August 16, 2024
MIT ChemE is proud to welcome Javit Drake ’94 as associate professor of the practice, effective July 1, 2024. In this role, Drake will continue his collaborative research with Professor Fikile Brushett, while establishing new collaborations that leverage his expertise in transport and mathematical modeling. He will also continue his current teaching role.
An undergraduate alumnus of the department, Drake launched his professional partnership with MIT in 2010 as a visiting scientist while also serving as principle scientist for Proctor & Gamble until 2022, when he switched focus to MIT full-time. While at MIT, Drake developed and continues to teach his own course, an ICE-T* module on “Electrochemical Energy – Batteries & Fuel Cells,” offered since 2010. A popular class, this version of 10.493 is unique in being the only ICE-T module that incorporates hands-on laboratory experiments with methanol fuel cells in addition to theoretical design and analysis. Drake has been a valuable co-creator for electrochemical models and publications. During AY2023, he was recognized as an MLK Scholar, a program that aims to enrich the MIT community by inviting professional scholars at the forefront of their respective fields to the Institute.
Drake will continue his research in enhancement of mass and thermal transport phenomena, which include porous electrode theory, multi-component diffusion, coupled diffusion and solid mechanics. Drake received a BS in chemical engineering at MIT in 1994, and a PhD in chemical engineering at University of California, Berkeley in 2000. His graduate research was conducted under the guidance of Prof. John Newman, a highly-regarded pioneer in electrochemical engineering, and Prof. Clayton Radke. Upon earning his doctorate, Javit worked two years at Agilent Technologies, before embarking on a nearly 20-year career at Duracell, then Procter & Gamble (P&G) (upon their acquisition of Duracell’s parent company, Gillette). During this time, Javit distinguished himself as a truly excellent industrial scientist and engineer focused on the use of mathematical models to understand the operation of physical systems and identify practical routes towards achieving substantial increases in product performance, with a particular emphasis on electrochemical systems.
*ICE-T: Integrated Chemical Engineering Topics class module