ChBE News—Fall 2005

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GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY • SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL & BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING • VOL. 13 NO. 2 • FALL 2005

Photo by Gary Meek

Thomas Connelly, Jr. Delivers the 2005 Silas Ethics & Leadership Symposium

Thomas M. Connelly, Jr. presents “Core Values and DuPont’s Third Century” to a standing-room-only crowd during the 2005 Silas Ethics & Leadership Program Symposium.

Dr. Thomas Connelly, Jr., Senior Vice President and Chief Science and Technology Officer for DuPont Corporation, began his remarks in the Phillips Petroleum/C. J. Pete Silas Symposium on Ethics and Leadership by noting that the chemicals business environment has changed drastically in recent years. These changes are manifested primarily in rising global competition, increased costs of energy feedstocks, faster product cycles, and increased societal activism as evidenced by public demand for adherence to safety and environmental stewardship. Within this changing business climate, public opinion of standards and values of corporations and corporate leaders has declined.

Values are at the heart of all aspects of corporate business activities and thus affect policies and strategies, management procedures, and cooperation of employees within companies

as well as with customers, suppliers, and contractors.

Furthermore, values are only effective in establishing behavior if they are implemented into the company at all levels; ultimately, the people within the organization determine the ethics of the company. That is, corporate ethics are more than the policies and procedures; they require leadership with defined values and a corporate culture for implementation.

Dr. Connelly stated that an enduring corporation such as DuPont, which celebrated 200 years of operation in 2002, requires the establishment of an ethical culture and values. Indeed, he feels that there must be unrelenting commitment to a set of core values throughout the life of the Continued page 7

ChBE Boasts Three Impressive STEP Fellows for 2005-2006 This fall, three ChBE graduate students, Benita Comeau, Neil Mukharjee, and Amanda Amos, are serving in the Atlanta-area community as STEP Fellows, which is part of The Georgia Tech Student and Teacher Enhancement Partnership (STEP) Program. This unique program partners advanced students from fields supported by the National Science Foundation with high school Science, Mathematics, and Technology teams.

STEP, which is under the administration of Tech’s Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL), seeks to improve the teaching-related communication and leadership skills of Tech students and to use the exceptional scholarly expertise available at Tech to assist in increasing the mathematics and science performance of Atlanta-area school students. STEP Fellows participate in summer training workshops to familiarize them with inquiry-based learning pedagogy, classroom management and Continued page 3

From left: Cedar Grove High School science teacher Michael Pastirik and STEP Fellows Neil Mukharjee, Amanda Amos, and Benita Comeau.

Message from Focus onthe Chair the School

By Ronald W. Rousseau School Chair

A brief editorial…….

The past six months have been filled with events that have been trying for many of our nation’s citizens. As a native of Louisiana, I could not help but feel a special connection to those who were impacted by Katrina. My niece Sandy Mix captured the horrific losses of the New Orleans area in a letter she wrote to me: “I did some volunteer work at a triage area for the elderly and the sick.

I had never seen hopelessness before, and to see the absolute emptiness in their eyes was more than I could bear. Not only are they without a home and all that comes with it, but so many are missing family members.”

At a Council for Chemical Research (CCR) meeting in April 2003, I heard a talk on future global energy requirements by Richard Smalley, a Nobel prizewinner in chemistry for his discovery and elucidation of the structure of fullerenes, the 60carbon structures known familiarly as Buckyballs. He displayed a top-10 list of problems he predicted humanity would face in the next 50 years. Sitting in the top four positions were energy, water, food, and environment, followed by poverty, terrorism and war, disease, education, democracy, and population. Not only are the top four at the heart of what chemical engineers do, it could be argued that our profession has a role to play in addressing most of these ten concerns.

What is the link between the two preceding paragraphs? To me they reflect a responsibility that must be taken on by the engineering and science communities in this nation. We have the duty – to ourselves, but mostly to our successors – to plan for the long

term in our policies and actions.

What makes this task especially difficult is that at the same time, we must be sure to provide sustenance for the present. Besides levees, waterways, roads, and bridges, the nation’s infrastructure, which seems finally to be gaining the interest of policy makers, includes two important foundations for the future: (1) the intellectual foundation that comes from an educational system that prepares young minds, that stretches their horizons, that enlightens their thoughts, and that lifts their confidence; and (2) the foundation from which creativity and innovation spring, from which an idea can be turned into an invigorating research program, and from which the successful output can be turned into products and processes that advance the welfare of our globe.

years. However, enrollments are increasing and the number of degrees will follow. The number of PhD degrees is the largest the School has given.

