ChBE
2014
S chool of
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
ChBE leads
$11.2 million
Energy Frontier
Research Center
Page 4
Paper
institute gets
new name,
$43.6 million
gift
AIChE
meeting
comes to
Atlanta for
first time
Page 10
Page 11
contents
4
DOE funds research
center in ChBE with
$11.2 million grant
6
In the lab: Research
spotlights
8
Faculty news
9
Faculty profiles
10
Paper institute gets new
name, $43.6 million gift
11
AIChE meeting held in
Atlanta for first time
12
Alumni spotlight:
Melissa McCoy (BS ’12)
13
Alumni news
14
External Advisory Board
member spotlights
14
Student news
15
Smooth transitions:
ChBE program for
transfer students expands to Institute level
A message from
DAVID SHOLL, chair
The School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech continues to go
from strength
to strength.
This magazine contains a
sampling of the
many exciting
activities being
pursued by
our students,
faculty and alumni.
Our program is growing in both
size and quality. We now have
more than 1,000 undergraduate majors and 190 graduate
students. This makes us a key
producer of talented individuals
for a wide range of industries. If
your company doesn’t actively
recruit our students, ask why,
and then contact me to find out
how to develop relationships
with our students!
Our faculty continue to excel at
the highest levels of research. To
give just one example, Professor
Krista Walton is leading a new
Energy Frontier Research Center
funded by the U.S. Department
of Energy. This significant re-
search center will involve multiple ChBE faculty and researchers
at six partner institutions. Please
see page 4 to read more.
This fall, the American Institute
of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
will bring its Annual Meeting to
Atlanta for the first time. This is
a wonderful chance to showcase
Georgia Tech’s accomplishments
in research and education to a
national audience. Go to page 11
to get more information and to
learn how to celebrate with us if
you will be attending the conference.
Although this magazine highlights many of our activities,
there is much more good news
than will fit in these pages. Check
the ChBE website (www.chbe.
gatech.edu) for ongoing news
throughout the year.
One of the great pleasures of my
job is learning about the achievements of our alumni. I have met
many of you in the past year, and
I look forward to connecting with
more of you in the coming year.
If you visit Atlanta, please come
by so we can show you our successes firsthand.
About Us
Established in 1901, the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE) is one of eight schools in the College
of Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Ranked
among the top 10 engineering programs in the nation for
both its graduate and undergraduate programs, the School
is one of the oldest and most diverse programs in the
country.
2
The mission of ChBE is to provide students with the intellectual basis to be educated citizens, to prepare them for
successful careers and to advance the science and technology that form the basis of chemical and biomolecular
engineering.
SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL & BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING, GEORGIA TECH
ChBE
at a glance
2014-15
Faculty and Staff
35 tenure-track faculty members
3 academic professionals
7 faculty members with joint
appointments
11 women
15 NSF CAREER Award
winners
10 AIChE Fellows
7 NAE members
27 staff members
Did you know ...?
ChBE attracts faculty
members from throughout
the world. More than half
of ChBE’s tenure-track
faculty members were
born outside the
United States.
#6
undergraduate
chemical engineering
program in the United
States
(U.S. News & World Report
2014 rankings)
4 10 5
6
11
8
5
7
2
1
1 ARGENTINA
Martin Maldovan
2 AUSTRALIA
Elsa Reichmanis, David Sholl
3 CHINA
Rachel Chen, Yulin Deng, Hang Lu
4 ENGLAND
Matthew Realff
5 GERMANY
Andreas Bommarius, Carsten Sievers,
Sven Behrens
ChBE
Ph.D. students
awarded NSF
fellowships
in 2014
9
3
6 GREECE
Athanasios Nenes, Athanassios
Sambanis
7 HONG KONG
Sally Ng
8 INDIA
Pradeep Agrawal, Sujit Banerjee,
Sankar Nair
9 JAPAN
Yoshi Kawajiri
10 THE NETHERLANDS
Victor Breedveld
Students
11 UNITED STATES
Julie Champion, Michelle Dawson,
Michael Filler, Thomas Fuller, Martha
Grover, Clifford Henderson, Dennis Hess,
Christopher Jones, Paul Kohl, William
Koros, Ryan Lively, Peter Ludovice,
Carson Meredith, Mark Prausnitz, Ron
Rousseau, Mark Styczynski, Krista
Walton
#10 graduate
chemical engineering
program in the United
States
(U.S. News & World Report
2015 rankings)
1,004 undergraduates / 196 graduates: 14 M.S. and 182 Ph.D.
• Awarded 167 B.S., 27 M.S. and 34 Ph.D. degrees in 2013-14
• More than 40 students participated in study abroad programs
• 6 NSF Fellows, 6 Presidential Fellows, 3 Shell Outstanding TA Awards, NASA
Space Science Fellow, NIH Training Grant, Chinese Scholarship Council Fellow
• 74 ChBE undergraduates with 4.0 GPA recognized at 2014 Honors Luncheon
Research
expenditures totaled
more than
Research is conducted in catalysis, reaction kinetics, complex fluids, polymers, microelectronics,
microfluidics, sustainable development, pulp and paper, separations, MEMS, thermodynamics,
environmental science, drug delivery and reaction engineering.
