COVER
2009 – 2010 Alumni News Letter
AIChE Delaware Alumni Reception
Monday, November 8, 2010
Salt Palace Convention Center
Salt Lake City, UT
http://www.aiche.org/Conferences/AnnualMeeting/index.aspx
Letter from the Chairman – Place hold
Graduating Class of 2010 Honors Degree with Distinction:
The Honors Degree with Distinction recognizes a student's completion of the research requirements for
the Degree with Distinction in addition to the successful completion of 30 credits in Honors courses
through the degree program. The Honors Degree with Distinction is listed on each student's University of
Delaware official transcript.
Barlaz
David
E.
BedollaPantoja
Marco
A.
Bogart
Timothy D.
Brew
Kevin
W.
Jiménez Diáz
Manuel
R.
Reinicker
Aaron
D.
Walls
Daniel
J.
Zagrobelny
Megan
A.
HBCHE
with
Distinction
HBCHE
with
Distinction
HBCHE
with
Distinction
HBCHE
with
Distinction
HBCHE
with
Distinction
HBCHE
with
Distinction
HBCHE
with
Distinction
HBCHE
with
Distinction
HDwD
EG
Chemical
Engineering
HDwD
EG
Chemical
Engineering
HDwD
EG
Chemical
Engineering
HDwD
EG
Chemical
Engineering
HDwD
EG
Chemical
Engineering
HDwD
EG
Chemical
Engineering
HDwD
EG
Chemical
Engineering
HDwD
EG
Chemical
Engineering
2010 – 2011 New Graduate Students
Angelo, James
Bauer,Jonathan Louis
Emerson,Jillian
Fast,Alan Gregory
Forest,Robert Vincent
Godfrin,Paul Douglas
Heyward,Kwame
Holmberg,Angela Leann
Hutchings,Gregory Sherman
Jain,Abhinav Rabindra
Kim, Heejae
Kremkow,Benjamin Gerald
Luo,Ming
McHugh, Kyle
O'Brien,Christopher J.
Pham,Trong Dinh
Porosoff,Marc David
Radhakrishnan,Devesh
Rehmann,Matthew Stephen
Swift,Theodore Dallas
Tsai,Chia-Hung
Whitaker,Kathryn Anne
Whiteman,Zachary Stange
Xiong,Ke
Yonemoto,Bryan Thomas
Yusuf,Seif Momen
Moreno, Brian
Valente, Kristen
Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst.
Univ. of Michigan
Johns Hopkins
Northwestern Univ.
Louisiana State
Univ. of Viriginia
Florida State
Univ. of Minnesota
Univ. of Florida
Indian Institute of Tech.
Cal. Institute of Tech.
Michigan State
Zhejiang University-China
Univ. of Buffalo
Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst.
Vietnam National Univ.
Johns Hopkins
Univ. of Mumbai
Univ. of Pennsylvania
Northwestern Univ.
National Taiwan Univ.
Rowan Univ.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst.
Zhejiang University-China
Tulane
Carnegie Mellon
Transfer with Michael Klein
returning Merck student
2010 Seminiar Series
March 19, 2010
James Trainham (Gerster Lecture)– Sundrop
Fuels
April 9, 2010
Gregory Stephanopoulos (Pigford Lecture) –
MIT
April 16, 2010
Kathleen Stebe (Wohl Lecture) – University of
Pennsylvania
April 23, 2010
Daniel Shantz – Texan A & M University
April 30, 2010
Todd Squires (Colburn Lecture) – University of
California, Santa Barbara
May 14, 2010
Carson Meredith – Georgia Institute of
Techonology
September 10, 2010
Josephe DeSimone (Pigford Lecture) –
University of North Carolina
October 1, 2010
Theresa Good – University of Maryland,
Baltimore County
October 22, 2010
Hank Ashbaugh – Tulane University
The Renewable Fuel Challenge: Harnessing
the Power of the Sun
October 29, 2010
Kristi Anseth (Wohl Lecture) – University of
Colorado at Boulder
November 5, 2010
Vassily Hatzimanikatis - Ecole Polytechnique
Federale de Lausanne
December 3, 2010
Rick Register - Princeton
Goodbye Flat Biology? Hello Hydrogels
Biofules and Metabolic Engineering
Orientation and Assembly of Anisotropic Particles by
Capillary Interactions
Engineering Nanospaces: Designing Organic-Inorganic
Hybrid Materials
Microrheology of Fluid Interfaces: Visualization,
Viscoelasticity, Yielding, and Slow Recovery of Phospholipid
Monolayers
Particle Adhesion to Surfaces: Implications in Nanotechnology
and the Environment
“Top-down Nano-fabrication Technologies for the
Production of Uniform, Shape-Specific Carriers for
Vaccines, Biologics and Small Molecule Drugs”
Engineering new strategies for the treatment of
Alzheimer's disease
Disentangling the Stability and Function of Natively Unfolded
Proteins
Retrofitting Complex Systems for Green Growth
Block Copolymer Thin Films: Shear Alignment and Applications
in Nanopatterning
Faculty Highlight – Use New Faculty Brochure
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Mike Klein
Wilfred Chen
David Colby
Feng Jiao
April Kloxin
Christopher Kloxin
Should do a special hightlight on
Jochen’s leaving. Can get info from
CV.
Jochen Lauterbach – takes new position
Anton Jochen Lauterbach, a chemical engineering professor at the University of Delaware, will be the
endowed chair in the CoEE of Clean Coal. Lauterbach, who will join the USC faculty at the College of
Engineering and Computing in August 2010, also will be the director of the CoEE in Strategic Approaches
to the Production of Electricity from Coal.
ChE Center Highlight
UDEI – have information from Sheila
CCST CMET – New Research Report just published
CCEI
ChE Faculty News
Mark Barteau, Robert L. Pigford Chair of Chemical Engineering and senior vice provost for
research and strategic initiatives at the University of Delaware, has been appointed co-chair of
the Chemical Sciences Roundtable of the National Research Council (NRC). “This appointment
attests to Mark's national reputation in the field of chemical engineering,” says Michael Chajes,
dean of the UD College of Engineering. “He has been recognized not only for his own research
accomplishments but also for the value of his insights into future research directions for the
nation as a whole.”
Barteau was also recently named a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers
(AIChE). Election to the grade of fellow is based on contributions to the professional
advancement of chemical engineers and the engineering profession as well as on valuable service
to the institute. Barteau previously served as associate editor of the institute's flagship
publication, the AIChE Journal.
Mark Barteau was quoted in a April 28, 2010 article “UD host media workshop on energy
issues” saying “We are not going to have energy independence as long as the United States relies
on the internal combustion engine,” and “Fossil fuels will continue to be important through the
rest of the century, while renewable energy is growing rapidly, but from a very small base.”
“We need to develop new resources,” Barteau said. “We also need to think about how the media
can convey this kind of information and the consequences of our energy choices back to the
people.”
Antony N. Beris, the Arthur B. Metzner Professor of Chemical Engineering was presented the
Outstanding Doctoral Graduate Student Advising and Mentoring Award by Debra Hess Norris.
Norris quoted from a student who nominated the professor for the award, saying, “Beris provides
the right kind of research environment. Under his advisement, student ideas are never
discouraged. He ensured that I never lost sight of the basics. He instilled a habit of exercise in the
highest form of ethics while presenting data.”
Jingguang Chen was quoted in a April 28, 2010 article “UD host media workshop on energy
issues” saying “that scientists and academics must recognize the need to help media relate the
process of biomass conversion research to the public.”
Prasad Dhurjati was listed as one of the faculty members who were instrumental in the design
of the curriculum and new courses for the Bachelor of Science in Quantitative Biology. They
also have been teaching courses for the program, helping biology faculty include more math in
biology courses and both advising students in the major and mentoring them in undergraduate
research.
Thomas H. Epps, III, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the
University of Delaware, was part of an elite group of young scientists and engineers honored by
President Barack Obama at the White House on Wednesday, Jan. 13.
