Ben Freireich, PhD, PE is a Technical Fellow at Origin Materials with more than a decade of experience chemical and process industries. At Origin, Dr. Freireich serves as a subject matter expert for solids processing challenges in all (e.g., raw material, intermediates, products) aspects of Origin’s carbon negative materials production. Dr. Freireich is an industry leading expert in both product and process research and development for solid materials.
Prior to Origin Materials, Dr. Freireich served as the Technical Director of Particulate Solid Research, Inc. (PSRI) where he led applied process research efforts for a consortium of over thirty multinational corporations. He was previously a Research Scientist in Core R&D at The Dow Chemical Company, where he served as subject matter expert responsible for product and process development over a wide range of businesses, products, and technologies. Dr. Freireich is a renowned specialist in particle technology with expertise in particle design, powder flowability, mixing, fluidization, size enlargement, attrition, and other areas of solids processing.
He obtained his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University studying manufacturing processes involving solid materials. Ben has over 20 publications and over 500 citations, co-authored two sections of Perry’s Chemical Engineering Handbook, is the Chair of ASTM D18.24 sub-committee on Characterization of Bulk Solids and Powders, and a Professional Engineer in the state of Michigan. In addition, Dr. Freireich is the Programming Chair and Student Workshop Chair of the AIChE Particle Technology Forum (PTF); and was previously an Industrial member of the PTF Executive Committee, Chair of the 2015 and 2020 AIChE Frontiers in Particle Science and Technology Conference, Chair of the 2017 World Congress of Particle Technology Characterization Area, Chair of AIChE Area 3C: Solids Handling and Processing 2012–2016, and was named one of AIChE’s 35 under 35 for 2017. Ben lives in Oak Park, IL and has four children.