ChBE News—Winter/Spring 2004

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GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY • SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL & BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING • VOL. 12 NO. 1 • WINTER 2004

After More Than 100 Years, the School Has a New Name

By Ronald Rousseau School Chair The School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering has more than a century of history at Tech. In that time, it has had an active role in weaving the fabric of the Institute. Through the students it has graduated and the faculty members who have taught them, the School has contributed greatly to the growth of Tech, the Atlanta region, and the nation across which its progeny have spread.

We take pride in our discipline and think that in many respects it has provided the intellectual capital that built the world’s energy and chemical enterprises. The recent appreciation of the global nature of much of what we do is not surprising to many who have contributed to building those industries. In fact, today, only about half of all chemical engineering graduates in the U.S. are employed upon graduation by traditional chemical or energy industries.

Diversification has not been

limited to the industrial sector.

Georgia Tech chemical engineering faculty members, and those from other universities, have embraced research opportunities in materials, microelectronics, and biotechnology.

They have done so because they bring exceptional skills and insights to these areas, and because these are fields where our students are likely to find their opportunities.

With all these advances, however, it is rare to find those

from outside the discipline with an awareness of this breadth of activity. How many, for example, know that our School has the largest and best group working in the field of microelectronics among all the chemical engineering programs in the United States? How many recognize that the early entry of engineering into medicine was led by chemical engineers? How many know that nanotechnology inevitably Continued on page 3

IPST Officially Becomes Part of Georgia Tech Family Last year marked a significant number of changes for ChBE. First, the School moved into its new home, the Ford Environmental Science & Technology Building. That event was followed by its official name change, as detailed in the article above. However, those changes were not the only monumental events to occur. Georgia Tech and ChBE officially welcomed the Institute of Paper Science and Technology (IPST) into its family, thus further enhancing the breadth and depth of the School’s academic program and research opportunities.

History of IPST Leaders of the pulp and paper industry founded the Institute

of Paper Chemistry (IPC) in 1929. Located in Appleton, Wisconsin, it flourished and became a major supplier of the technical leadership of the industry. As the industry evolved and its dominant source of pulpwood moved further south, IPC decided in the late 1980s to relocate to the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta. The IPC Board of Directors clearly believed that the change in locale was not the only reason to make such a major transition; it had become more and more expensive to maintain a research organization at the cutting edge of science and technology, and technical advances had come to rely to a much greater extent

The Institute of Paper Science and Technology (IPST) is located on the Georgia Tech Campus at 10th Street and Hemphill Avenue.

upon interchanges between scientists and engineers from various disciplines. The IPC leadership correctly predicted that being on the Tech campus would provide opportunities for

interactions that would have a profound impact on the direction of IPC’s research. And while at the business of change, Continued on page 8

New Research Center Forms Alliance with Imperial Global Awareness College London and University College London Recently, ChBE faculty members organized the establishment of the Center for Process Systems Engineering (CPSE) as part of the Institute’s effort to foster a budding alliance with Imperial College, London. The Centre for Process Systems Engineering, a joint center between Imperial College and University College London, was established in 1989 and has held a preeminent position in process systems engineering with successes in both the academic and industrial sectors.

The establishment of the sister center at Tech will promote research collaborations among PSE researchers at the two institutions and prepare for a launch of an International CPSE, which will be developed and managed jointly by the two institutions.

Of the ten faculty members currently involved with Tech’s CPSE, most are from ChBE, with others from the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering and the College of Computing. The Center is forming an industrial consortium to finance its operation and to assist in the identification of research problems relevant to industries. In September, CPSE hosted a symposium on campus to introduce academic and industrial leaders to the new Center and to familiarize them with its research projects and goals.

CPSE’s vision is to “become a world leader in research and education that will sustain the process industries’ innovation embodied in products or processes.” As the pace of technological development is accelerating and lifecycles of products and processes are shortening, there is an increasing need to move basic research to market more rapidly, especially in today’s environment where product development and manufacturing tend to span a very broad range of length and time scales. In order to meet this challenge, scientific discovery and systems thinking must be combined, which calls for multidisciplinary research efforts. The Center’s research will focus on solving these and similar problems facing today’s industries.

The Center’s activities have three main components: Research, Partnership with Industries, and Continuing Education and Technology Transfer. These efforts are organized into three different application domains: Product and Process Design, Operation, and Measurement and Control. The first area focuses on the problem of integrating product and process designs into one systematic effort so that economic and environmental performances of a product can be assessed early on and reflected in product design decisions.

The second area of operation will look at problems of production planning and scheduling and supply chain management. In addition to the supply chains for traditional commodity-type products, research will address problems associated with supply chains for products whose supply and demand can change rapidly in a highly uncertain manner. Examples include vaccines and other pharmaceutical products.

The last area of control and measurement involves development of sensors for key variables along with strategies and algorithms for manipulating processing conditions to ensure acceptable product quality and safe and economic operation. In addition to the processes in traditional industries like oil, chemical, and paper, research will examine control problems that arise in microelectronics manufacturing and biological systems, which tend to involve phenomena and specifications at smaller length scales and have significantly higher complexities.

If you would like additional information about the Center, please contact CPSE’s director, Professor Jay H. Lee, at jay.lee@ chbe.gatech.edu, or visit the Center’s web site at www.cpse.gatech.edu.