Epps and 99 others from across the United States received the Presidential Early Career Award
for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest award bestowed by the U.S. government
upon scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers.
In a letter that was delivered to the winners during the ceremony, Obama wrote, “You have been
selected for this honor not only because of your innovative research, but also for your
demonstrated commitment to community service and public outreach. Your achievements as
scientists, engineers, and engaged citizens are exemplary, and the value of your work is
amplified by the inspiration you provide to others.”
Michael Klein, Director of UDEI was quoted in a April 28, 2010 article “UD host media
workshop on energy issues” saying “About 25 percent of the world's coal supply is located in the
United States, and is greater that the world's reserves of oil. It is the workhorse of the American
electrical power industry,” Klein said. “Clean coal technology, including a new generation of
energy processor, can reduce emissions and other pollutants from coal-burning power plants.”
Kelvin Lee, Gore Professor of Chemical Engineering and Director of the Delaware
Biotechnology Institute at the University of Delaware has been honored with American Institute
for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) fellowships. Lee was recognized for his
contributions in applying proteomic technologies to problems in biotechnology and human
health, as well as his professional leadership in biochemical engineering.
Kelvin Lee was quoted in the article “UD, DBI join effort to track Gulf of Mexico oil spill”, The
oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been the focus of news all over the world for more than a
month, and a group of public and private organizations -- including the University of Delaware
(UD) and the Delaware Biotechnology Institute (DBI) -- have come together to assist in the clean
up.
"This effort to facilitate real-time monitoring of events in the Gulf is an example of how the DBI
infrastructure can be effectively directed to support faculty research, interact with other
institutions, and help reduce the environmental impact of the leak," says Kelvin Lee, DBI
director.
Bramie Lenhoff was recognized for his 25 years of service to the University of Delaware.
President Harker expressed his gratituted “On behalf of the entire administration, I thank you for
your loyalty, your longevity and the critical contributions you make every day - contributions
that seed UD's growth in academic excellence, in prominence and international acclaim,” UD
President Patrick Harker said.
“A university is its people,” he said. “And a university's mission is lived through them. So I'd
like to recognize all of you who are living UD's mission and serving this institution so very
well.”
Tunde Ogunnaike, William L. Friend Chair of Chemical Engineering at the University of
Delaware was recently named a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers
(AIChE). Election to the grade of fellow is based on contributions to the professional
advancement of chemical engineers and the engineering profession as well as on valuable service
to the institute.
Tunde Ogunnaike, William L. Friend Chair of Chemical Engineering at the University of
Delaware, has been named deputy dean of the UD College of Engineering, effective July 1.
Upon announcing the appointment, engineering dean Michael Chajes referred to Ogunnaike as
an outstanding scholar and mentor.
Tunde also recently published a book “Random Phenomena: Fundamentals of Probability and
Statistics for Engineers”
We may want to do a special
box highlighting Tunde’s and
Sujata’s book
Eleftherios Papoutsakis, Eugene du Pont Chair of Chemical Engineering at the University of
Delaware, has been selected to receive the Elmer Gaden, Jr. Award from the journal
Biotechnology and Biotechnology for his December 2008 paper “Genome-scale Model for
Clostridium acetobutylicum.”
This annual award recognizes “a high-impact paper reflecting exceptional innovation, creativity,
and originality.” It was established in honor of Elmer Gaden, Jr., who founded the journal and
served as its editor for 25 years. Now retired from the faculty of the University of Virginia,
Gaden is widely known as the father of biochemical engineering. Papoutsakis himself served as
editor-in-chief of the journal for six years in the 1990s.
Eleftherios Papoutsakis, Eugene du Pont Chair of Chemical Engineering at the University of
Delaware, has been named the recipient of the 2010 International Metabolic Engineering Award.
He was selected “for his great accomplishments and leadership in metabolic engineering of
clostridia and his dedication to the metabolic engineering community.”
Papoutsakis leads a research group at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute focused on genomic
and metabolic engineering studies of microbial systems as well as stem-cell differentiation.
T.W. Fraser Russell, UD alumnus, administrator and the Allan P. Colburn Professor Emeritus
of Chemical Engineering, doctor of science was recognized with an honorary degree at the
University of Delaware's 161st Commencement ceremonies, held May 29 at Delaware Stadium.
“The Honorary Degree is the highest honor bestowed by the University of Delaware and is
reserved as a recognition of true distinction,” Gil Sparks, chairman of the University's Board of
Trustees, said.
T.W. Fraser Russell, President Harker made special mention of Fraser during his speech, noting
that Fraser is the longest serving retiree, with 48 years of service.
Stanley I. Sandler, Henry Belin du Pont Chair of Chemical Engineering at the University of
Delaware, was presented the Properties and Phase Equilibrium for Process and Product Design
(PPEPPD) Eminence Award during the International PPEPPD Meeting held in May in Suzhou,
China. It was the first such award given in the 37-year history of the meeting.
A dinner honoring Sandler was held the evening of May 17, with Xiaohau Lu, chairman of the
PPEPPD international organizing committee and professor at Nanjing University of Technology,
making opening remarks.
Dion Vlachos, Elizabeth Inez Kelley Professor of Chemical Engineering at UD, have been
named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Vlachos
was cited for his outstanding work on multiscale modeling and application to development,
design, and elucidation of catalytic reaction mechanisms, nanotechnological processes, and
signaling pathways in cancer.
Richard Wool in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware has
developed a method to mitigate oil spills using chicken feather fibers. Prof. Richard Wool has
discovered that when the fibers are cut to an optimal size, surface tension forces drive them to
form self-assembled percolating networks that attract and trap oil spilled on a water surface.
Although reports of feather use for oil spill remediation exist, the UD researchers have
discovered how to maximize the self assembly of the oil-soaked feathers for absorption
efficiency and effective subsequent removal. They have also discovered that the size of the fibers
is critical -- too long and the fibers will fail to assemble; too short and they won't assemble
correctly.
Department News
Undergraduate News: Spotlight on Students
UD hosts undergraduate researchers in energy program. A grant from the National Science
Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program is enabling 11 students
from institutions throughout the country to spend the summer at the University of Delaware
investigating energy-related issues.
The program, Chemical Engineering Research in Energy and Sustainability, exposes participants
to the full spectrum of energy areas, from traditional petroleum to solar power, fuel cells, and
biofuels.
“The energy-related issues of the 21st century are multi-faceted, and the chemical engineering
profession is in an excellent position to tackle many of these problems,” says Jochen Lauterbach,
professor and co-director of the program, which is now in its second year.
Derek Falcone, a Chemical Engineering senior was one of eight undergrads to participate in
solar hydrogen summer research program. “The program gave me the experience to make a grad
school decision,” said Derek Falcone, a chemical engineering student at UD. “I got my feet wet
with research and reaffirmed my decision to continue my education.”
Robby Pagels, a sophomore chemical engineering major at the University of Delaware, spent
the summer of 2009 volunteering at an orphanage in India.
He began his search for a volunteer opportunity at a Web site that he refers to as “the Craigslist
of India.” Knowing that he wanted to work with kids, he selected the Wide Children's Home in
Tiruvannamalai, a small temple town in southern India.
Pagels, a UD Honors Program student, taught English, did paperwork, and helped with
homework, but he is convinced that he got more than he gave and learned more than he taught.
“When I got to the orphanage,” he says, “it was 4 a.m. All 36 of the kids were asleep on the floor
in a room about the size of two small offices here at UD. They were lying on top of one another
without blankets, sheets, or pillows.”
Reality hit Pagels immediately. “It made me realize how much we have here,” he says.
Colin Sweeney get this question a lot “Does it smell like French fries?” when he tells people
about his 1986 Mercedes SDL, which he has converted to run on cooking oil. His answer? “No,
it actually smells kind of sweet.”