$30 million.
WWW.CHBE.GATECH.EDU
3
DOE funds research center
T
By the numbers
1
Energy Frontier Research Center
in Georgia
10
22
new centers funded by
the Department of Energy
existing centers receiving
renewed funding in this cycle
200+
6
proposals received
by the DOE
partner institutions
for ChBE’s EFRC
ChBE principal investigators
Michael Filler
nanotechnology,
optoelectronic
materials
4
Ryan Lively
energy,
polymers,
separations
he School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech is leading a multiinstitution research center that will be financed
with a four-year $11.2 million grant from the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
The Center for Understanding and Control of
Acid Gas-Induced Evolution of Materials for
Energy (UNCAGE-ME) is one of only 10 new
Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) to be
funded through the federal program and is the
first EFRC to be led by Georgia Tech.
Krista Walton, a ChBE professor, is the director
for the center, which will advance the understanding of how acid gases interact with energyrelated materials.
Five other ChBE professors — Christopher Jones,
Michael Filler, Ryan Lively, Sankar Nair and David Sholl — and Thomas Orlando, a professor in
the Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, also are serving as principal investigators at the center. The center will involve work
at six partner institutions: Oak Ridge National
Laboratory (Oak Ridge, Tenn.; the Department
of Energy’s largest multiprogram science and
energy laboratory), the University of Florida, the
University of Alabama, the University of Wisconsin, Lehigh University (Bethlehem, Pa.) and
Washington University in St. Louis.
“The overall goal of our EFRC is to provide a
fundamental understanding of acid gas interac-
Sankar Nair
novel materials,
nanoscale systems
David Sholl
energy,
separations,
nanotechnology
SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL & BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING, GEORGIA TECH
Christopher Jones
catalysis,
polymerization
in ChBE with $11.2M grant
School of Chemical
& Biomolecular Engineering
at Georgia Tech
Newsletter Committee
Abbey Benton
Michael Filler
Dennis Hess
Jacqueline Mohalley Snedeker
Athanasios Nenes
Donna Peyton
Elsa Reichmanis
Amy Schneider
David Sholl
Printing
Graphic Solutions Group
For More Information
Communications: Amy Schneider
(404) 385-2299, news@chbe.gatech.edu
Photo by GARY MEEK
Krista Walton (shown with Ph.D. student Michael
Dutzer) is the director of the new Energy Frontier
Research Center.
tions with a broad class
of materials and establish
strategies for extending
material stability and lifetime,” Walton said. “These
results will ultimately enable us to accelerate materials discovery for large-scale
energy applications.
“Our multifaceted approach to this important
problem is unique, and one
of our proposal reviewers
even pointed out that this
will be the first research
center in the world specifically dedicated to this
topic.”
The research center’s start
date was Aug. 1.
The awards, which were
announced on June 18, are
the second round of funding for EFRCs. The 32 projects receiving funding were
competitively selected from
more than 200 proposals.
Development: Donna Peyton
(404) 894-0987, give@chbe.gatech.edu
or donna.peyton@chbe.gatech.edu
Main Office: (404) 894-1838
Chair’s Office: (404) 894-2867
Undergraduate Program:
(404) 894-2865, ugrad.info@chbe.gatech.edu
Graduate Program:
(404) 894-2877, grad.info@chbe.gatech.edu
Copyright 2014 • Georgia Institute of Technology School of
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
WWW.CHBE.GATECH.EDU
5
in the lab
Waste not, want not
Yulin Deng and his research group have developed a new type of lowtemperature fuel cell that directly converts biomass to electricity. The hybrid
fuel cell can use a variety of biomass sources, including starch, cellulose,
lignin — and even switchgrass, powdered wood, algae and waste from
poultry processing. “We have developed a new method that can handle
biomass at room temperature, and the type of biomass that can be used is
not restricted,” Deng said. “This is a very generic approach to utilizing many
kinds of organic waste to produce electrical power without the need for
purification of the starting materials.” The new solar-induced fuel cell was
described Feb. 7 in the journal Nature Communications.
http://b.gatech.edu/1m6z8sj
Yulin Deng demonstrates the operation of
a new solar-induced direct biomass-toelectricity hybrid fuel cell.
Closeup of sunflower pollen
Flower power
Microscopic particles serve important functions in commercial products and chemical
processing. Carson Meredith’s research
group develops novel particles by borrowing ideas from nature. His recent studies of
plant pollen adhesion, published in the journals Langmuir and Chemistry of Materials,
apply natural designs to create man-made
particles with properties useful for sensors, adhesives, lightweight materials and
separations processes. For example, replica
particles combine the natural nanoscale
spiny features of sunflower pollen with synthetic magnetic and optically active ceramic
materials.
http://bit.ly/1qO54BN (Langmuir) and
http://bit.ly/Z0Iuj1 (Chemistry of Materials)
6
Cost sievings
Sankar Nair, Chris Jones and their
research groups have developed a
microfluidic technique for fabricating a new class of metal-organic
framework (MOF) membranes inside
hollow polymer fibers. The new
fabrication process, believed to be
the first to grow MOF membranes
inside hollow fibers, could change
the way large-scale, energy-intensive chemical separations are done.