Georgia Tech Events

From left: Margaret “Peggy” Farrell, ChE ‘78, and Robert A. Farrell, ChE ‘79, with Professor Mark White at ChBE’s homecoming reception in October. As students, the couple met in Dr. White’s Reactor Design class in 1978 and later were married. They now have a son, Sean, who is a Georgia Tech freshman majoring in Biomedical Engineering.

Professor Joe Schork (left) greets parents during Family Weekend 2003. This year’s event provided the first formal occasion for family members to visit ChBE’s new home, the Ford Environmental Science and Technology Building.

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Name Change continued

means manipulating matter at the molecular level, something chemical engineers have been doing for decades? And how many recognize that the complexity of an oil refinery led chemical engineers to think of systems and the integration of high-speed computing into control techniques long before other disciplines discovered systems thinking?

We are concerned about this lack of recognition because it

Responses to Change Chemical engineering is a discipline that was founded on the application of chemistry as an enabling science. Over time, and with increasing speed, it has evolved so that biological sciences and chemistry now fill the position once uniquely held by chemistry. The faculty believe that an important step in our response to the changes that have taken place within the discipline is to give greater visibility to them. Accordingly, we chose a new name for our acad-

“How many know that our School has the largest and best group working in the field of microelectronics among all the chemical engineering programs in the United States?” affects the thinking of those who are the future of our discipline and, ultimately, our society: the best and the brightest young minds seeking to make their way in a world of technology. The competition for these individuals is fierce, and just winning the competition is not enough.

Once we attract such students, we have to deliver. I believe we can do so by maintaining the core principles around which chemical engineering has been based and by responding vigorously and structurally to opportunities in molecular and cellular biology. Indeed, chemical engineering is uniquely positioned at the interface between molecular sciences and engineering. This position provides great opportunities in the life sciences through the use of genetics and development of new pharmaceuticals, in energy, in protecting our planet by fostering the development of sustainable systems, through implementing molecular control of processes and devices, and in countless unforeseen ways.

emic unit: the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering.

Our work has not stopped there.

We once again examined our curriculum for ways to increase the exposure chemical engineering students get to biology and to provide opportunities for students to concentrate their areas of study.

the faculty has committed itself to covering applications of biological sciences in the content of current chemical engineering courses. For example, courses in thermodynamics will include applications to biological systems and/or molecules produced biologically.

This emphasis on biology as an enabling science for molecular transformations has had great consequences for chemical engineering. No longer can chemical engineers assume that a new compound will be synthesized commercially using classical chemical techniques; and no longer can the discipline shower its nearly undivided attention on species that have relatively simple structures with ancestors in crude oil. For more than 20 years many chemical engineers have been pointing out this inevitability. For example, it is instructive to consider the programming for technical sessions by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers; at its last annual meeting there were 95 sessions (roughly 40% of the total program) specifically dealing with biologically-

Prior to changing the School’s name, we carefully studied the unique campus climate at Georgia Tech, our position in the University System of Georgia, and what other leading chemical engineering programs across the nation are doing. Our analysis led us to the clear conclusion that Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering is the most appropriate name for our program.

Biomolecular Research in the School Four faculty members with a full-time appointment in the School devote their research to biomolecular-related topics: Andreas Bommarius, Mark Prausnitz, Athanassios Sambanis, and Timothy Wick.

In addition, several professors with joint appointments to ChBE and other Schools also conduct biomolecular research.

These professors include Mark Allen, who is a professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Robert Nerem, who is the Director of the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience; and Larry McIntyre, who is the Wallace H. Coulter Chair &

“How many recognize that the early entry of engineering into medicine

The faculty has recently recommended, and the appropriate Institute committees have approved, three curriculum changes: (1) Since biological sciences are now recognized to be essential for all chemical engineering graduates, a course in biology is now required. (2) Undergraduates may now take a course in biochemistry as an alternative to a course in analytical chemistry. (3) Students may take a course in bioprocessing, which is one of a limited set of upper-level courses that can be used to satisfy a chemical engineering course requirement.

Perhaps more important than these curriculum modifications,

was led by chemical engineers?” oriented topics, and an overwhelming percentage of the other sessions had such topics embedded in their programs.

Given all of these changes, it is important to potential students, others in academia, and society at large that the School’s name is reflective of its programs and the disciplines that it supports.

The name must also demonstrate the breadth of activities and opportunities consistent with the mission of the School.

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Professor of the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

The profiles on the following page outline a selection of the biomolecular research projects – specifically biomedical – that some of these professors are currently researching. For additional information about research in ChBE, please visit: www.chbe.gatech.edu/research /areas.htm.

Examples of Biomedical Research in ChBE Mark Allen

Mark Prausnitz

Professor Allen’s main research focus is in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), which is defined as the use of microfabrication techniques to create mechanical structures in silicon and other materials, potentially in addition to electronic devices.

Along with Dr. Jay Yadav, a cardiologist and director of peripheral and carotid intervention at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Prof. Allen founded CardioMEMS Inc. in 2000 to create a new generation of medical devices. CardioMEMS is currently developing two products with its wireless pressure-sensing technology:

Professor Prausnitz and co-workers in the Laboratory for Drug Delivery are studying how to use engineering technologies to deliver drugs and genes for improved medical therapies and biotechnology laboratory procedures. Their approach employs mechanical and chemical methods to increase temporarily the permeability of cell membranes, skin, or other biological barriers to help transport therapeutic molecules across them.