A junior chemical engineering major, Sweeney commutes to campus from Townsend, Del.,
every day, a 60-mile round-trip. The price of gas motivated him to initiate the project, but it was
his passion for working on engines and his knowledge of fluid mechanics and heat transfer that
enabled him to carry it out.
“I found kits that you can buy to convert a car to run on cooking oil,” he says, “but they seemed
overly complicated mechanically and at the same time overly simplistic for the user. I decided to
design my own so that I would have control over every aspect -- If there was a problem I wanted
to be able to look at the gauges and know immediately what was wrong.”
With a new coat of bright blue paint, the Mercedes hides its age well. With 375,000 miles on its
odometer, the vehicle is three years older than its owner.
Graduate News: Spotlight on Students
Carl Menning was mentioned in Jill Biden’s commencement speech with these comments
“graduates like Carl Menning, who is earning his Ph.D. today from the University of Delaware's
world-renowned chemical engineering program after winning a national award in surface
science.”
Kelly Schultz was selected to participate in the American Chemical Society's Excellence in
Graduate Polymer Research Symposium. Schultz is focusing her work on the development of
high-throughput microrheology to screen biomaterial hydrogels over a large composition space.
“The techniques she has developed enable her to rapidly identify hydrogelation conditions while
conserving these scarce materials, which have therapeutic applications in areas such as wound
healing and tissue regeneration,” Furst says.
Schultz plans to work as a postdoctoral researcher after she finishes her doctorate and then seek a
faculty position.
Danielle Hansgen, a fourth-year doctoral candidate, and her advisers, Dion Vlachos, Elizabeth
Inez Kelley Professor, and Jingguang Chen, Claire D. LeClaire Professor has developed a
computational framework for screening potential bimetallic catalysts. The finding was published
online in Nature Chemistry on April 25. Both faculty members give full credit for the work to
Hansgen, with Vlachos providing support on the computational and Chen on the experimental
side.
Honors and Awards
Mark Panczyk, a doctoral student in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University
of Delaware, was recognized by the American Chemical Society's Division of Colloid and
Surface Chemistry for an outstanding poster contribution at the Fall 2009 ACS national meeting
in Washington, D.C.
“It's very unusual for a first-year graduate student to receive this kind of recognition at a national
meeting,” Furst says, “but Mark's award demonstrates the level of the grad students recruited to
UD's Department of Chemical Engineering. Grad students are the lifeblood of our department,
and we're always pleased when one of our students is recognized by a national professional
organization.”
Sharon Weaver, a junior chemical engineering major recieced third place in research talks in a
competition which was sponsored by the UD Chapter of Sigma Xi.
Peter Millili, won this year’s Graduate Student Poster Competition for the Delaware Valley
Chapter of the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers!
Elizabeth D'Addio, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the
University of Delaware, has been selected to participate in the Leadership Skills Workshop
sponsored by the Council for Chemical Research (CCR).
The workshop is aimed at enhancing students' professional development by giving them an
opportunity to improve their leadership skills, interact with research leaders from industry,
academia, and government, and be exposed to high-level discussions about important national
research issues.
“While I look forward to the challenge of motivating an interdisciplinary team,” she says, “I
have little experience in this area because of the solitary nature of much of my graduate work.
My hope is that while continuing to hone my interpersonal skills on a professional level, I will
learn techniques in the Leadership Skills Workshop to help me be effective as a leader in my
future career.”
Elizabeth Kelley, a second-year doctoral candidate in the Department of Chemical Engineering
at the University of Delaware, has been selected to receive a 2010 National Defense Science and
Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship.
“This is a very prestigious fellowship,” says department chairperson Norman Wagner. “Only
about 200 are awarded nationwide each year to top doctoral students.”
The NDSEG fellowship program is aimed at increasing the number of U.S. citizens and nationals
trained in science and engineering disciplines of military importance. The fellowships are
sponsored and funded by the Department of Defense and administered by the American Society
for Engineering.
Scott Crown received a Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science Foundation.
is conducting research aimed at improving our understanding of metabolic pathway regulation to
enable manipulation of the obese and diabetic phenotypes.
Vassili Vorotnikov receives a Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science
Foundation and is studying under Dionisios G. Vlachos, Elizabeth Inez Kelley Professor of
Chemical Engineering. His work focuses on multiscale modeling of catalyst nanoparticles
applied to specific reaction networks.
He is particularly interested in ammonia decomposition because of its potential use in fuel cells
as a source of hydrogen. Vorotnikov plans to pursue a career in academia after finishing his
doctoral degree.
Marco Bedolla receives a Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science Foundation
and is currently completing a thesis on propylene epoxidation using silver catalysts. Under the
supervision of Mark Barteau, Robert L. Pigford Professor of Chemical Engineering, he is
studying how propylene oxide can be produced using silver in an environmentally sustainable
manner.
“Propylene oxide, which is among the most widely produced chemicals in the world, is an
important intermediate for the manufacture of plastics, fuel additives, antifreeze, foams, and so
on,” Bedolla says. “Unfortunately, current methods to make this valuable chemical also yield
large amounts of environmentally hazardous salts, solvents, and other byproducts.
Mark Clayton Weidman awarded the Goldwater Scholarship. He says, “I was very excited and
felt honored to be chosen for the scholarship,” he said. “I felt grateful to all the people who had
supported me and encouraged me at UD and, of course, to my family.”
Weidman, an Honors Program student, plans on completing an internship in industry during the
summer before moving on to continue his undergraduate research on fuel cell catalysis during his
senior year.
Upon finishing his undergraduate study, Weidman plans on attending graduate school to earn his
doctorate in the field of alternative energy technology, and he hopes to eventually lead a research
group in either industry or academia to “find effective, abundant, and reliable catalysts for fuel
cell technologies.”
Julie Albert, a doctoral candidate in chemical engineering at the University of Delaware, has
been selected as a finalist for the 2010 AkzoNobel Student Award in Applied Polymer Science.
She will present her work at the Fall 2010 American Chemical Society National Meeting, to be
held in Boston from Aug. 22-26.
“My current research seeks to understand the self-assembly of block copolymer thin films, which
can be used for nanotemplates and nanoporous membranes among other things,” she says. “I
hope to conduct related work, with a slant toward sustainable and alternative energy applications
as a postdoctoral researcher, upon which I can develop a foundation for my career.”
“My recent experience as a teaching fellow solidified my desire to teach, and I look at a career in
academia as an opportunity for me to give to future generations of chemical engineers the same
guidance and support I have received from my adviser and other faculty members, my
collaborators, and my research group.”
Maeva Tureau, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in chemical engineering at the University of
Delaware, has been selected to receive the Air Products Graduate Fellowship for the 2009-10
academic year.
“Maeva is studying the assembly of nanostructured polymeric materials that can ultimately be
used as porous network templates for the capture and concentration of small molecules, such as
metabolites, in aqueous systems,” says Epps, who is the 2009 Outstanding Junior Faculty
Member in the College of Engineering. “Among her many contributions, she has performed
excellent work on the synthesis and characterization of novel block copolymer materials,
collaborated with researchers at national laboratories, and chaired a session as an invited
participant at a conference in Brazil.”
Tureau also “has taken a leadership role in many group activities, including undergraduate and
graduate student mentoring, safety training, and equipment design,” Epps adds.
“I believe that my work will provide an experimental framework for the generation of tailored
network structures,” Tureau says, “and create a foundation for further development in block
copolymer materials for various nanotechnology and advanced materials applications.”
Applications of interest include porous membrane design, sustainable energy processes, and
nanotechnology.
Carissa Young, was awarded the Bessie B. Collin’s Award, which is given annually to a woman
graduate student that maintained academic and civic excellence while overcoming special
difficulties. Carissa returned to graduate school after an academic hiatus to pursue a degree in
engineering.
Anna Skaja Robinson, professor of chemical engineering, nominated Young, noting letter that a
very small percentage of students come back to graduate school for engineering after leaving for
an extended period of time, and that this transition is often quite difficult. However, Young's
drive to learn made a major impression on Robinson, who she said that Young “has an innate
curiosity and willingness to question dogma that is unmatched by most of my current and former
students and leads her in many interesting and novel research directions.”