By replacing distillation or cryogenic
techniques, these molecular sieving membranes could cut the cost,
reduce energy consumption and
lead to industrial processes that
generate less carbon dioxide. The
The prototype module, with a
hollow-fiber MOF membrane
mounted in it
work was described in the July 4 issue
of the journal Science.
http://bit.ly/1qnYcxG
Special delivery
Cells internalize enzyme
nanoparticles.
New protein drugs for intracellular targets have
been slow in coming, primarily because it is very
difficult to deliver sufficient amounts of folded,
functional protein inside cells. Julie Champion’s
research group created cross-linked protein
nanoparticles made of therapeutic ß-galactosidase, an enzyme whose deficiency causes some
lysosomal storage disorders, and a fluorescent
carrier protein, eGFP. By tuning particle fabrication
conditions, they controlled particle size, retained
more than 80 percent of the enzyme’s activity and
delivered active enzyme inside cells.
http://bit.ly/1llAQtt
SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL & BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING, GEORGIA TECH
An ovarian cancer
cell grown on a soft
surface and stained
for phosphorylated
myosin light chain
(pMLC) shows
matrix-dependent
increases in pMLC
intensity and polarization of the
stained regions. This
indicates that forces
are being polarized,
which is important
in migration and
metastasis.
Soft approach to hard problem
Unlike most cancer cells, which are more malignant in hard
tissues, ovarian cancer cells accumulate more in soft tissue. Michelle Dawson’s research group investigated the hypothesis that the cells’ preference for soft tissue is because
of the mechanical properties of this environment. The
group analyzed the behavior of two different cell lines with
different metastatic potential on soft and stiff tissues. They
found that metastatic ovarian cancer cells adhere more on
soft tissues, where they proliferate more, migrate more and
are more resistant to chemotherapeutics. These effects are
greatly reduced in noninvasive ovarian cancer cells, indicating that the response to mechanical cues is important in
ovarian cancer metastasis. This study was published in the
Journal of Cell Science.
http://bit.ly/1qnZWqB
Brain in miniature
Hang Lu’s research group is interested in engineering
micro systems and automation tools to address questions
in systems neuroscience, developmental biology and cell
biology that are
difficult to answer
with conventional
techniques. Micro
technologies provide the appropriate length scale for
investigating molecules, cells and
small organisms
and can provide
unprecedented
parallelization
This microfluidic device is used to
and automation
sort C. elegans automatically.
to gather data
about complex biological systems. The Lu lab has published
several papers in Nature Methods demonstrating various
technologies for imaging and manipulating the brain and
other developing tissues/organs of genetic model organisms, such as C. elegans (a transparent roundworm) and
fruit flies. Some of the findings would have been impossible
to gather using conventional technologies. These tools are
likely to lead to discoveries in physiological and pathological mechanisms of human conditions such as Parkinson’s
disease, Alzheimer’s disease, autism spectrum disorder and
schizophrenia.
http://bit.ly/1qmy73c
One-stop shop
Conventional chemical processes perform reaction and separation separately. Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Andy Bommarius and their
research groups are developing reactive chromatography
processes that combine catalytic reaction and chromatographic
separation within a single unit. In collaboration with partners
at the Dow Chemical Co., a continuous reactive chromatography system has been developed and is being tested at bench
scales. This approach has promise to enhance efficiency in
the production of a range of bulk and specialty chemicals. This
work has been reported in Chemical Engineering Journal and
Journal of Chromatography A.
http://bit.ly/1pmx91F (Chemical Engineering Journal) and
http://bit.ly/1ui1pQW (Journal of Chromatography A)
Bench-scale
experiments
are being
performed
to validate
the reactive
chromatography
processes.
Photos by Rob Felts, John Toon, Gary Meek and researchers
Visit www.chbe.gatech.edu for more news about research in ChBE!
WWW.CHBE.GATECH.EDU
7
faculty news
Honors & Accomplishments
Julie Champion
Outstanding Advisor Award (Georgia Tech BioEngineering
Interdisciplinary Graduate Program)
John Crittenden
Inducted member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering
Yulin Deng
Andrew Chase Forest Bioproducts Division Award in
Chemical Engineering (American Institute of Chemical
Engineers)
Nga Lee “Sally” Ng
• Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award (Health
Effects Institute)
• Early Career Award (U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency)
Pamela Peralta-Yahya
DuPont Young Professor for Scientific Innovation Award
Mark Prausnitz
•
Dennis Hess
•
Henry B. Linford Award
for Distinguished Teaching
(Electrochemical Society)
Outstanding Achievement in
Research Innovation (Georgia Tech)
World’s Most Influential Scientific
Minds (Thomson Reuters)
Elsa Reichmanis
Brook Byers Professor of Sustainability (Georgia Tech)
Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Model-Based Innovation Prize Runners-up Award (Process
Systems Enterprise, United Kingdom)
Hang Lu
• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science
• Kavli Frontiers of Science Symposium (National Academy
of Science)
Martin Maldovan
Best of 2013 research awards (MIT News)
Carson Meredith
Georgia Tech Earth Day Environmental Award for Leadership
and Sustainable Initiatives
Ronald Rousseau
• Lifetime Achievement Award in Chemical Engineering
Pedagogy (American Society for Engineering Education)
• Founders Award (American Institute of Chemical
Engineers)
Carsten Sievers
Young Scientist Award (International Congress on Catalysis)
Amyn Teja
Visiting Chair of Excellence (Universitat Rovira)
Yonathan Thio
AIChE Outstanding Faculty Award (Georgia Tech School of
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering)
Athanasios Nenes
•
•
•
•
8
Robert Vaughan Lectureship
(Caltech)
Cullen-Peck Fellow (Georgia Tech
College of Sciences)
Dreyfus Foundation Postdoctoral
Award in Environmental Chemistry
Atmospheric Sciences Section
Ascent Award (American
Geophysical Union)
SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL & BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING, GEORGIA TECH
Krista Walton
Award for Excellence in Publications
by a Young Member of the Society
(International Adsorption Society —
inaugural award)
Reflecting on Chuck Eckert’s legacy
Thoughts from former students upon his retirement in May 2014
Corbett Senter, projected to
be Eckert’s final Ph.D. (No.
