
Bazant, M.Z. (2023). Unified quantum theory of electrochemical kinetics by coupled ion–electron transfer. Faraday Discuss, 2023,246, 60-124.