Carissa also received national recognition for biomedical research at the third biennial National
IDeA Symposium of Biomedical Research Excellence (NISBRE), held in Bethesda, Md., June
16-18. Young’s research paper is titled “Single Cell Analysis of Endoplasmic Reticulum Quality
Control (ERQC) in S. cerevisiae.” Young is a doctoral candidate in the UD Department of
Chemical Engineering, advised by Anne Robinson, professor.
Dan Esposito was awarded the 2010 Bill N. Baron Fellowship in recognition of his
contributions to the renewable energy field at the University of Delaware. The Bill N. Baron
Fellowship is awarded to two graduate or recent graduate students from UD who has a
cumulative index of 3.0 or above. Bill is working on his thesis project that focuses on the
development of the electrocatalysts for applications in photo-electrochemical (PEC) devices and
in the electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen. He is conducting his renewable energy research
at the Institute of Energy Conversion as part of a group led by Dr. Jingguang Chen.
Manuel Rafael Diaz Jimenez, an Honors senior in chemical engineering participated in the
McNair Scholars program and won 1st place in the poster competition. The University’s McNair
Scholars Program, which is designed to prepare talented and diverse students for graduate
school, is the only program among 179 in the country to have achieved a perfect record of
placing 100 percent of its students in competitive graduate schools around the world since it
began 10 years ago.
Kathy Phillips was awarded The American Chemical Society's Division of Environmental
Chemistry award. “Our research involves applications of computational chemistry to problems
associated with environmental contamination and has been conducted as a collaboration with
professors Pei Chiu and Dominic Di Toro in the Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering,” said Phillips. “We use quantum chemistry and other computational tools to model
the transportation and transformation processes that pollutants undergo once they are present in
the environment, in order to develop a greater understanding of their environmental impact and
fate. Knowledge of these processes is critical for developing environmental remediation
strategies and performing risk assessments.”
"Kathy's work represents an advancement in our ability to predict the stability and fate of
nitroaromatic compounds (NACs) in environmental systems,” said Chiu. “While her study is
rather theoretical, I believe it will have practical impacts, given the quality and utility of the
correlations distilled from her data and the ubiquity of NACs as contaminants."
Phillips said she was honored to receive the award in recognition of the significance of her
team's research to date. “I believe that my receipt of this award highlights the critical role that
computational chemistry has to play in tackling environmental problems,” she said. “The
magnitude of environmental contamination, together with the diversity of chemicals and
environmental conditions involved, means that experimental determination of all relevant
environmental properties is infeasible; therefore, modeling approaches are needed.”
Kathy Phillips also received the C. Ellen Gonter Environmental Chemistry Award from the
ACS Division of Environmental Chemistry, the highest award given to students by the division.
She will present her award-winning paper, entitled "Reduction Rate Constants for Nitroaromatic
Compounds Estimated from One-Electron Reduction Potentials," and co-authored with Chiu and
Sandler, at the C. Ellen Gonter Environmental Chemistry Awards Symposium, which will take
place during the fall ACS meeting in Boston.
“I am honored to receive such a competitive award and to have my work recognized at this level
by the Division of Environmental Chemistry of the ACS,” said Phillips. “I am excited to have
been invited to present my paper at the ACS National Meeting in Boston in August, where I will
have the opportunity to interact with some of the leading researchers and practitioners in the field
of environmental chemistry.”
Meghan Reilly was accepted to present a talk and poster at the St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital’s annual National Graduate Student Symposium.
Meghan also received a Student Travel Award Recognition (STAR) honorable mention for the
Society for Biomaterials Annual meeting and Exposition.
Alumni – Spotlight
Sujata Bhatia, recently published a book “Biomaterials for Clinical Applications”. The books is
currently being used in CHEG 667 taught by Millie Sullivan and Sujata.
Rakesh Gupta, a faculty member in the West Virginia University Department of Chemical
Engineering since 1991, became chair of that department on July 1. Gupta, an expert in polymer
rheology, polymer processing and polymer composites, will continue as the George and Carolyn
Berry Chair in Chemical Engineering at WVU. Dadyburjor will remain an active member of the
faculty, with plans to focus on research and teaching. Gupta is quoted as saying “I am honored
to accept this position and the challenges that come with it,” and “I look forward to working with
the faculty in the department and college to provide high-quality educational programs, to further
knowledge through research and to contribute to the wellbeing of our state, nation and world.”
Gupta earned his B. Tech. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Kanpur, India,
and his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware.
Christopher Papile and his research team are working on a process called “magnetobaric
power” or MBP, which Papile invented (patent priority date December 2006) and is projected to
harvest and convert low-temperature heat (less than 150 Fahrenheit above ambient) to electricity
without releasing CO2 or other pollutants.
"The process is based on the same physics seen in both naturally occurring astrophysical
phenomena, like pulsars, and electromagnetic pulse weapons used by the military," he said.
The process uses a magnetic pressure flux to induce mechanical pressure in a gas: The physics
indicate such a magnetic-mechanical shift can be used to induce high pressure in an ambienttemperature gas. When coupled with a heat source, it generates electricity, he said.
Michael Strano was named one of the “Ten Young Geniuses Shaking Up Science Today.”
Strano received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from UD in 2002 and is now a tenured
professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he holds the title of Charles
and Hilda Roddey Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering.
In its “Brilliant 10” profile of Strano, titled “Master of the Small,” the magazine heralds the
young chemical engineer as “one of the world's leading researchers of quantum-confined
materials, a field of nanotechnology that has the potential to transform cancer medicine, solar
power, electronics, and more.”
The article says Strano is particularly fascinated by the medical potential of carbon nanotubes,
which, once injected into cells, “could be used as biological sensors so sensitive they could
detect a single molecule of a potentially harmful chemical.”
Thomas Kovach was elected to his first term in the Delaware State House of Representatives.
Dr. Henry C. “Hank” Foley was appointed Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate
School at Penn State University on January 1, 2010. Prior to this he was the dean of the College of
Information Sciences and Technology (IST) at Penn State University from November 20, 2006 to
December 31, 2009 (which remains his tenure home). In his current role as Penn State's vice
president for research and dean of The Graduate School, Foley is responsible for overseeing a
research enterprise with over $765 million dollars in expenditures and over 9,000 graduate students
in more than 150 graduate degree programs, including 121 doctorate, 110 academic master’s and
73 professional master’s degree programs.
Michael E. Mackay has been named Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and
Engineering. Mackay, who earned a bachelor's degree with distinction in chemical engineering
at the University of Delaware in 1979, joined the UD faculty in 2008. He was a member of the
faculty at Michigan State University from 2001 to 2008 and previously held appointments at
Stevens Institute of Technology and the University of Queensland in Australia.
Mackay's current research focuses on polymer-based solar cells, with an emphasis on controlling
and measuring their structure and nanoscale phenomena within polymer nanocomposites to
create the next generation of materials. His work has been supported by the National Science
Foundation, the Department of Energy, the National Institute of Standards and Technology,
several national laboratories, and industry.
Mackay is the editor of a book and the author of four book chapters and close to 90 refereed
journal papers. He received a Society of Rheology Publication Award in 2001.
He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign.
The distinguished professorship recognizes deserving senior members of the UD faculty.
Wayne Elban, professor at Loyola University, supervised 5 students who conducted a study to
see if the liquid content of aluminum bottles stays slightly colder than the liquid content of
glass bottles when allowed to warm to room temperature. Why is “slightly colder” such a big
deal? Because aluminum is normally thought of as a good conductor while
In an unrelated study commissioned in 2004 by The Absolut Spirits Company, in association
with its aluminum-bottled Danzka brand hitting the market, aluminum bottles were found to
chill faster.
This latest study implies that aluminum bottles defy logic and essentially behave like glass
when it comes to keeping beverages cold.