To increase skin permeability and thereby help transdermal patches deliver drugs across the skin, Prof. Prausnitz’s group has used the technology of the microelectronics industry to produce micronscale needles that pierce painlessly into skin. When inserted into diabetic rats, microneedles deliver insulin to rapidly correct blood sugar levels. When microneedles are inserted into the skin of people, they report feeling no pain. A number of companies are actively developing microneedles for commercialization.

• A heart sensor to measure intra-cardiac pressure in patients with congestive heart failure, a condition in which the heart is not pumping properly due to clogged arteries, high blood pressure, or other medical conditions.

• An AAA sensor to measure blood pressure in people with an abdominal aortic aneurysm, which is a weakening in the lower aorta that can cause it to expand and rupture.

The microsensors must be implanted using a minor surgical procedure. Once they are in place, doctors can regularly audit their patients and collect information that cannot be obtained in an isolated test. The sensors essentially serve as an early-warning system and also provide more information than current tests.

Currently, the CardioMEMS microsensors are in final testing and development stages, and the company expects to launch the AAA sensor in late 2004, followed by the heart sensor in 2005.

Ultrasound can also be used to help deliver drugs and genes across cell membranes and inside cells. Prof. Prausnitz’s group has shown that the mechanism involves the formation and implosion of cavitation bubbles that probably shear off a piece of cell membrane. Molecules can then diffuse into the cell through the resulting hole, which subsequently reseals. In this way, ultrasound can load cells with large numbers of molecules, such as proteins, and can increase DNA transfection.

Athanassios Sambanis

Timothy Wick

Professor Sambanis’ group is working on developing core enabling technologies towards engineering a pancreatic tissue substitute for treatment of insulin-dependent diabetes. The substitute should be functional in vitro and post-implantation in vivo, immune acceptable, and amenable to fabrication at a medically relevant scale. The technologies pursued depend strongly on the types of insulin-secreting cells employed. In Prof. Sambanis’ lab, work focuses on pancreatic islets and continuous insulin-secreting beta cell lines, as well as on non-pancreatic cells genetically engineered to secrete insulin in response to physiologic stimuli. The first two cell types are of allogeneic (from a different member of the same species) or xenogeneic (from another species) origin, whereas the engineered non-pancreatic cells can be autologous (from the same individual) in nature.

Professor Wick’s research group focuses on two different areas: developing methods for large-scale production of engineered tissues suitable for human implantation and identifying therapeutic treatment options for complications from sickle cell anemia.

It is important to pursue multiple research directions in parallel to avoid “show stoppers” and also because it is unclear which approach will eventually yield a viable therapeutic procedure; therefore, different core technologies need to be developed in each case. To that end, his group is exploring numerous options to find the best solution, including genetic engineering of non-pancreatic cells for physiologically responsive insulin secretion, development of stable, functional encapsulated cell systems containing continuous cell lines, development of nuclear magnetic resonance-based methods for non-invasive monitoring of a pancreatic substitute, and cryopreservation of encapsulated cells.

Sickle Cell Anemia — Blockage of blood flow in blood vessels is a frequent complication for patients with sickle cell anemia. In microvessels, adherence of sickle red blood cells to blood vessel wall endothelial cells initiates or propagates vaso-occlusion that inhibits tissue oxygenation, leading to severe pain. Adherence is increased by endothelial activation with inflammatory mediators. Therapies to prevent sickle cell vaso-occlusive complications are limited. His group’s research has led to a better understanding of the role of cell adhesion in vascular occlusion and tissue damage and has identified novel targets for development of therapeutics to inhibit or reverse adhesion and the concurrent tissue damage.

Human Implantation — To date, research has focused on engineering tissue constructs with biochemical and mechanical properties similar to native tissue. Less emphasis has been placed on the integration of tissue development into the overall bioprocess scheme.

The overall objective of Prof. Wick’s group is to develop bioreactors to provide biochemical and mechanical environments that promote cell proliferation and abundant matrix deposition to produce functional tissues for implantation.

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Faculty News Mark Allen and Mark Prausnitz, along with I. J. Gujral, received U.S. Patent No. 6,611,707 for a microneedle drug delivery device.

efforts to advance science or its applications. He also gave three invited lectures and received four patents.

Sue Ann Bidstrup Allen and Paul Kohl were issued a patent for “Fabrication of Semiconductor Device with Air Gaps for Ultra-Low Capacitance Interconnections and Methods.” Along with Cliff Henderson, they were also issued a patent for “Fabrication of Semiconductor Devices with Air Gaps for Ultra Low Capacitance Interconnections and Methods of Making Same.”

Jay Lee gave a keynote talk entitled “Simulation-Based Dynamic Programming Framework for Process Control and Scheduling” at the International Conference on Control, Automation, and Systems held in Gyeongju, Korea in October. He also presented a seminar in the chemical engineering department at the University of Texas at Austin in November, and published eight journal articles.

In November, Yulin Deng was elected as an International Advisory Board member for the journal of Progress in Paper Recycling. He also published more than six journal articles.

Carson Meredith was the guest editor of the October issue of the Journal of Materials Science. The issue focused on a new rapidly growing field of combinatorial polymer science. Prof. Meredith was also invited to present at the 2004 World Biomaterials Congress in Sydney, Australia.

