Experimental plasma physics, plasma heating and transport for fusion energy. Edge power handling. Fusion reactor and power plant designs, including tokamak, spherical torus, and stellarator configurations. Socio-economic aspects of nuclear energy, particularly nuclear proliferation risks

Research interests center around the science and applications of non-equilibrium, or ‘low temperature,’ ionized gas plasma. The large range of technological applications and associated scientific approaches requires developing collaborations with colleagues in associated fields, such as materials and surface science, device physics, biochemistry, medicine or agriculture.

Chris Greig is the Theodora D. and William H. Walton III Senior Research Scientist at Princeton University’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. He has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE), and holds an adjunct professorial appointment at the University of Queensland in Australia.

His ten-year academic career follows almost three decades of international experience in the private sector, firstly as a company founder, and then in senior executive and non-executive director roles in major engineering, energy, and resources companies. These included the CEO of ZeroGen (one of the early CCS ventures), the Deputy Chair of Gladstone Ports Corp, and the Non-Executive Director of several listed engineering firms.

At Princeton, Chris initiated the Rapid Switch Initiative at the Andlinger Center and is an Affiliated Faculty member of Princeton’s High Meadows Environmental Institute. His research combines, engineering, business, and social sciences to explore the challenges of rapid decarbonization for different regions and sectors. He is particularly focused on how to bridge modeled energy scenarios and real-world implementation. He co-led Princeton’s influential Net-Zero America (2020) study which describes five net-zero emissions pathways for the United States at an unprecedented level of detail.  Chris is also leading Princeton’s efforts on similar collaborative studies with universities in Australia, and Asia.

Chemical catalysis and biocataysis of hydrocarbon oxidation and functionalization

Control of surface structures for multiple applications, including catalysis and evolving microstructures in solid oxide fuel cells and battery materials

Work on solid ion conductors for advanced energy storage and conversion applications. We are interested in all solid state devices for electrochemical fuel production as well as energy storage systems for electric vehicles. In addition we study low-cost thermal energy storage systems for concentrated solar power integration and production.

Research focuses on the political economy and energy policies of oil producing states in the Persian Gulf.

Seeks to understand the biosphere’s dynamics by developing a new family of theories, and quantitative analyses

Computational imaging at the intersection of computer vision, AI, computer graphics, optics and sensing. Computational optics and holographic displays. Optical computing and computational photonics. Generative AI and neural rendering. Vision and sensing for autonomous robots.

Wind turbine aerodynamics, turbulent drag reduction, turbulent heat transfer, atmospheric fluid mechanics, and instrumentation