The study itself was performed by five students as part of the laboratory requirement for their
junior experimental methods course. Natasha Epps, Caitlin Hogan, Amanda Levinson, Tom
Scida and David Wright worked with commercially available bottles of identical content
capacity: one impact-extruded aluminum bottle supplied by CCL Container, and the other an
amber soda-lime glass bottle.
The identical thermocouples used to measure temperature change over time were calibrated
using an ice-water bath. Both bottles were filled with 355mm (12 oz.) of water and cooled
overnight to about 6 degrees Centigrade. The thermocouples were suspended at the same depth
in the radial center of each bottle.
About two and one-half hours later, the water in the glass bottle registered the study’s end
point of 20.9 degrees Centigrade versus 20.2 degrees Centigrade for the water in the aluminum
bottle. However while the aluminum bottle gives measurably better insulating performance,
the difference is so small that the responses are the same within measurement uncertainty.
Professor Peter M. Tessier has found that An organic compound found in red wine —
resveratrol — has the ability to neutralize the toxic effects of proteins linked to Alzheimer’s
disease.
The findings, published in the May 28 edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, are a step
toward understanding the large-scale death of brain cells seen in certain neurodegenerative
diseases.
“We’ve shown how resveratrol has very interesting selectivity to target and neutralize a select set
of toxic peptide isoforms,” Tessier said. “Because resveratrol picks out the clumps of peptides
that are bad and leaves alone the ones that are benign, it helps us to think about the structural
differences between the peptide isoforms.”
Isoforms are different packing arrangements of a particular peptide. Deformations of a particular
peptide — the Aβ1-42 peptide — have been linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Improperly folded
peptides have been shown to collect in accumulations called “plaques” within the brain. Those
plaques are often found near areas of cell death in diseased brains.
It is not clear that resveratrol is able to cross the blood-brain barrier, Tessier said. However, the
molecule has garnered interest in recent years for its potential impact on cancer and aging.
Steven M. Kessler (Houston) was named a partner at Dempsey Partners LLC, who will be in charge
of the firm's Houston office and MegaLoss Disaster Recovery practice. He is also the national
coordinator of the firm's property damage claims consulting practice. Kessler, a 30-year industry vet
00004000 eran, provides technical expertise in the areas of replacement cost quantification, large
loss claims strategy, and project management. Formerly the Global Manager of Claims for a major
property insurer, Kessler holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from The University of
Delaware.
Martina Tyreus has joined the firm of Fish & Richardson as an associate in its Intellectual
Property Litigation Group in Wilmington, DE. Ms. Tyreus, a former law clerk for the Honorable
Sue L. Robinson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, joins a group which
includes 10 former judicial clerks who bring substantial experience to Fish’s Delaware
office.
“Our former federal judicial clerks from the Delaware District Court and the Third and Federal
Circuit Courts of Appeals bring a maturity and judicial perspective that enable them to contribute
at a very high level as soon as they arrive,” said William Marsden, Managing Principal of Fish &
Richardson’s Delaware office. “Our deep bench also includes former clerks from the Delaware
Supreme Court and the Delaware Court of Chancery. In total, their individual and collective
expertise is a tremendous resource to the firm and, more importantly, to our clients. Martina
adds further depth to an already strong team and we are very pleased that she is joining our
firm.”
Michael Klein, UD alumnus and Board of Governors Professor of Engineering at Rutgers
University will present “Building Kinetic Models, Research Programs and Academic Units in
Support of Sustainable Energy Options” at the University of Delaware’s Energy Institute.
According to Klein, the wide range of science, engineering, policy, economic and ethical issues
that will decide the future of energy supply and use presents a significant opportunity for
academia. The coherence and visibility attained by building and projecting a university's
academic strengths in these areas through a multidisciplinary energy institute will allow it to both
contribute to the determination of the future and strengthen core programs. To this end, Klein's
experiences in academic program building and energy-related research in kinetic model building
will be discussed in this talk.
Erik Fyrwald, chairman and CEO of Nalco, is playing a significant role in the cleanup of the oil
spill off the coast of Louisiana.
Nalco confirmed that it is providing oil dispersants and support to BP and the responders dealing
with the spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The company will continue to provide these dispersants as
requested for as long as responders have the need. Fyrwald spoke on both Fox Business and
CNBC about Nalco's oil spill response technologies.
When asked to explain the technology in layman's terms, Fyrwald said, “It's a dispersant that
breaks down oil into small enough particles that it becomes nutrition for the naturally occurring
bacteria in the water.”
Initially approved for application to the surface of the water, the product -- a combination of
surfactants and solvents -- is now being tested for use directly at the wellhead. “That method
been demonstrated to be effective, and we're waiting for approval on it,” Fyrwald said.
Given the magnitude of the problem -- as of this week, the spill was the size of New Jersey -Nalco is rapidly ramping up production.
Edward Ng joins Freeborders, Inc., a global provider of consulting, technology and outsourcing
solutions to the financial services and technology based industry, today announced the
appointment of Edward Ng as Executive Vice President for Applications Lifecycle Services and
member of the Executive Management team.
Edward Ng brings more than 25 years of global IT industry experience to the Freeborders team,
with specific expertise in systems integration, e-commerce, and enterprise management
solutions.
Our clients will benefit from Edward’s diversified China and U.S. market expertise, industry
knowledge, and proven leadership in using IT as a strategic tool to improve business
performance With his appointment we also expand our Executive Team, a team of highly
regarded industry and solutions leaders who help clients drive value to the bottom line.
Joye L. Bramble was appointed Vice President, Pilot Plant Operations. In this role, Dr. Bramble
will have full responsibility for the management and operation of Morphotek's new pilot
manufacturing plant, which will produce biologics to support the company's early-stage clinical
trials. The company broke ground for the new $80 million facility in March 2010 and expects
operations to begin by fall 2012. Morphotek(R) is a subsidiary of Eisai Inc., the U.S.
pharmaceutical operation of Tokyo-based Eisai Co., Ltd.
With more than two decades of experience in the biotechnology industry, Dr. Bramble will play
an instrumental role in the introduction of Morphotek's new pilot manufacturing plant. Dr.
Bramble will report to Philip Sass, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and COO of Morphotek, and
serve on the company's Executive Committee.
Jim Rekoske has been named vice president and general manager for its Renewable Energy and
Chemicals business. Rekoske joined UOP in 1996 and has served in a number of R&D and
business positions, including, engineering manager, technical director for UOP’s Catalysts,
Adsorbents and Specialties business in the area of petrochemicals, director of technology for
Universal Pharma Technologies (a UOP joint venture), and, most recently, senior manager,
catalysis research and development.
He is the inventor or co-inventor named on 20 U.S. patents, with another 10 patent applications
pending. He was also recently awarded the 2010 Herman Pines Award from the Chicago
Catalysis Club in recognition of his numerous technical breakthroughs in catalysis science.
Peter M. Tessier, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering at Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, has been named a 2010 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences by the
Pew Charitable Trusts.
The distinction includes an award of $240,000 over four years and inclusion into a select
community of scientists that includes three Nobel Prize winners, three MacArthur Fellows, and
two recipients of the Albert Lasker Medical Research Award, according to the Pew Charitable
Trusts.
“We congratulate Dr. Tessier for being selected as a Pew Scholar in Biomedical Sciences, an
honor reserved for the most promising young faculty in the biomedical field,” said David
Rosowsky, dean of the School of Engineering at Rensselaer. “We are extremely proud of Peter
for being named a Pew Scholar – as well as his recent CAREER Award from the National
Science Foundation – and we look forward to his continued development as a leading scholar
and researcher. Dr. Tessier’s recent recognitions are further evidence of the very high caliber
of faculty we are attracting to Rensselaer.”
Alumni Awards/Honors
Peter Tessier, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering at Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, has won a Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) from the
National Science Foundation (NSF).
Tessier will use the five-year, $411,872 award to further his research into protein
thermodynamics and aggregation.