• Since the last newsletter, a number of our faculty received national or international awards: • Charles A. Eckert has been selected to receive the 2005 Clarence Gerhold Award from the Separations Division of the AIChE. • Martha Gallivan was named the winner of the 2005 W. David Smith, Jr. Graduate Student Paper Award (based on work she did as a graduate student), which is given by the Computing and Systems Technology Division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

• Dennis Hess received the Award in Solid State Science and Technology, which is given by the Electrochemical Society.

• Christopher Jones was named to receive a DuPont Young Professor Award.

• Hang Lu was identified as one of the nation’s Top 35 Young Innovators by Technology Review.

• Athanasios Nenes was selected to receive the 2005 Sheldon K. Friedlander Award, which is given by the American Association for Aerosol Research.

• Mark Prausnitz received the 2005 Young Investigator Award from the Control Release Society.

The National Academies Press has recently published an important report, “Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future,” which provides recommendations that should stimulate serious thought and action. The full report can be accessed at nap.edu/books/ 0309100399/html, and I encourage you to read at least the executive summary. If there is no improvement in our infrastructure, the gathering storm may have more serious consequences to our nation’s future than several Katrinas.

There are School matters I would like to bring to your attention.

• Alumni to be recognized at the CoE Awards Ceremony in November include

• At the conclusions of Fall ‘04, Spring ‘05 and Summer ‘05, the total numbers of graduates were: BS-90, MS-24, PhD-29. Consistent with the national trend in Chemical Engineering, this is one of the smallest numbers of BS degrees given in the last several

Hall of Fame John Hunter, III, ChE ‘69 For leadership in the international production of high performance, chemically based materials that improve lives during his career in the armed forces and at Monsanto and Solutia.

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Distinguished Engineering Alumni Gerri B. Dickerson, ChE ‘78 For exceptional leadership with CH2M Hill and for her dedication and service to Georgia Tech.

Roger Kearns, ChE ‘78 For expertise in directing strategic, global business divisions for Solvay Advanced Polymers.

Council of Outstanding Young Alumni Kellye P. Hafner, PhD ChE ‘96 For remarkable career advancement within the carbon manufacturing industry, including new product development, research, and application.

Vandana Vishnu, PhD ChE ‘95 For expertise in photolithography and for managing the start-up of a multi-billion dollar facility for IBM’s most advanced technology processes.

We are extremely proud of our alumni and are very happy to be able to recognize these individuals for their accomplishments.

Please help us identify those of your fellow graduates you think worthy candidates for these honors. It doesn’t take a lot of effort: just an email or a note to me with your nominee’s name and a few sentences about his or her accomplishments.

Focus on Students Student News

Benita Comeau

effective teaching skills, and appropriate uses of educational technologies. They also work with high school personnel to develop a needs assessment and action plan for the school. During the academic year they work in teams with their partner school, choosing activities from a menu of options that include 1) Student instruction, 2) Teacher professional development, 3) Student enrichment and mentoring, 4) Implementation of classroom websites, 5) Science fair project assistance, and 6) Georgia Tech lab tours.

Benita and Neil are on the same team working at Cedar Grove High School in DeKalb County. Benita is paired with Mr. Michael Pastirik, who teaches AP Chemistry and Physical Science, and Neil is working with Ms. Barbara Heusel, who teaches AP Environmental Science.

Benita and Neil design and oversee all of the laboratory experiments for their respective classes and assess each student’s progress. Benita is also designing and implementing a webpage for Mr. Pastirik to use while he is in Antarctica working on the collaborative research project ANTCI (Antarctic Tropospheric Chemistry Investigation). The webpage will allow Mr. Pastirik to stay connected with his students and to share this unique research experience. While Mr. Pastirik is away, Benita will serve as a primary point of contact for the school and students and will continue the instruction of the AP Chemistry class. Benita says that she is “really enjoying working with the students” and “values the opportunity to work in the surrounding community while gaining classroom teaching experience.”