Jeff Empie delivered several invited lectures, including two at the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) Fall Technical Conference.

A paper that Athanasios Nenes co-authored for the journal Geophysical Research Letters has been selected by the editors as an “AGU Journal Highlight,” which means that a summary of the article will be published in Geophysical Research Letters and distributed to news media in advance of the journal’s publication. The article is entitled “Iron Mobilization in Mineral Dust: Can Anthropogenic SO2 Emissions Affect Ocean Productivity?”

A festschrift honoring Chuck Eckert was published by the American Chemical Society journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, one of chemical engineering’s premier scholarly journals. A statement in the introductory article of the volume refers to Prof. Eckert as “one of the most influential researchers in molecular thermodynamics, chemical kinetics, and separations.” A reception commemorating the publication of the tribute was held on Jan. 21 at Georgia Tech with numerous campus leaders, colleagues, and students in attendance. Prof. Eckert also published a book chapter and lectured on “Nontraditional Solvents for Sustainable Chemical Processes” at four universities, and published numerous journal articles.

Mark Prausnitz was named director of a newly formed research center, Georgia Tech’s Center for Drug Design, Development and Delivery (CD4). The new center currently has 20 faculty participants from the Colleges of Engineering and Sciences (mostly from Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Chemistry, and Biomedical Engineering). Prof. Prausnitz also received a grant from the National Institute of Health for research on Mechanisms of Ultrasound-Mediated Bioeffects and a grant from the U.S. Department of Education for nine graduate student fellowships in drug gene therapy development. He chaired a conference session on nanotechnology at the 30th International Symposium on Controlled Release of Bioactive Molecules in Glasgow, Scotland, and also gave six invited lectures.

Larry Forney’s article (co-authored with J. A. Pierson) entitled “Improved Methods for UV Processing of Fruit Juices” was selected as the “cover” article for the Jan./Feb. issue of Resource, which is a journal published by ASAE—the Society for Engineering in Agricultural Food and Biological Systems. He also gave four lectures at various campuses on “UV Processing in Fruit Juices.”

Ronald Rousseau presented a seminar at Carnegie Mellon University on October 7. He also accepted an invitation to serve as executive editor for the journal Chemical Engineering Science.

Cliff Henderson delivered invited lectures at the University of Florida on “Patterning at the Nanoscale: Designing Materials and Processes to Enable Nanolithography” and at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte on “Polymers and Polymer Thin Films for Microlithography: Current and Future Challenges.” His research group was awarded another National Science Foundation research grant and also recently filed for two new U.S. patents.

Arnold Stancell has been named a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Prof. Stancell’s selection was based on both technical and leadership contributions. His development of novel processes for specialty chemicals and for leadership of a joint venture on liquefied natural gas worth over $18 billion in Qatar were noted, along with his contribution to many national AIChE and National Research Council (NRC) committees.

Chris Jones gave invited lectures at the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wayne State University, University of Windsor, and Lehigh University.

Amyn Teja presented four invited lectures, including three at the AIChE Meeting in San Francisco in November, and one entitled “Effect of Cosolutes on the Solubility and Crystallization of Amino Acids” at the ACS Meeting in New Orleans. He also published eight journal articles.

In addition to publishing seven articles, Paul Kohl was issued a patent for “Electrostatic Actuators with Intrinsic Stress Gradient.”

Bill Koros was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in September, an honor bestowed upon members by their peers. Fellows are recognized for meritorious 5

Simmons’ Gift Honors Parents’ Love of Education

T

he Simmons Conference Room, located on Lower Level One of the Ford ES&T Building, was dedicated in March 2003 in memory of J. Harry Simmons and in honor of his wife, Myrtice K. Simmons. The Simmonses are the parents of James F. “Jim” Simmons, TEXT ‘66, M.S. TEXT ‘67, who has been a long-time supporter of the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. He and his wife, Peggy, wanted to name the conference room for his parents in honor of their recognition of the importance of education. They were committed to ensuring that their children finish college despite the fact that the elder Simmons did not finish high school and neither parent attended college. The room dedication turned out to be more than just a special occasion for Myrtice – it also presented a rather large surprise. Not until the name plaque was unveiled did she know that her name would also be a part of the room’s official moniker.

Myrtice K. and J. Harry Simmons

During the ceremony, Jim Simmons said that his dad would “be so proud that there was something named for him at an institution like Georgia Tech.” The elder Simmons was definitely proud of his son, who completed not only his bachelors degree, but also his masters and graduated with honors.

Jim Simmons served on the Capital Campaign committee for ChBE and has been a member of the ChBE External Advisory Board for many years. School Chair Ron Rousseau says that “Jim and his family are some of Jim and Peggy Simmons the best friends that the School has.” Although his degree is not in chemical engineering, Mr. Simmons chose to support ChBE because he enjoyed and benefited from his career working for chemical companies. He decided that he wanted to contribute to the School’s continued success at producing outstanding chemical engineers. His career achievements and his service to the School earned his induction into the College of Engineering Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni in 1996.

After retiring as president from Hoechst Celanese Limited, Mr. Simmons co-founded Custom Solution Builders, a management and consulting firm, and now serves as Chairman and CEO. He and Peggy, who is an accomplished artist, live in Charlotte, N.C. The couple have a daughter and son-in-law, Lara and Steve Nichols, and two granddaughters, Isabel and Caroline.