Tessier’s new research program, titled “Loop engineering of protein surfaces for tunable selfassociation and phase behavior,” seeks to explain how the behavior of antibodies may be better
controlled and utilized for treating human disease. He will investigate how antibody selfassociation and phase behavior can be modulated in a systematic manner through alteration of
solvent exposed loops on antibody surfaces. The project has broad implications for preventing
disease-associated protein aggregation, enabling the creation of more stable therapeutic proteins,
and manipulating assembly of protein crystals.
Jennifer O’Donnell, assistant professor of chemical and biological
engineering at Iowa State University, has been awarded $750,000 over
five years as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s new Early Career
Research Program.
O’Donnell’s research project was one of 69 funded through the new
program, which is designed to bolster the nation’s scientific workforce
by providing support to exceptional researchers during their crucial
early career years. The total funding of $85 million originated from the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“Five years to get my research program going here, and the guarantee of two graduate students
for that five years, is just amazing,” O’Donnell said. “I couldn’t be happier.”
Her research project, under the title “Templating of Liquid Crystal Microstructures by Reversible
Addition Fragmentation Chain Transfer Polymerization,” involves the design and synthesis of
polymer nanoparticles with internal microstructures identical to those of liquid crystals.
Such nanoparticles, she explained, could be used for catalysis or for drug delivery, and even have
implications for renewable energy. “We’re looking at putting the internally structured
nanoparticles into a larger microstructured domain for capturing solar energy,” O’Donnell said.
Dr. Daniel Zak has recieved the Young/Early Career Investigator Recognition . Daniel
trained under Dr. Babatunde Ogunnaike at Delaware and Dr. James Schwaber at the Daniel
Baugh Institute for Functional Genomics and Computational Biology at Thomas Jefferson
University. He researched computational modeling and analysis of mammalian
transcriptional regulatory networks, developing methods for the discovery of networks
from microarray data and analyzing gene networks controlling circadian rhythms.
Upon completion of his graduate work, Dr. Zak joined Dr. Alan Aderem’s lab at the
Institute for Systems Biology, where he is currently a Research Scientist. Dr. Zak applies
global measurement techniques such as microarrays and genome-wide location analysis to
study regulation of innate immune responses in macrophages and dendritic cells. He is
investigating mechanisms of cross-talk between Toll-like receptor (TLR) pathways and
how it gives rise to specificity in the innate immune response. He also employs exon -level
gene expression profiling to identify novel gene isoforms that modulate TLR responses.
John Kitchin of Carnegie Mellon University was awarded a five-year $750,000 grant from the
U.S. Department of Energy to develop new materials for producing hydrogen and oxygen from
water using electrochemistry.
"I was elated to hear that my research had been selected for such a prestigious honor," said
Kitchin, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at Carnegie Mellon. "This work tackles
one of the primary hurdles in efficiently obtaining hydrogen from water."
"This research has unlimited potential for helping the United States become more energy
efficient as Kitchin and his research team work to find more efficient ways to store energy," said
Andrew Gellman, head of Carnegie Mellon's Chemical Engineering Department and research
director of a new consortium created to support the research program of the National Energy
Technology Laboratory (NETL), part of the U.S. Department of Energy's national laboratory
system.
Kitchin said his research is a great way to give the nation's "hydrogen economy" a jumpstart.
"Our research is designed to make hydrogen production from water more efficient, which will
ultimately enable the development of future energy systems to store intermittent renewable
energy in chemical form, and to make better use of biomass to fuel everything from cars to large
turbines and factories. The oxygen produced from this process may play a crucial role in helping
to manage the CO2 emissions through advanced fossil energy power systems such as
oxycombustion and gasification," said Kitchin, recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt
postdoctoral fellowship in 2004 for study at the Fritz Haber Institute in Berlin, Germany.
Michael Betenbaugh was awarded the 2010 Cell Culture Engineering Award of the Cell Culture
Engineering XII conference (CCE) by the Engineering Conferences International (ECI).
He has worked extensively applying his ideas through a pioneering molecular-based approach to
cellular engineering using the metabolic processes. Along with his work optimizing a cell’s
glycosylation process, he is also credited with manipulating a cell’s apoptotic machinery to delay
cell death and thereby improve cellular productivity. Early in his career, he began working with
cell death and post-translational processing of proteins in eukaryotes, and discovered that these
processes can limit cellular expression.
Betenbaugh’s patents on glycosylation engineering have been licensed to Merck. His patents on
antiapoptosis engineering have been licensed to biotechnology companies including Bayer,
Biogen Idec, Centocor, and Biomarin.
Alumni who have passed – create a box to highlight.
Judith Colburn Gehret
Surrounded by her loving family on September 2, 2009 Judith "Judy" Colburn Gehret of
Sparks, MD succumbed to Congestive Heart Failure.
Judy was formally of Newark, DE and a graduate of Newark High School, class of 1951.
She continued her education at Smith College, graduating in 1955 with a degree in
Mathematics.
Judy, daughter of the late Allan P. and Evelyn S. Colburn, is survived by her loving
husband of 53 years Edward F. Gehret of Sparks, MD; Beloved children Catherine E.
McCaslin of Seattle, WA, Robert S. Gehret of Hampstead, MD, Carolyn A. Gehret of
Sparks, MD, and the late Elizabeth G. Starling of Timonium, MD; Brother Willis S.
Colburn of Champaign, IL and sister Carolyn C. Narasimhan of Chicago, IL; Also
survived by 7 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.
James I Thompson, Jr.
James I. Thompson Jr., 90 of Arnold, MD., previously of Claymont, Del., died August 25, 2009
at the home of his daughter Leslie Campbell in Arnold, MD., after a short illness. He was born
September 19, 1918 in Penniman, Va., to James I. Thompson Sr. and Lola Isaacs Thompson.
He graduated from Claymont High School and the University of Delaware with a bachelors of
Science in Chemical Engineering. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II for 5 years.
He was then employed by Atlas Chemical, ICI America and Astra Zeneca where he retired in
1981. He loved dogs, chess, bowling, gardening and chocolate. Jim was preceded in death by
his wife, Helen McNight Thompson. He is survived by his two sons, John Thompson of
Landenberg, PA., Stephen Thompson of Fort Collins, CO., his daughter Leslie Campbell of
Arnold, MD., his brother Ken Thompson of Catonsville, MD.; 4 grandchildren, 2 step
grandchildren, a great grandson and his faithful Jack Russell Terrier, Rusty.
Research
Energy Frontiers Research Centers (EFRC):
Energy Frontiers Research Centers (EFRC) at The University of Delaware will receive
$400,000 over the next four years to conduct research on the conversion of biomass to fuels
through the National Science Foundation's Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation
(EFRI) program.
EFRI offers interdisciplinary teams of researchers the opportunity to embark on rapidly
advancing frontiers of fundamental engineering research. This year's program funded 43 projects
in two areas: BioSensing and BioActuation (BSBA) and Hydrocarbons from Biomass (HyBi).
Dion Vlachos, Elisabeth Inez Kelley Professor of Chemical Engineering at UD, is co-principal
investigator on an EFRI-HyBi project led by the University of Minnesota that will investigate the
conversion of biomass to fuels using molecular sieve catalysts and millisecond contact time
reactors. Only eight HyBi proposals were funded.
While several processes for biomass utilization have been proposed, none meets the productivity,
scalability, product distribution, and economic requirements for commercial implementation.
The objective of the new research is to develop a continuous and scalable autothermal catalytic
process for the “one-pot” conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fuels using multifunctional
catalysts in a short-contact-time stratified reactor.
The work will capitalize on the infrastructure provided by the Institute on the Environment at the
University of Minnesota and the Center for Catalytic Science and Technology at UD.
CCST
Increasing Yield from Gasification
A new process can make more fuel from biomass.