108) in 2016
Dr. Eckert knows that the
greatest research in the world
is meaningless if it can’t be
effectively explained to others.
His persistent emphasis
on clarity and brevity in
communication stands out
from my time working with
him. These qualities are too
often overlooked and can be
difficult to master, but, thanks
to the guidance of Dr. Eckert,
I have made tremendous
strides in this area.
Kellye P. Hafner, Ph.D. ’96,
carbon technical manager,
MeadWestvaco Specialty
Chemicals
Chuck exemplifies lifelong
learning, and Chuck’s
continued interaction with
students after graduation
encouraged and inspired us.
Chuck continued
to have learned these
striving for his
traits so early on and
former students’
from one of the best.
success even
long after they
David L. Tomasko,
graduated. He
Ph.D. ’92, professor,
liked to foster
Ohio State University
connections for his
I felt Chuck’s impact
current and former
acutely when I started
students as part of
advising my own
Chuck Eckert
research and job
students. It was then
searches. I hope
that I realized how
that I can be such a mentor.
well he had balanced being
a mentor, teacher, advisor
Laura Draucker, Ph.D. ’07,
and friend. He taught us that
director of sustainability,
research is more about asking
Amherst College
the right question than getting
(Massachusetts)
the right answers and that it is
I always find myself asking
much more about people than
“what do we win when we
process.
win?” — a true Chuck-ism,
and one I hope never to
Jason P. Hallett, Ph.D. ’02,
forget. Embedded in those
senior lecturer, Imperial
College (London)
seven words is the ability
Much of what I learned from
to think strategically, write
Chuck proved useful in life
with purpose and present to
impress. I feel very fortunate
apart from academia. That
nothing was worth doing if
you weren’t willing to excel.
That anything is possible if
you are willing to go after it.
That you should always trust
your instincts. Ultimately, he
taught me that you should
always treat your students and
colleagues like family — and
he always did.
Joan Brennecke, Ph.D. ’89,
professor, University of
Notre Dame
Chuck Eckert challenged
me to do even more than I
thought I could achieve. He
has been a great supporter
throughout my career. But
the most important thing
that Chuck taught me was
that, as academics, our
most important products are
our students. All the rest —
publications, citations, awards
and recognition — are just
byproducts.
Welcome ...
Sandy Pettit, lecturer
Martin Maldovan, assistant professor
Pettit came to ChBE from Clearwater, Fla., and holds bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees in chemical
engineering from the University of
South Florida (USF).
Maldovan began a joint appointment
in ChBE and the School of Physics in
August.
She is a professional engineer (P.E.)
in Florida and worked for more
than 15 years in industrial settings at
Procter & Gamble, Jacobs Engineering and TECO Energy.
She has received several awards, including the Society of
Women Engineers (SWE) National Distinguished New
Engineer Award, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Heiman Impact Award for Excellence in
Education and the USF Provost’s Award for Outstanding
Teaching.
Pettit currently is teaching ChBE 2130 (Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics I) and two undergraduate labs
that are part of the pulp and paper certificate program.
He previously was a postdoctoral
fellow and research scientist at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he earned a master’s
degree and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering. He completed
his bachelor’s degree in physics
at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Maldovan’s single-author paper titled “Sound and Heat
Revolutions in Phononics” was published by Nature in
early 2014.
His work focuses on engineering thermal and diffusion
processes through the rational design of materials and
devices. His findings are being extended to the development of highly efficient systems for energy conversion
and storage.
WWW.CHBE.GATECH.EDU
9
happenings
Paper institute gets new name, $43.6 million gift
The Renewable Bioproducts Institute (RBI) — formerly known as the Institute of Paper Science and
Technology — this year
received a $43.6 million
gift from the Institute of
Paper Chemistry Foundation (IPCF).
use of renewable raw materials in expanding markets such as biochemicals,
specialty paper products,
food and beverage packaging, biofuels, health and
hygiene, pharmaceuticals,
automotive, electronics
and advanced materials.
