PNNL

Mariefel Olarte, a chemical engineer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), has been elected as second vice chair of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International D32 Committee on Catalysis.

The election for committee members was held in December 2021. Olarte will serve a two-year term.

In her new role, Olarte and her fellow committee members have oversight of more than 40 standards for catalyst raw materials and finished catalyst systems—with a focus on the petroleum refining industry. However, the interests of the Committee have recently broadened to include other areas such as emission control catalysts for both automobile and stationary sources, homogeneous catalysts, and enzyme catalysts. The standards are published in the Annual Book of ASTM Standards—Volume 05.06.

The committee has approximately 41 members and seven technical subcommittees that maintain jurisdiction of the standards.

Olarte joined PNNL in 2011, after completing her graduate studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her work at PNNL focuses on catalytic upgrading of bio-oils to produce hydrocarbons and the analysis of the reactant and product streams.

She has been a member of ASTM International since 2016. She also currently serves as Subcommittee Chair of D32.01 and was a member of the ASTM International Emerging Professionals Cohort in November 2020.

Last year, Olarte was appointed chair of the American Chemical Society’s Richland, Washington section.