He Controls Chemical Reactions with Light - Steven Chavez - Young American Scientists 2026

Why It Matters

Real‑time catalyst control promises higher efficiency and lower emissions in industrial chemistry, delivering both economic and environmental benefits.

Key Takeaways

• Catalysts dynamically change during reactions, affecting performance over time.
• Traditional design assumes static catalysts, limiting predictive control.
• New tools enable real‑time monitoring and regulation of catalyst behavior.
• Engineering catalysts like systems could boost efficiency of large‑scale production.
• Mentorship and role models crucial for first‑generation scientists’ success.

Summary

Steven Chavez, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at UCLA, explains that catalysts are not inert participants; they evolve chemically throughout a reaction, much like a chef’s pan whose temperature shifts mid‑cook. This dynamic nature has long been overlooked, leading engineers to design processes based on the false assumption that catalyst properties remain constant.

Chavez’s research introduces novel spectroscopic and computational tools that track catalyst transformations in real time, allowing scientists to treat catalysts as controllable engineering systems rather than passive components. By quantifying how active sites restructure, de‑activate, or form new functionalities, his team can deliberately steer reactions toward desired pathways, improving yields and reducing waste.

He emphasizes, “We need to move towards reactors and catalysts that can change to different environments, and eventually engineer at the molecular level in real time how a catalyst works.” The work also highlights his personal journey as a first‑generation college student, underscoring the impact of mentorship and role models on scientific careers.

If adopted broadly, this approach could revolutionize chemical manufacturing—making processes more adaptable, energy‑efficient, and sustainable—while also inspiring a more diverse next generation of engineers.

Original Description

Steven Chavez’s path to chemical engineering started with a teacher, Kelly Silva. “You have a knack for this,” Silva told him one day after chemistry class. She moved him into her advanced chemistry course and urged him to work hard. Now Chavez is at the University of California, Los Angeles, studying catalysts—materials that facilitate chemical processes. Catalysts are used frequently in industries such as petroleum and agriculture to give us plastics, fertilizers, and other drivers of modern life.

Chavez is specifically focused on understanding how catalysts work over time and what happens when they fail. These proteins, compounds, metals, and other materials reduce the amount of energy needed to make a chemical reaction go, but they can stall or stop, slowing processes, lowering yields and creating incomplete products. This, in turn, affects farmers, industrial agriculture and the cost of the food supply. Efficient catalysis is also a concern in pharmaceutical production. If scientists knew when and how these changes happen, they could better control the pertinent chemistry.

Chavez is exploring these questions by studying catalysts under different wavelengths of light. Once he understands how a catalyst behaves, he’d like to use light to control it.

With cuts to federal funding and instability in scientific agencies, Chavez tries to stay positive, focusing on what he can control—grant applications, teaching, mentoring and working on his big questions. He comes from an underrepresented group and knows that he is a role model. He won’t be able to relate to all the students he looks like, he says. But he can give them the tools and confidence they need to forge their own trailblazing paths in science.

Special thanks to the Exploratorium in San Francisco, where this interview was filmed.

This video is part of “The Young American Scientists,” an editorially independent project that was produced with financial support from Regeneron.