The gift, one of the largest
in Georgia Tech’s history,
will support the institute’s
mission of advancing the
“We deeply appreciate
the confidence IPCF has
placed in us,” said RBI
executive director Norman
spring 2014
seminar series
Terry Papsoutkis
Hal Alper
Mark Shiflett
Peter Loutzenhiser
K. Dane Wittrup
fall 2014
University of Texas-Austin
DuPont
Georgia Tech
MIT
Jim Pfaendtner
University of Washington
James Watkins
University of Massachusetts
Spyros Pandis
David Sholl
Michael Shirts
Victor Ugaz
Mark Hersam
Paul Barton
Alumni panel
Navin Varadarajan
Will Medlin
Scott Banta
Uli Wiesner
Benny Freeman
Jason Hicks
Glenn Wright
10
University of Delaware
Carnegie Mellon University
Marsolan, “and we will
continue its legacy of
growth in bioproducts
research and industry
leadership development.
We are on the threshold
of a new era of development of this renewable,
sustainable natural
resource, and we pledge
our efforts to justify
IPCF’s faith in us by
contributing to the full
realization of its potential.”
The gift to the interdisciplinary research institute, of which ChBE is a
part, was announced a
week after the institute
was renamed to reflect
its shifting mission.
“As the industry’s
needs have changed,
so has our approach,”
Marsolan said. “As the
Renewable Bioproducts
Institute, we will help
a broader set of companies create economic
opportunity through
access to Georgia Tech’s
world-class experts in
materials science, chemistry and engineering as
well as through access
to talented engineering
graduates familiar
with bioproducts
technologies and
opportunities.”
A Professor of Practice
position will be created
in ChBE to support the
Renewable Bioproducts
Institute’s educational
and research mission.
29th Annual
Ashton Cary Lecture
Georgia Tech
University of Virginia
Texas A&M
Northwestern University
MIT
Various
University of Houston
University of Colorado
Columbia University
Cornell University
University of Texas-Austin
Notre Dame
Shell Co.
SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL & BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING, GEORGIA TECH
Joan Brennecke, director of
the Center for Sustainable
Energy at the University of
Notre Dame and a professor
in the Department of Chemical
and Biomolecular Engineering
there, was the keynote speaker
at the 29th annual Ashton Cary
Lecture on April 23. Brennecke
spoke about ionic liquids
and how to develop them for
energy-related applications. The
lecture series was established
in 1984 as a memorial to Ashton
Cary (BS ’43) and features
distinguished scholars in fields
of significance to chemical
engineering.
Georgia Tech’s Chem-E-Car team
won the 2014 AIChE Southern Regional Conference at the University
of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez on Feb.
21. The team, which is sponsored by
BP, consists of ChBE students Hale
Schwerin (from left), Will Gleason,
Victoria Falk, Phillip Kisembo, Nikhil Deshpande and Kamakshi Malhotra. They will vie for the national
title at the 2014 Annual Student Conference in Atlanta. Participants design
and build a car that is powered by a
chemical energy source and can haul
a specified load for a certain distance.
AIChE Annual Meeting in Atlanta
Organization’s
key conference
held here for first time
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) will hold
its 2014 Annual Meeting in Atlanta Nov. 16-21. This will be the
first time the organization has
held its highest-profile and bestattended conference of the year in
Atlanta.
“The Annual Meeting is by far
AIChE’s largest event each year,
and we are looking forward to
welcoming the thousands of
conference attendees to Atlanta,”
ChBE School Chair David Sholl
said. “The Georgia Tech activities
we have planned for the week
of the conference should contribute to making the conference
a memorable and productive
event.”
Among the special events that
ChBE will host are an invitationonly banquet on campus for
academic department heads and
other leaders in the field and a
weekend workshop — focused
on entrepreneurship and creativity — for graduate students from
throughout the nation. A reception open to all Georgia Tech
alumni and friends will be held
from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 17
at White Oak Kitchen & Cocktails, 270 Peachtree St.
Several key events for the 2014
Annual Student Conference will
be held at Georgia Tech, including the popular annual Chemical
Engineering Car (Chem-E-Car)
competition and the student recruiting and graduate school fair.
These two events will bring more
than 1,000 students to the Ford
Environmental Science and Technology building and the Georgia
Tech Tennis Center.
“Georgia Tech’s AIChE student
chapter is honored to host two
of the main events of the Annual
Student Conference on campus,”
said Victor Breedveld, faculty
advisor. “In particular, our Georgia Tech-BP Chem-E-Car team is
thrilled to compete in the national
finals on home turf, after winning
the Southern Regional Conference in Puerto Rico in February.”
Barbara McDonald, AIChE membership director, said that the
organization is looking forward
to its visit to Atlanta.
“AIChE is excited to have these
events on the Georgia Tech campus,” she said. “It will be a great
chance for the students and professionals attending our conference to experience Georgia Tech’s
wonderful facilities.”
WWW.CHBE.GATECH.EDU
11
alumni spotlight
MELISSA McCOY ’12
Rhodes Scholarship journey began with first step into ChBE
I
n November 2013, ChBE alumna
Melissa McCoy received news that
she was joining an elite class of scholars nationwide: She had been named
a Rhodes Scholar.
