Daniel M. Markiewitz

Daniel Markiewitz is a graduate student in chemical engineering seeking to predict macroscopic properties of concentrated electrolytes from molecular-scale ion interactions. Current battery development relies heavily on experimentation; he connects microscopic ion clustering to macroscopic transport properties like ionic conductivity and dielectric permittivity through statistical mechanics models. He combines vibrational spectroscopy with computational frameworks to extract free energies of ion association without expensive molecular dynamics simulations, establishing a streamlined characterization pipeline. He implements cluster effective medium theory to map the parameter space governing electrolyte behavior, enabling rational material design for energy storage systems. As a MathWorks Fellow, Daniel will refine his computational frameworks into a user-friendly computational toolbox designed to make these methods accessible to non-technical users in industry and research. His work lays the foundation for rational battery electrolyte design while accelerating discovery across energy storage and electrocatalysis applications.