Biomass can be converted to fuels via a process called gasification, which uses high
temperatures to break feedstock down into carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which can then be
made into various fuels, including hydrocarbons. But there's a major drawback--about half of the
carbon in the biomass gets converted to carbon dioxide rather than into carbon monoxide, a
precursor for fuels. Now researchers in University of Minnesota and the University of
Massachusetts, Amherst, have developed a method for gasifying biomass that converts all of the
carbon into carbon monoxide.
In the new approach, the researchers gasify biomass in the presence of precisely controlled
amounts of carbon dioxide and methane, the main component of natural gas, in a special
catalytic reactor that the researchers developed. When they did this, all of the carbon in both the
biomass and the methane was converted to carbon monoxide. "In the chemical industry, even a
few percent improvement makes a big impact. The increase from 50 percent to 100 percent is
profound," says Dionisios Vlachos, the director of the Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation at
the University of Delaware.
To increase the yields from gasification, researchers at the University of Minnesota and UMass
Amherst added carbon dioxide, which promotes a well-known reaction: the carbon dioxide
combines with hydrogen to produce water and carbon monoxide. But adding carbon dioxide isn't
enough to convert all of the carbon in biomass into carbon monoxide instead of carbon dioxide.
It's also necessary to add hydrogen, which helps in part by providing the energy needed to drive
the reactions. It's long been possible to do each of these steps in separate chemical reactors. The
researchers' innovation was to find a way to combine all of these reactions in a single reactor, the
key to making the process affordable.
The process could both greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the amount of fuel
that can be made from an acre of biomass using gasification. Many companies are pursuing
biological approaches to converting biomass into fuel (using enzymes and yeast, for example),
rather than thermochemical methods such as gasification, in part because biological approaches
tend to convert more biomass into the desired fuel than thermochemical methods. But biological
approaches are each designed to work with just one type of biomass. Gasification has the
advantage of being more flexible. The same facility could potentially process grass, wood, and
even old tires.
The researchers found that to make the process work, it was necessary to precisely balance three
variables: the amount of carbon dioxide, the amount of oxygen added, and the amount of
methane relative to the amount of cellulose--a material derived from biomass. The mixture is fed
into a high-temperature reactor that consists of a rhodium- and cerium-based catalyst. In the
reactor, particles of cellulose are quickly converted into a liquid, which spreads over the catalyst,
enhancing the reactions that lead to the production of hydrogen and carbon monoxide gases.
Paul Dauenhauer, a professor of chemical engineering at UMass Amherst, and one of the
researchers involved in developing the new process, says a commercial version of the process
could be set up near an existing natural gas power plant, which would provide ready access to
methane and carbon dioxide. But the process isn't yet ready for commercialization. The
researchers will need to demonstrate that it works with biomass, not just with cellulose derived
from biomass. Biomass contains various contaminants not found in pure cellulose. Those
contaminants could have a negative effect on the catalyst, and this could make it necessary to
reengineer the reactor, he says. And there could be challenges scaling up the process, including
ensuring that heat moves through the reactor the same way it does on a small scale.
Delaware Biotechnical Institute
The path to job creation is through leading-edge science, according to Delaware's Congressional
delegation, which announced $1.2 million in federal funding to the University of Delaware on
Monday, July 20, at a press conference at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute.
The funding, through the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, will support research in
environmental science, avian influenza, biomedicine, and substance abuse.
Specifically, the federal dollars will provide facilities upgrades for avian influenza monitoring
critical to the state's poultry industry, programs and equipment for “critical zone” research on
soil and environmental quality, infrastructure for cancer and neuroscience research, an expansion
of the Delaware School Survey project to assess prescription drug use among teens, and a
satellite receiving station at the Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes for accessing real-time data on
the Delaware Bay corridor.
The funded programs directly involve five of the University's seven colleges and have
interdisciplinary implications for all seven, according to University President Patrick Harker.
“That's important to us because this kind of collaboration isn't just the way of the future; it's how
the University of Delaware is doing business today,” Harker noted.
Senator Thomas Carper, who also is a UD alumnus, talked about the genesis nearly a decade ago
of the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, an interdisciplinary center for life sciences research at
the University, and its rapid evolution as “one of the principal economic engines in the State of
Delaware.”
Nearly 12,000 new primary and secondary jobs have been created since the Delaware
Biotechnology Institute opened in 2001.
“With some of the work we're doing here at the University of Delaware, we're addressing
problems facing the state and the world,” Carper noted.
During his remarks, Senator Ted Kaufman noted that when he came to the state in 1966,
Delaware was the nation's leader in science.
“It's really important that we get back to being the science capital again,” Kaufman said.
Kaufman, who is the only engineer in the U.S. Senate, praised the University for expanding its
engineering curriculum and noted that there are “incredible opportunities” for students in
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and fields like biotechnology that bring all of
those disciplines together.
“Not all jobs are created equal,” he said. “We want to get these high-tech jobs.”
Representative Michael Castle praised Harker, noting: “The University is thriving and doing
extraordinarily well under your leadership.”
He said of the Delaware Biotechnology Institute and the University's larger research programs,
“There's a lot of scientific interest here and we need to develop it in every way we can for the
benefit of our community.”
Delaware Biotechnology Institute: $190,000 to strengthen Delaware's biomedical research
capabilities by building on existing programs in cancer research and bioinformatics, and building
new infrastructure in cardiovascular and neuroscience research. The research includes
investigators in the colleges of Health Sciences, Arts and Sciences, and Engineering.
Founded in 2001, the Delaware Biotechnology Institute is a major center for life sciences
research at UD, focusing on human health, agriculture, and the environment. Kelvin Lee, Gore
Professor of Chemical Engineering, serves as its director.
Electron Microscopy: New views of catalysts
Developments in electron microscopy are generating more realistic views of catalysts,
allowing optimization of their structure to improve their performance.
Improvements to catalysts that even slightly increase their activity, selectivity for products or lifetime can
have a huge impact on the economic viability of an industrial-scale chemical process. Recent advances in
electron microscope instrumentation and techniques are allowing researchers to obtain unprecedented
views of real, as opposed to model, catalyst materials. Crucial new information concerning the identity of
the catalytically active species or the mechanism of deactivation can then be fed back into the catalyst
design process to produce more effective and stable catalysts. Presentations at the 1st International
Symposium on Advanced Electron Microscopy for Catalysis and Energy Storage Materials, held on 17–
19 January 2010 at the Fritz-Haber Institute in Berlin, provided a fascinating snapshot of the latest
developments in catalyst microscopy. Aberration-corrected microscopes, cryo-tomography and specialty
heating stages are shedding new light on the nanoworld of catalysts and are beginning to facilitate
improvements in catalyst design.
The sophisticated lens systems designed to correct aberrations in transmission electron microscopes
(TEMs) essentially come in two varieties. First, there are instruments with 'probe correctors' that are
situated between the electron source and specimen, which allow the formation of high-intensity,
subangstrom-sized electron probes and result in greatly improved imaging resolution and highersensitivity compositional analysis (Fig. 1). Second, there are those instruments with 'image correctors'
placed after the sample that give clearer atomic-resolution lattice images, with fewer image artefacts, of
surfaces and interfaces, than are obtainable in conventional high-resolution electron microscopes. Both
types of aberration-corrected instrument are now playing important
parts in catalyst science.
In my own presentation, I showed that high-angle dark-field
(HAADF) imaging in the probe-corrected microscope allows one
to image subnanometre catalyst clusters and atomically
dispersed species supported on real nanocrystalline oxide supports — features that could not
be detected using conventional electron microscopes. Using examples of Au supported on
Fe2O3 (a CO oxidation catalyst1) and WOx supported on ZrO2 (a solid-acid alkane isomerization
catalyst2), I demonstrated that these previously elusive subnanometre entities can often be the
most catalytically active species, not the more obvious larger particles. Once the identity of the
most active species in these catalyst systems had been deduced, new preparation strategies
were devised to maximize their number density, allowing more efficient use of precious material
resources, and ultimately the preparation of better catalysts.