McCoy (BS ’12), who
begins her Rhodes
Scholarship-funded
study at Oxford
University in Oxford,
England, in October,
is the fifth Georgia
Tech student to earn
a Rhodes Scholarship. She is planning
to earn a master’s in computer science
and an MBA, with a goal of completing her studies in fall 2016.
“I hope to use these two years as a
launching pad to start a social enterprise that applies computational technologies to help deliver water and
energy more effectively in developing
countries,” she said. “I hope that my
background in chemical engineering,
working as an engineer and operations consultant internationally in
energy/water/natural resource fields
and now growing a skill set in data/
computer science will help me in this
regard.”
McCoy credits her time at ChBE
and support from the ChBE faculty,
particularly undergraduate chair
Pradeep Agrawal, with paving the
way to a successful application for the
prestigious scholarship.
“I was able to acquire industry in-
12
Advice to students who may
pursue a Rhodes Scholarship
“Don’t think too much about
‘getting a Rhodes Scholarship,’
and think more about applying
yourself deeply to your interests,
which will eventually become
passions. ... If I had been aiming to
get the scholarship, I would have
charted a different course and
probably would not be the same
person I am today.”
ternships early on because of ChBE’s
strong relationship with ChemEhiring companies,” she said. “Having this early start on working in
industry, traveling and realizing
what I was capable of was definitely
important to my success at Tech and
eventually being granted the Rhodes
Scholarship.”
The Dallas, Texas, native knew she
wanted to major in engineering after
enjoying her Advanced Placement
high school classes in chemistry and
computer science, and she was accepted to many top-level engineering
programs throughout the country.
She says she chose Georgia Tech because of the President’s Scholarship
Program (PSP), which offered financial aid and a sense of community.
At a weekend session to give PSP
students a chance to talk with school
Melissa McCoy worked as a design
engineer for SQM Mining in Chile
in 2010.
representatives, ChBE made an
impression on McCoy, who also was
considering computer engineering.
“I was impressed by everyone I met,
particularly in the ChBE department,” she said. “Dr. Agrawal took a
great deal of time to speak with me,
and I felt that he was someone who
would genuinely care for me during
my time at Georgia Tech. I ended up
choosing Georgia Tech and ChBE
largely due to my experience during that weekend, and I was not let
down in my expectations.”
To read more about McCoy’s education
and work experience, including her lifealtering work in Chile after the
catastrophic 2010 earthquake, go to
www.chbe.gatech.edu/hg/item/257521.
SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL & BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING, GEORGIA TECH
alumni
news & updates
•
•
•
Darryl Aubrey (BS ’55) was elected
mayor of North Palm Beach, Fla., for a
second term. He has served on the Village Council for eight years.
Joseph “Ron” Coursey (BS ’59) was
honored by the Dayton Section of the
American Chemical Society for achieving
emeritus status after 50 years of membership. His project at General Motors
reduced energy usage and chemical
emissions.
Curt Harrington (MS ’77) of Harrington
& Harrington has been confirmed by
the California Bar Board of Trustees
to assume the chair of the State Bar’s
California Board of Legal Specialization.
Harrington is a high-tech patent attorney
and a California Board of Legal Specialization Certified Tax Specialist.
•
Susan A. Casnocha (BS ’81) has been
inducted into the American Institute
for Medical and Biological Engineering
College of Fellows, which comprises the
top 2 percent of medical and biological
engineers in the country.
•
Tom Rollbuhler (BS ’85) was awarded
the District Award of Merit for the Cherokee Pickens District of the Atlanta Area
Council Boy Scouts of America. He is a
Boy Scouts assistant district commissioner and works as a senior engineering
specialist with AkzoNobel.
•
Karen Kennedy (BS ’97) was selected as
one of 81 engineers to participate in the
National Academy of Engineers’ 19th annual Frontiers of Engineering symposium.
She is a senior principal engineer at the
Global Technology Center and lives in
Breinigsville, Pa.
•
Charles “Chad” Pannell (BS ’99) was
awarded the Distinguished Service Medal
by the Linn Inn Alliance in recognition for
his work and contributions to the success of the alliance, which was founded
in 2008 to unite the existing intellectual
property law focused on American Inns
of Court.
•
Birkin Weith (BS ’99) was promoted to
vice president of aromatics and higher
olefins at CB&I in Bloomfield, N.J.
•
John M. Goodman (BS ’02) was named
partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings
LLP in Birmingham, Ala. He is a member
of the firm’s Litigation and Construction
Practices Groups.
•
Padmini Rangamani (MS ’05) began
a faculty position in the biomechanics
group of the University of CaliforniaSan Diego Department of Mechanical
and Aerospace Engineering on July 1,
2014. She earned a Ph.D. from the Icahn
School of Medicine in New York in 2010
and had been working as a postdoc at
the University of California-Berkeley.
•
Jason Hicks (Ph.D. ’07), assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Notre Dame, received a 2014
National Science Foundation (NSF) Early
Career Development Award, the most
prestigious award given by the NSF to
young faculty in engineering and science.
•
Michael Flanigan (BS ’10) joined Hypepotamus as operations manager.