Alumni Gifts Fund and Enhance New Building The dedication of the Ford Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) Building in May 2003 recognized Ford Motor Company as one of the primary contributors whose generous gifts have improved the quality of the School’s facilities. There have also been several other important dedication ceremonies held in the School. This issue of ChBE News features some of the gifts that were made by Tech alumni.

The next issue will spotlight more of these generous contributions. All but two of the many private donors to the Ford ES&T Building, which houses numerous other Schools and programs, are friends of the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering.

John L. Kiappes, ChE ‘70, and his wife, Karen, at the September 18 dedication of the ChBE faculty office named in their honor. The Kiappes’ three children and many other family members also attended the celebration. Professor Chris Jones currently occupies the office.

Janice Phillips, ICS ‘77, and husband W. Norman Phillips, Jr., ChE ‘77, (back row) attended the dedication of the ChBE faculty office named in their honor. Their children and Norm’s mother joined them in this photo, along with School Chair Ron Rousseau (far right) and Professor Mark White (front row), who currently occupies the office.

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ChBE Welcomes Professor Sankar Nair

Professor Sankar Nair

Sankar Nair joined the School as an assistant professor in the fall of 2003. He was born in New Delhi, India and obtained his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 1997 from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. In 2002, he received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering and concurrently his M.S. in physics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

His doctoral research focused on the use of oxide molecular

sieves (highly ordered crystals with nanometer-scale porous channels) to perform energyefficient and high-quality separations. Challenging problems that he researched were the separation of xylene isomers with a molecular sieve membrane, and natural gas purification using a molecular sieve that could be tuned by temperature changes. He also established a collaboration with the group of Dan Neumann at the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) in Maryland, and spent a postdoctoral year at NIST studying nanoporous materials with neutron scattering experiments.

His research group is broadly concerned with engineering nanoscale materials and devices with technologically unique properties. For this purpose, he relies on combining analytical chemical engineering fundamentals with synthetic chemistry, mechanistic experiments, and molecular simulations. Prof.

Nair and his group are now

working on three problems of importance in energy management, biotechnology, and separations. They are engineering nano-porous materials that are hydrophilic (water-absorbing) as well as thermally conductive, a previously elusive goal. Heating and air-conditioning systems based on such materials will be able to efficiently harness renewable (e.g., solar) energy through an environmentally benign energy carrier (water vapor), substantially reducing reliance on fossil fuels and lowering greenhouse emissions.

The group is also developing hydrophilic nanotubes as inorganic analogues to biological ion channels (protein channels embedded in cell membranes) and intends to use them as sensors to characterize DNA and other biomolecules at speeds greatly exceeding current methods. His group is also developing experimental methods to directly probe transport processes inside membranes used for separations. This capability has not existed previously

in membrane science but if demonstrated, has important implications for membrane transport theory.

He is teaching the undergraduate Process Principles course during spring semester; however, his teaching activities began last fall by developing a five-lecture graduate course component focusing on the analysis of transport phenomena in nanoscale systems. He plans to develop this into a fullfledged course, integrating chemical engineering fundamentals with the rapidly emerging discipline of nanoscale science and engineering.

Prof. Nair has so far published more than ten research articles, a book chapter, and has a patent pending. Aside from his scientific pursuits, he spends most of his free time maintaining his skill in vocal Indian classical music, which he has studied for more than ten years.

The Silas Family Recognized in ChBE Theo and Pete Silas, ChE ‘53, were the guests of honor at the dedication of the Theo and Pete Silas Suite for the Chair of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering on October 3.

Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough spoke during the dedication ceremony and commended Mr. Silas for being one of Tech’s most respected and dedicated alumni.

Mr. Silas served as one of the three chairs of the Institute’s Capital Campaign, which raised $712 million. The Silases’ contribution to the Campaign assisted with funding the construction of the Ford ES&T Building, as well as establishing the Silas Chair, held by Professor Ron Rousseau.

A reception was held following the dedication ceremony where the Silases greeted former classmates and current faculty members and students.

Pete Silas, ChE ‘53, and his wife, Theo, stand next to the plaque displayed outside of the chair’s suite named in their honor.

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IPST continued

the Institute’s name was also adjusted to reflect the greater diversity of activities as it became the Institute of Paper Science and Technology.

Integration with Tech IPST became one of four major research institutes at Tech in July 2003. The new interdisciplinary center, IPST at Georgia Tech, came into existence in January 2003 with ChBE School Chair Ronald Rousseau serving as interim director. After an international search, W. James “Jim” Frederick, Jr. was recruited from Chalmers University in Sweden to become director.

At Chalmers, Prof. Frederick was the CEI Professor of Green Chemistry; earlier in his career he was a faculty member at IPST and at Oregon State University, where he served as head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. In addition to serving as director of IPST, he is also a

Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.

These degrees will be offered by three participating schools: Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Chemistry & Biochemistry.

It is expected that Biology and Materials Science & Engineering will also join the multidisciplinary program.

professor of chemical & biomolecular engineering.

There were numerous changes associated with bringing IPST fully into the Tech family, primarily concerning its faculty, students, and degree programs.