The probe-corrected HAADF imaging technique has also been applied to study the structure of
complex MoVTeNbO mixed oxides, which are selective oxidation catalysts for the conversion of
propane to acrylic acid. Douglas Buttrey (University of Delaware, USA) demonstrated that the
atomic-mass contrast inherent to the HAADF imaging technique can be used to visualize the
spatial distribution of the various cation types in these complex oxides3. In fact, the data
acquired was so detailed that it was possible to further refine the accepted unit-cell structure of
an important MoVTeNbO phase that had previously been deduced from analysis of X-ray
diffraction data. The technique is also helping Buttrey to determine the eventual destination of
additional impurity elements (Ta, Sb) that are being deliberately added to this already complex
structure in an effort to further improve catalyst performance.
Robert Schloegl (Fritz-Haber Institute, Germany) reported on the use of the other type of
aberration correction, in a post-specimen image-corrected microscope, for imaging Ag particles
supported on SiO2 (ref. 4). Using this, in conjunction with density functional theory (DFT)
calculations, he was able to discern details of the active Ag particle surfaces without the
confusion of complicating extraneous ghost fringes such as Fresnel or delocalization fringes that
usually plague lattice images acquired on conventional TEMs and make interpreting highresolution images a problem. The next logical step in the development of aberration-corrected
microscopes is the incorporation of an environmental cell into the specimen area of the
microscope. This technological advance, which is already being implemented by several
microscope manufacturers, will allow catalysts to be viewed real-time at ultrahigh resolution in a
gaseous environment at reaction temperature, that is, in an environment that is closer to their
normal operating conditions.
Advances other than aberration correction were also presented at the meeting. The efficient
impregnation of metal nitrate solutions into mesoporous SiO2 support materials such as SBA-15,
followed by drying, calcination and reduction steps, are critical in generating Fischer–Tropsch
catalysts used to convert synthesis gas into liquid hydrocarbons. Krijn de Jong (Utrecht
University, The Netherlands) showed that cryo-electron microscopy (a technique more
commonly used by biologists), when combined with electron tomography5, can unravel the
structural changes occurring during each of these elementary steps in the production of a
Ni/SiO2 Fischer–Tropsch catalyst. This innovative study allowed de Jong to identify changes in
the preparation method that yielded catalysts with greatly improved activity, based on achieving
a more efficient and uniform metal particle loading within the support mesopores.
State-of-the-art heating stages using microelectromechanical systems technology allow
ultrarapid (on the order of milliseconds) and reproducible heating/cooling cycles without
introducing any significant thermal drift of the TEM sample6. These are now being used to great
effect by a number of research groups to study the thermal stability of metal nanoparticles on
oxide supports. Such in situ heating studies are uncovering the mechanisms governing
nanoparticle sintering, that is, coarsening versus Ostwald ripening. This allows informed
strategies to be developed for modifying the oxide support to improve the adhesion of the metal
nanoparticles, which will ultimately lead to increased catalyst stability and lifetime.
Other emerging techniques discussed at the symposium included ultralow-voltage TEM,
electron holography, precession electron diffraction, spectrum imaging using energy-dispersive
X-ray spectroscopy/electron energy-loss spectroscopy, and plasmon resonance imaging. The
general consensus was that each of these methods, given time, will find increasing levels of
application in the field of catalyst characterization. A particularly exciting and revolutionary
development, described by Sir John Meurig Thomas (Cambridge University, UK), was ultrafast
electron microscopy, whereby single-electron pulses, rather than continuous electron
bombardment, are used to illuminate a sample7. With ultrafast electron microscopy it may soon
be possible to record diffraction patterns, real-space images and electron energy-loss spectra in
a stroboscopic fashion, yielding subnanometre spatial resolution and subpicosecond time
resolution. This is a tantalizing prospect for the study of dynamic structural phenomena and
transient chemical bonding that exist in real catalyst materials.
Alumni Coordinator Message – Place Holder
Class Notes – Place holder
2010 Class Reunions – Place holder
Allan P. Colburn
Allan Colburn was born and educated in Wisconsin and
was the first employee of the DuPont Company to be hired as a
research engineer rather than an engineer charged with
carrying out process development functions. This research group,
organized in 1929 by Thomas Chilton, brought these two very
productive people into a close contact, though one which lasted
less than a decade because of problems with Allan Colburn’s
failing health. The Chilton-Colburn contributions to
understanding the similarities between rates of heat, mass and
momentum transfer appeared in 1930 in a rough form and, in
the final polished form, in
a paper authored by Colburn alone in 1933. This “Colburn analogy” paper was followed by one
on design of cooler-condenser systems and another which developed the concept of a “height
of a transfer unit” of HTU. Both these papers were actually presented by Chilton at AIChE
meetings because Colburn was not well enough to attend. Two other frequent co-workers
were William McAdams (MIT) and Thomas Drew (Columbia) who served as DuPont consultants
during these years, and Colburn authored a large number of papers on heat and mass transfer
which reflected their input as well; the Colburn-Drew paper of 1937, on condensation of mixed
vapors, is perhaps his second most important contribution to chemical engineering science. In
addition to authoring good scientific analyses, he also published a large number of pragmatic
papers on heat transfer in a variety of geometries, on distillation and on fluid metering.
In 1938 Allan Colburn’s tuberculosis had sufficiently weakened him that he had to resign
his industrial position and look for part-time employment under conditions that might enable
him to choose his own working hours. This was how he arrived at the University of Delaware;
but he did not really retire. The wartime chemical engineering curriculum for Army Officers (the
Army ASTP program of WWII) which enrolled many thousands (perhaps five to ten thousand
students) was written by Allan Colburn and Barnett Dodge of Yale.
Colburn became Acting-President of the University of Delaware in 1950 and was Provost
from 1950 until his death from cancer in 1955. He was the first recipient of the Walker Award of
the AIChE in 1935 and also the first recipient of the Professional Progress Award in 1948. He
was Chairman of the heat transfer division of ASME and a director of AIChE from 1942 to 1947
and served on numerous governmental advisory committees.
He was Director of the Delaware Chapter of the American Red Cross from 1946 until his
death and served as a member of the research committee of the American Cancer Society. In
summary, he was a most distinguished engineer and a very humble, compassionate and most
helpful human being who was seriously ill throughout his professional career.
The reason for the Annual Allan Colburn Lectureship is to recognize those young faculty
or engineers who best exemplify Allan Colburn’s scholarly abilities on pragmatic as well as
theoretical problems and his interest in all humanity.
Named
Date
Speaker
Speaker's Institution
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
2010
2009
2008
2006
2005
Todd Squires
Matthew DeLisa
Michael Strano
Patrick Doyle
Michael D. Graham
Santa Barbara, University of California
Cornell
MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
2004
2002
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
Sharon C. Glotzer
Jay Keasling
Linda Broadbelt
K. Dane Wittrup
Julia Kornfield
Wesley R. Burghardt
John M. Vohs
Yannis Kevrekidis
Arup Chakraborty
Doros Theodorou
Glenn Fredrickson
Alice Gast
Sangtae Kim
H. Chia Chang
Julio Ottino
Robert A. Brown
Klaus Jensen
Matt Tirrell
Rakesh K. Jain
University of Michigan
University of CA, Berkley
Northwestern
MIT
CalTech
Noethwestern
Penn
Princeton
UC-Berkeley
UC-Berkeley
UCSB
Stanford
Wisconsin
Notre Dame
UMass
MIT
UMN
Princeton - MN
Carnegie-Mellon
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
Colburn
1982
1981
1981
1980
1978
1978
1976
1975
1974
1973
1972
Michael Shuler
A. C. Payatakes
T. W. Fraser Russell
James Dumesic
Clark K. Colton
L. Gary Leal
John H. Seinfeld
Louis Hegedus
James White
Dale Rudd
Edward L. Cussler
Cornell
UD
Wisconsin
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
General Motors
University of Tennessee
University of Wisconsin
Carnegie-Mellon University