For more alumni news and updates, please go to
www.chbe.gatech.edu/alumni.
in memoriam
John R. Abner, BS ’53
Clinton B. Bastin Jr., BS ’50
Philip E. Borger, BS ’49
James J. Bresnahan Jr., BS ’48
Gus J. Caras, BS ’58
Leonard J. Daniels Jr., BS ’49
William R. Davis, BS ’56
Wallace R. Gambill, BS ’52
F. Michael Gilbert, MS ’66
Isaac “Bud” Gurney, BS ’60
H. John Hagemeyer, BS ’76
John L. Hancock, BS ’48, MS ’49
Aubrey L. Hanna, BS ’49
Charles J. Hinton, BS ’43
James R. Holton, BS ’57
Alan E. Hoover, BS ’57
Lewis C. Latimer Sr., MS ’51
Zelvin Levine, BS ’51, Ph.D. ’56
Robert Lurie, BS ’47
Lou Mason, BS ’52
Leon H. Meyer, BS ’49
Samuel M. Norwood, BS ’73
Mark B. Nowack, BS ’81
Rogelio “Roger” S. Ribas, BS ’48
Jerry A. Richards, BS ’71
James C. Rivenbark, BS ’51
Joseph V. Smarr Jr., BS ’77
Lewis F. Spitzer, BS ’48
James E. Stevens Jr., BS ’46
William R. Stevens III, BS ’66
Jon E. Tinsley, BS ’60
Richard H. Volavka, BS ’67
Raymond C. Ward, BS ’50
Allan “Mike” Webb Jr., BS ’49
Xiaoping “Peter” Long (center)
poses with Ken Whisenhunt (left),
Tennessee Titans head coach, and
Gary May, dean of the College of
Engineering. Whisenhunt, a Georgia
Tech graduate, was a guest speaker
at the awards ceremony.
2014 CoE
Alumni Awards
Two graduates of the School
of Chemical & Biomolecular
Engineering were honored at
the Georgia Tech College of
Engineering Alumni Awards on
April 5.
Xiaoping
“Peter” Long
(Ph.D.’98)
received an
Academy of
Distinguished
Engineering
Alumni Award,
and Sean
Corcoran (BS
’95) received a
Council of Out- Sean Corcoran
standing Young
Engineering Alumni Award.
Long, who studied pulp and
paper engineering under Jeff
Hsieh at ChBE, now is president
of Shanghai, China-based Innovative Material and Devices Inc.,
which develops, manufactures
and sells functional material for
the medical fields.
Corcoran is vice president of
corporate development at Neustar Inc., a Virginia-based information services and analytics
company.
WWW.CHBE.GATECH.EDU
13
student news
2014 Student Honors Luncheon
Institute honorees
Three School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering students were honored
at the Georgia Tech 2014 Student
Honors Luncheon, which recognizes students from all colleges and at all levels.
Joe Zheng, who graduated after the summer
semester, was recognized
by the Center for Career
Development and Discovery with a James G.
and Mary G. Wohlford Scholarship. The
scholarship honors exceptional co-op
students in their final year of study.
Quang Minh Kieu, a
junior, received a Sigma
Xi Best Undergraduate
Thesis award for his
paper titled “Correlation
Between EpithelialMesenchymal Transition and Mechanical
Changes in Breast Cancer Cells.”
Virginia Collier, now a
senior, earned a Henry
Ford II Scholar Award.
The award is given for
outstanding academic
achievement by a junior
at ChBE.
External
Advisory
Board
member
spotlights
14
On April 10, the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering recognized more than 100
undergraduate and graduate students for their achievements in academics, leadership,
research and teaching. The list below is a sampling of the exemplary accomplishments by
ChBE students.
GRADUATE
HONORS
Teaching
Shell Outstanding Teaching
Assistants, 2012-13
Robert Dromms, Emily
Peterson, Brian Setzler
AIChE Outstanding Teaching
Assistant Award
Maggie Burcham (won as an
undergraduate)
External Fellowship
Recognition
Eastman Fellowship
Nicholas Burtch
National Science Foundation
Graduate Fellowship
Nicholas Burtch
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration Earth
and Space Science Fellowship
Sylvia Sullivan
Re se a r c h
A c c o m p l i sh m en ts
Ziegler Award for Best
Proposal
Thomas Levario,
“Microfluidics and Imaging
Techniques for HighThroughput Studies on Early
Embryonic Development”
UNDERGRADUATE
HONORS
Academic
Outstanding Performance on
the Qualifying Exams
Taylor Sulmonetti (written)
Brian Pimentel (oral)
AIChE Outstanding Sophomore
Award
Rachel Puechner
Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis
Lester Li
Outstanding MS Thesis
Adam van Pelt
Outstanding Ph.D. Proposal
Jason Gee
Accomplishments &
Recognitions
AIChE Outstanding Senior
Award
Maggie Burcham
AIChE Freshman Recognition
Award
Henry Le
Air Products Foundation
ChBE Outstanding Student
Scholarship
Quang Minh Kieu
Albemarle Corp. ChBE
Scholarship
Kathryn Green
Kellye Hafner (Ph.D. ’96), incoming chairwoman
Title: Carbon technical manager
Employer: MeadWestvaco Specialty Chemicals
Years of service on the EAB:
Eight
Top priority for the EAB: It is
gratifying to see the evolution
of the School’s educational and
research opportunities and to
interact with enthusiastic students and faculty. We are
incorporating constructive feedback from graduate
and undergraduate students into our guidance to the
School chair. We are striving for continuous improvement of the educational experience so that students
are prepared for and successful in their careers.
