Brandon Tapia

Brandon Tapia is a graduate student in polymer science and engineering, where he is conducting research in sustainable materials for industrial gas separations. His work focuses on understanding and improving the long-term stability of polymer membranes, specifically polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIM), used to separate gas mixtures more efficiently than traditional energy-intensive methods like distillation. Brandon investigates how structural and morphological features of PIMs affect gas sorption and diffusion, particularly as membranes age over time. With this second MathWorks Fellowship, he will combine high-throughput experimental testing with computational modeling to uncover structure–property relationships that guide material design. MathWorks tools, including MATLAB’s Optimization Toolbox, Partial Differential Equation Toolbox, and Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox, are essential to simulating transport phenomena, performing data-driven analysis, and managing large-scale datasets. Brandon’s research could enable more efficient membrane technologies, helping to reduce emissions and energy use in the chemical industry while accelerating the transition to more sustainable manufacturing practices.