Academic faculty members were offered employment at Georgia Tech, with three having joined the faculty of the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering: Sujit Banerjee, Yulin Deng, and Jeff Empie. All IPST graduate students who had not completed their degree requirements by July 1, 2003 were enrolled at Tech. Thirtyfive continuing students have the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering as their academic home; additionally, ten new Paper Science and Engineering (PSE) graduate students joined 45 other new graduate students entering the School in pursuit of M.S. and Ph.D. degrees.

Impact of Integration Forest products is Georgia’s largest manufacturing industry and will benefit significantly from the integration of IPST into Tech, as new research capabilities will foster the state’s economic development. While retaining capabilities to address current needs of the industry, the research focus at IPST will shift to embrace a variety of more long-term opportunities, including visionary research focus in four areas:

• Sustainable Products & Processes: Green Materials, Green Energy, and Green Chemicals • Clonal Forestry Examples of current research goals include the development of approaches to change the functionality of paper – leading to creation of new materials and/or new uses and the application of thin-film chemistries to paper. The School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering will be central to the ultimate success of IPST’s research mission and to the preparation of students to enter this important industry.

Visit www.ipst.gatech.edu for additional information. Also, the next issue of ChBE News will feature research profiles of the three IPST faculty members who have joined the School, Professors Banerjee, Deng, and Empie.

• Materials: New Product Platforms • New Process Rechnology

New M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in PSE were approved by the

Student News Abimbola Balogun, one of Prof. Cliff Henderson’s undergraduate research students, won the Southeast Regional AIChE Undergraduate Student Paper Competition and then tied for second place during the national competition. Also, the Georgia Tech AIChE chapter was named an outstanding student chapter at the national competition. Prof. Pradeep Agrawal is the faculty advisor and Joseph Scattergood is the current president.

One of Prof. Paul Kohl’s graduate research students, Hollie Reed, along with ECE grad student Muhannad Bakir, were presented with the Best Paper Award at the Electronic Components and Technology Conference last summer.

Won Jae “David” Chung, one of Prof. Pete Ludovice’s research students, gave a presentation at the American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting in New York as a finalist for the ICI Student Award in Polymer Science. The competition was sponsored by the Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering Division of ACS.

The 16th Annual Graduate Student Symposium will be held April 15-16 in the Ford Environmental Science & Technology Building.

Padmini Rangamani, a third-year graduate student who works in Prof. Timothy Wick’s lab, interned as a research engineer at DePuy Orthopedics (a Johnson & Johnson company) in Warsaw, Indiana as part of the Georgia Tech/Emory Center for Living Tissues (GTEC) program. Some of the research she conducted as an intern resulted in the filing of a provisional patent for a “chemical treatment for removing cellular and nuclear material from naturally occuring extracellular matrix based biomaterials.”

For details, please visit www.chbe.gatech.edu/symposium.

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Alumni Profile How Garry Betty,‘79, Linked Chemical Engineering with the World Wide Web

Charles “Garry” Betty, ChE ‘79

Charles “Garry” Betty graduated from Georgia Tech in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering.

That may seem an unexpected start for someone who is now President and CEO of EarthLink, Inc., one of the largest internet service providers in the United States, with five million customers, over $1 billion in annual revenue, and thousands of employees. But Garry learned early how taking on challenges can lead to unexpected rewards.

Upon graduation from Tech, he took a job with Procter & Gamble in technical sales. He then worked at IBM and Hayes Microcomputers before serving as president and CEO of Digital Communications Associates, Inc. (DCA). At the time, he was the youngest CEO on the New York Stock Exchange.

When he joined EarthLink in 1996, the California company was a small regional ISP with less than 100,000 members. He has brought the company through a lot of changes, including its merger with Atlanta-based MindSpring. Garry and his wife, Kathy, returned to Georgia when he relocated corporate headquarters there.

Since returning to Atlanta, Garry has had more time to attend Georgia Tech sporting events, which he really enjoys. He also continues to serve as a member of the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering’s External Advisory Board. In 2002, he led a conversation with faculty and students as the featured speaker in The Phillips Petroleum/C.J. “Pete” Silas Program in Ethics and Leadership.

He grew up near Columbus, Georgia. Both of his parents had cerebral palsy, and Garry saw his father take his own early troubles and turn them into a career by helping others with speech therapy. “My mom was a housekeeper, and working hard was just something both of my parents did,” he says.

Garry has worked for Georgia Tech in many capacities and has been recognized by his alma mater for what he has accomplished. He is a past member of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association Board of Trustees, the Alexander-Tharpe Fund Board of Trustees, the Management of Technology Corporate Council of Advisers, and the Advanced Technology Development Center board. In 1993, he was named Georgia Tech Young Alumnus of the Year. He has been inducted into the College of Engineering’s Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni as well as the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni. Garry also recently agreed to chair the Class of 1979 25th Reunion Committee.

When it came time for college, Garry needed to pay his own way, so his options were to stay home and attend the local college or head north to Georgia Tech. He says that he considers himself fortunate that he could afford to attend Tech because he wanted to be an engineer. He made much of his own financial luck by working 40 hours per week while carrying a full load of classes and graduating in 3-1/2 years. Garry learned practical accounting skills handling inventory, invoicing, and payroll at the Abrams Fixture Company on Jones Avenue. He says he also learned to budget during his time at Tech — he and his best friend from high school lived in an apartment at 8th and Juniper that cost them only $75 per month.

Hard work and strong values have been hallmarks of Garry’s career.