BASF Academic Excellence
Award
Michael Parekh
Garry Betty Scholarship for
International Studies
Mi Hyang Park
BP AIChE Scholarship
William Barron, Casey
Hirschmann
BP Scholarship
Emily Ammons, Scott Glover,
Samuel Leach, Mengjie Liu,
Benjamin Murray, Carey
Susina, Charles Winslow
Chevron ChBE Scholarship
Yurancy Quinones, Benjamin
Sauk, Jonathan Kinney,
Caleb Jarriel, Jacob Hicks,
Thomas McClure
Thomas L. Gossage
International
Jiyuan Ding
Enrichment Scholarship
Joon Hoh Koh, Zhuoming Li,
Sonola Onasanya
Suzanne C. and Duncan A.
Mellichamp Jr. Scholarship
Maggie Burcham, Erin Hogan
Phillips 66 Shield Scholars
Caitlyn Beeghly, Sarah Geer,
Rowan Kraft
Anthony Coker (BS
’84)
Title: Vice president
of market development
Employer: Hannah
Solar
Top priority for the
EAB: I was honored
when David [Sholl,
ChBE chair] asked
me to join the External Advisory Board.
This gives me a chance to get further
involved with my major school and hopefully provide a unique viewpoint to help in
meeting its goal to be the best chemical
engineering school in the country.
SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL & BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING, GEORGIA TECH
Smooth transitions
ChBE program for transfer students
expands to Institute level
T
ransferring to Georgia Tech from a different institution brings
challenges unlike those
faced by freshmen. Until
recently, transfer students
didn’t have the sort of
support systems that help
freshmen acclimate to
their new environment.
Students who successfully made the transition
to Georgia Tech take an
active role in transfer student orientation and offer
the new students advice
and mentoring based on
their own experiences.
The TSA filled such an
important need that,
ChBE changed that in the when the group sought
2013-14 academic year by a charter, the Office of
establishing the TransLeadership & Civic Enfer Student Association
gagement suggested that
(TSA). The student-led
it become an Institutegroup helps transfer stuwide organization. In
dents adjust to the Tech
only its second year, the
culture, rigorous curTSA is available to transriculum and demands on fer students throughout
students’ time and energy Georgia Tech in the 2014— concerns that transfer
15 academic year.
students tend to underestimate when they come to The five undergraduChBE, said Ami Wallerate students on the TSA
Ivanecky, undergraduate executive board spent
academic advisor.
a year writing the conJoy Jordan (BS
’92)
Title: New business development leader
Employer:
Kimberly-Clark
Top priority
for the EAB: I
aim to help the
School maintain
its leadership position in producing the
technological leaders who will make a
difference in industry, academia and
society. I want to offer my insights from
industry experience to enable leadingedge curriculum and programming.
Yurancy Quinones (from left), Chris Schmitt,
Karina Psareva, Nathan Echols and Chang Woo
Park are the organization’s student leaders.
stitution for and setting
up the structure of the
expanded organization.
The TSA charter provides
for a ChBE committee,
which can address the
specific needs of ChBE
students and hold
separate, smaller events
tailored to them.
Other ChBE student organizations
ChBE Student Ambassadors
— This organization, started and
run by students, is a resource for
prospective students and incoming
freshmen. The organization, entering its third year, has grown from
four ambassadors in spring 2013
to 36 ambassadors today.
AIChE — ChBE has one of the
largest, strongest and most active
student chapters of the American
Institute for Chemical Engineers.
Peter Long
(Ph.D. ’98)
Title: President
Employer:
Innovative
Material and
Devices Inc.
Top priority
for the EAB:
As a proud
member of
the Georgia Tech alumni and a ChBE
graduate, I would like to utilize all my
experience and capacity to help better prepare ChBE graduates for the
ever-changing business and technology environment.
ChBE Student Advisory Board
— This group of undergraduates
identifies areas to improve in ChBE
and promotes communication
between the School and undergraduates.
Omega Chi Epsilon — The national honor society for chemical
engineers meets several times
each semester and holds weekly
tutoring sessions.
Ed Maginn
Title: Department
chair, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Employer: University
of Notre Dame
Education: BS ’87,
chemical engineering,
Iowa State University;
Ph.D. ’95, University of
California-Berkeley
Top priority for the EAB: To support the
School chair and the faculty in developing
programs and activities that lead to improved
educational experiences for undergraduate
students and a state-of-the-art research culture that enhances graduate education.
WWW.CHBE.GATECH.EDU
15
School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
311 Ferst Drive N.W.
Atlanta, GA 30332-0100
Phone: (404) 894-1838 ◆ Fax: (404) 894-2866
info@chbe.gatech.edu
Visit us online at www.chbe.gatech.edu.
©2014 Georgia Institute of Technology School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering