Career and research
After obtaining her Bachelor's in Chemistry in 2007 from Temple University, [2] [4] she secured a role testing the refinery's waste-water and examining refined petroleum goods such as phenol and acetone at a refinery located near the Schuylkill River in South Philadelphia. [4] [2] Gillard-AbdulAziz later worked for the Philadelphia Police Department as a Refinery chemist at Sunoco Chemicals specializing in forensic science from 2009-2011. [2] [5] She then branched out to entrepreneurship and founded her own company called Nardo Technology in 2016, named after Leonardo Da Vinci. [4] While she founded her company she simultaneously furthered her education by pursuing a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. [4] In the following year, 2017, Abdul-Aziz became a Provost postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania . [6] After completing her Doctorate, Gillard-AbdulAziz became an assistant professor at the University of California, Riverside in 2018, working in the Chemical and Environmental Engineering department. [2] In 2020, she received a $30,000 Hellman Fellowship to support her development of expandable technology in plastic waste repurposing. [7] Additionally in 2020, a paper she helped cowrite on ways to turn Lignin into fuel was published. [8]
Gillard-AbdulAziz was recognized as one of the top up-and-coming minds in the 2022 issue of the Popular Science magazine "The Brilliant 10." [9] Gillard-AbdulAziz focuses on repurposing waste materials such as corn stover and citrus peels into activated carbon filters for environmental cleanup. [9] She also explores converting plastic trash and developing absorbent materials to capture and reuse carbon dioxide emissions, aiming to create practical recycling solutions for a more sustainable circular economy. [9]
Gillard-AbdulAziz holds the Pasqual and Adelina Early Career Chair in Civil and Environmental Engineering department at the University of Southern California. [3] She leads the Sustainable Catalysis and Materials Laboratory, focusing on transforming waste materials like carbon dioxide, citrus peel and plastic into valuable products through catalysis. [3] Her work, recently recognized with a 2024 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in Chemistry, aims to create recyclable products and mitigate global warming by developing innovative reuse processes. [3] Dr. Kandis Leslie Gillard-AbdulAziz's approach involves integrating sustainability and economic viability, with a focus on practical solutions for industry and policymakers. [3]
Her work further centers around innovational approaches to waste management, as sustainable catalysis has garnered much recognition. Dr. Kandis Leslie Gillard-AbdulAziz received a $538,000 National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2021 for her research on converting greenhouse gas into energy chemicals at the University of California Riverside. [10] Her research has also been pivotal in advancing sustainable chemical processes for low-carbon chemical production. [11] Notably, her development of carbon sequestration technologies for direct methanation in an integrated CO2 capture and utilization process represents a significant step towards enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of CO2 conversion technologies. [11]
Beyond research, the National Science Foundation CAREER Award also supports her commitment to increasing access to sustainability-focused research opportunities for women at various academic levels. She has initiated an annual graduate preparation retreat for first-year graduate women in engineering, undergraduate research opportunities, and hands-on engineering activities for K-18 girls. [12]
She currently holds the position of WiSE Gabilan Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Southern California. [13]
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