Characteristically, he gives the credit for his success to external influences and says that he owes much of his success to the skills he learned at Georgia Tech. “I can think of no other school that can provide a better education and prepare you for the uncertainty of what can happen.”

Garry chose to study chemical engineering because of its reputation as the most challenging curriculum on campus and because he liked math and chemistry. He learned that his training could lead to the most lucrative salary after graduation, too. “I thought it was fun, and provided the ultimate in practical problem-solving for an engineering curriculum. But it was just hard, especially organic and physical chemistry.”

Accolades for EarthLink 2003 PC Magazine Readers' Choice Awards for both high-speed and dial-up services — EarthLink was the only Internet service provider honored for both high-speed and dial-up, and the only broadband provider honored offering both DSL and cable Internet access.

He smiles when he remembers the summer he participated in the School’s program at University College London. It was an “eyeopening experience” that included his first trip on a plane and extracurricular travel to Scotland and the south of France. He took a loan for $2,500 so that he could participate, and for the only time during his college career, he didn’t work while taking classes. “The summer abroad,” he says, “whetted my appetite and influenced the next 15 years of my life in that it taught me to be patient and gave me confidence to be comfortable in new environments.”

2003 highest ranking in customer satisfaction for the second year in a row for high-speed Internet service by J.D. Power and Associates in its Internet Service Provider Residential Customer Satisfaction StudySM.

9

Alumni News 1978

1992

Tom Menges has been promoted to President/General Manager of Oxy Permian, a unit of Occidental Petroleum, in Houston. He lives in Katy, Texas, with his wife, Dawna, and their two children.

Bill Grieco and his wife, Tonya, welcomed their first child, Sophia Marie Grieco, on Nov. 11. She measured 19.5 inches long and weighed in at 6 lb. 12 oz.

1961 Dick Simmons, ChE ‘61, M.S. ChE ‘64, retired last April from Methanex Methanol Company.

He was with Methanex for ten years after retiring from Tenneco Methanol Company after 25 years. Dick reports that his latest “retirement” lasted two days as he accepted a position as Vice President, Fuels and Energy Group with DeWitt & Company Inc., a global consulting firm. He and his wife, Teresa, who has been teaching kindergarten for 15 years, live in Kingwood, Tex.

1972 Ray W Miller’s team at DuPont was recognized on June 23 by the EPA for “Microbial Production of 1,3 Propanediol.”

Mahesh Thadhani and his wife, Tina, announce the birth of their first child, Kaleigh Mahesh, on May 23. The family lives in Mission Viejo, Calif.

Daniel Habicht and Christina Lang Habicht, ChE ‘93, announce the birth of a son, Eric Matthew, on April 22.

Dan is an engineer for BPAmoco Fabrics and Fibers in Austell, Ga., and Christine is a full-time mother.

Mark Singleton accepted a position at The Dixie Group in Calhoun, Ga. as a process engineer. Dixie is the fourth largest carpet manufacturer in the U.S.

2000

1996

Lou Sorell, M.S. ChE ‘81, joined Goodwin Proctor in New York as counsel in March. He lives in Katonah, NY.

1984

1997 Daniel Floyd and Rebecca Woo, Biol ‘96, were married May 25 in Augusta, Ga. Dan is a senior engineer with the Dow Chemical Co. and Rebecca is a first-year obstetrics and gynecology resident at Baylor University Hospital in Houston.

1988

Tom Rogers and his wife, Stacey, announce the birth of their daughter, Bella, on Aug. 5.

Tom, an information technology

Steven Hall moved from Goldman Sachs to Citigroup.

Tricia M. Anderson and John Chambard were married May 10. Tricia, who works for ExxonMobil, and her husband live in Houston.

Matthew Stewart and his wife, Stephanie, announce the birth of their first son, Jacob “Jake” Matthew, on Oct. 13. Jacob has a head start on being a Georgia Tech linebacker, weighing in at 12 lb. 12 oz. Matthew is a Plant Engineer at Optima Chemical Group, LLC and Stephanie is a full-time mother. The family lives in Douglas, Ga.

1993

Tom Lindsay has joined Sterigenics as general manager of operations in Smyrna, Ga. Sterigenics is a world leader in the sterilization of medical devices using ethylene oxide. Tom, his wife, Vicki, and their two children live in Kennesaw, Ga.

1998

1999

Maryellen Stutsman Roberson and her husband, Mark, announce the birth of their third child, Briana Josephine, on June 4. Briana joins her brother Will and sister Katie in Durango, Colo. where Maryellen is a senior process engineer with VECO USA.

1981

consultant, and his family live in Atlanta.

10

Ginger Wilde Nichols and Chris Nichols, ChE ‘95, have moved to Thomasville, Ga., where Chris works at YoungLife.

Ginger works in the Merck & Company computer systems engineering group.

2001 Chrissy Prues and James Stovall, CS ‘01, of Athens, Ga., were married Aug. 9 in Lilburn, Ga. Chrissy is pursuing a doctorate in pharmacy at UGA and James is working for Deloitte Consulting.

OBITUARIES 1937 Virgil D. Gath of Fairhope, Ala., passed away on August 9.

He was retired from U.S. Steel International.

1938 James “Harvey” Wilson, Jr. of Gainesville, Ga., passed away on March 3. A second lieutenant in the Army during W.W. II, he worked as a field chemical engineer with Rayonier Inc. His job took him to Mexico, where he established a school for local children during his 12 years there.

Continued on page 12

2003 Kerry Bullock finished her Ph.D. thesis in January 2003, and has taken a postdoctoral research position at the Environmental Protection Agency’s research facility in Research Triangle (RaleighDurham area), North Carolina. The highlight of the year was her wedding in Philadelphia at the end of May to Ibrahim “Ali” Ozkan, who is completing his thesis for his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Tech. The reception had a Turkish flair, with many of Ibrahim’s friends in attendance to show everyone how to dance Turkish-style!

Four Alumni Receive Prestigious College of Engineering Awards At the annual College of Engineering Alumni Awards Induction Ceremony, four chemical engineers were honored for their career i n m achievements. On October 17, Dean Alu CoE ards Don Giddens inducted ten Tech graduAw 3 ates into the Hall of Fame, fifteen gradu0 20 ates into the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni, and twelve graduates into the Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni. Of these, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering proudly nominated the following alumni in recognition of their contri butions to their respective fields:

Hall of Fame Dr. Henderson Ward, B.S. ChE 1949, M.S. MATH 1952, Ph.D. ChE 1953 Retired professor, Georgia Tech; currently compiling an historical record of ChBE at Tech ~ Recognized for his career as a professor to a generation of chemical engineering students at Tech.

Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni Carlos Barroso, B.S. ChE 1980 Senior Vice President of Research and Development, Frito-Lay International, Inc.; currently serving on ChBE’s External Advisory Board ~ Recognized for his leadership in research and development in the food industry.

Back row from left: School Chair Ronald Rousseau and Carlos Barroso; Front row from left: David Suleiman, Sylvia Little, and Henderson Ward

Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni Dr. David Suleiman, M.S. ChE 1992, Ph.D. ChE 1994 Professor, Chemical Engineering Department, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez ~ Recognized for excellence in chemical engineering education, exemplified by serving as interim head of the ChE department at UPR. Sylvia Little, B.S. ChE 1988, M.S. ChE 2002 Senior Research Engineer, Kimberly-Clark Corporation ~ Recognized for her research career and service to Georgia Tech.

IN REMEMBRANCE Marine General Raymond G. Davis, ChE ‘38, passed away on September 3. He was 88. After graduating from Georgia Tech, Gen. Davis received his commission as a 2nd lieutenant in 1938 and retired as a four-star general in 1972 after serving in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

Gen. Davis received the Medal of Honor for commanding troops in the 1950 battle of Chosin Reservoir in Korea. He was also awarded the Navy Cross, two Distinguished Service Medals, two Silver Stars, two Legion of Merit awards, a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, five Presidential Unit citations, and three Naval Unit citations.

Gen. Raymond Davis, ChE ‘38, holding his Medal of Honor.

He ended his military service as assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, the nation’s second-highest-ranking Marine.

After retiring, Gen. Davis advocated for veterans, especially for those who fought in Korea. He organized a movement that led to the 1995 creation of the war memorial in Washington. Locally, veterans established the Gen. Ray Davis Chapter of the Korean War Veterans Association.

In his later years, Gen. Davis was involved at Georgia Tech on international security issues, especially as they related to northeast Asia.

He was active in the Center for International Strategy and Technology Policy in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs of the Ivan Allen College. Gen. Davis is survived by his wife, Willa Knox Davis; sons, Gordon M. Davis and Raymond G. Davis Jr.; daughter Willa Kerr; and seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

11

Ch B

We Welcome Your Questions, Comments, or News: ChBE Newsletter: Josie Giles (404) 385-2299 Email: josie.giles@chbe.gatech.edu

ChBE Development & Alumni News: Jenny Daley (404) 894-0987 Email: jenny.daley@chbe.gatech.edu

ChBE Program Information: ChBE Main Office (404) 894-2867

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Correspondence May Be Mailed to this Address: School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 30332-0100 www.chbe.gatech.edu

OBITUARIES Continued from page 10

1943 Joseph S. Carruthers, III of Kingsport, Tenn., passed away on March 11. He served in the Pacific Theater in the Navy during W.W. II and worked as a chemical engineer for Tennessee Eastman Company from 1949 until his retirement in 1981, the same year he retired as a Navel Reserve lieutenant commander.

ChB

Antonio “Tony” L. Navarro passed away on August 16 of heart failure. He worked for Shell Chemical and W. R. Grace, and wrote Tocayo about his time first supporting, then resisting the Castro revolution in Cuba.

1948

Alton “Al” Newton, Jr., ChE ‘48, M.S. ChE ‘49, Tech’s first Rhodes Scholar, passed away on August 19.

1950

James T. Madry, ChE ‘50, M.S. ChE ‘53, of Statesville, N.C. passed away on August 25. A Korean War veteran and Medical College of Georgia graduate, he practiced medicine in Fla. and N.C. until his retirement in 1996.

1951

John Ergle, ChE ‘51, ‘57, passed away.

NEWS

1954

Thomas Whitfield Wilson, ChE ‘54, M.S. ChE ‘62, passed away on August 10 having succumbed to cancer at the age of 71. Tom’s professional career began with DuPont in 1962 at Eastern Labs in N.J. and spanned 34 years before his retirement in 1996 from Savannah River Site as Manager of Hazardous Materials Transportation.

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