Neil Mukharjee Neil has enjoyed working with Ms. Heusel’s AP Environmental Science class but next semester he hopes to also be involved with other subjects, including Chemistry and Physics. He says that the biggest challenge he has had working with the high school students is capturing their attention. “I have been trying to increase the depth of their learning because at the beginning of the year it was very shallow.”

Amanda is working with Celis Hartley-Lewis’ Anatomy & Physiology classes at Marietta High School in Cobb County. Her major project for the year stems from Frankenstein. First, she watched Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein with the students and used the thematic elements of the work to introduce the topic of tissue engineering as it applies to today’s medical technology. She used the story of graduate student Victor Frankenstein, who gathers dead tissue and creates a new human that he brings to life by sending electricity through it, to capture the attention of the students and to inspire enthusiasm for their class project.

Amanda says that “Over the course of the year, they, much like Victor, will build a model of the human body. When they study bones, they will build bones. When they study the liver, they will build a liver.”

She has charged them with the task of mimicking as closely as possible Amanda Amos both the structure and function of the organ or tissue. At the end of the year they should have a complete model.

In addition to working closely with the students on the scientific level, Amanda also introduced the topic of ethics. She says that “because little of Frankenstein actually deals with the creation of the human and much more is devoted to the implications of creation for the human created and for society as a whole, I gave a talk on ethics in human research.” As a fifth-year graduate student, Amanda insightfully incorporated principles that she has acquired from ChBE’s Phillips Petroleum/C. J. “Pete” Silas Program in Ethics and Leadership and from her service as a teaching assistant for ChBE’s Engineering Ethics course.

Her presentation spawned perceptive questions about current medical ethics topics such as embryonic stem cells and cloning.

All of these three students have an exceptionally friendly demeanor, have demonstrated enthusiasm for their research projects, and also have outstanding academic records. These qualities, combined with their remarkable ability to explain complicated scientific processes to non-engineers, make Benita, Neil, and Amanda perfect choices to serve as STEP Fellows. Everyone in the School is proud to have them representing ChBE in the community.

STEP FELLOWS AT A GLANCE Benita Comeau – 4th-yr. PhD Candidate Advisor: Cliff Henderson • BS: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Neil says that over the past two months, he has made progress with the students. “They are more receptive, they’re participating more,” he says. Neil’s goal for his class is to turn the “shallow-type” knowledge of simple memorization of basic principles into a more conceptual knowledge where the students have a deeper understanding of the material and can use learned concepts in a variety of scientific applications.

Neil Mukharjee – 4th-yr. PhD Candidate Advisor: Athanassios Sambanis • BS: University of Florida Amanda Amos – 5th-yr. PhD Candidate Advisor: Timothy Wick • BS: Auburn University 3

Focus on& Events Students Student News

ExxonMobil Mentors Hensley Sejour (left) and Keith Reed with Program Leader Prof. Sue Ann Bidstrup-Allen, Associate Chair for Student Initiatives and Executive Assistant to President Clough, at the first ExxonMobil Success Program meeting of the semester.

The program provides mentoring, study help, and professional development assistance to undergraduate and graduate students.

Meetings are held every other Thursday at 11:00 a.m. with lunch immediately following. Special speakers are often invited and this year’s schedule included Prof. Emeritus Arnold Stancell, who is a former vice president of the U.S. oil and natural gas business and a former vice president in the international area for Mobil Oil. Latoya Bryson and Jeessy Medina are also serving as ExxonMobil Mentors this year.

This past summer, Prof. Dennis Hess welcomed two high school students and two undergraduates into his lab group as visiting researchers. One of the high school students was a participant in the NASA SHARP (Summer High School Apprenticeship Research Program) and the other was enrolled at a local private school, Woodward Academy. The latter participated upon the recommendation of his chemistry teacher, Jessica Bartling, PhD ChE ‘01.

Will Harper is currently enrolled at Tech in the ChBE undergraduate program and continues to work with Prof. Hess’ group. The other undergraduate, Alicia Williams, was participating in conjunction with Tech’s SURE (Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering/Science) and has returned to Fort Valley State University in Middle Georgia, where she is studying Chemistry.

Under the outstanding leadership of officers Shruti Prakash, Keith Reed, and J.R. Johnson, the Association of Chemical Engineering Graduate Students (AChEGS) has been living up to its mission statement: “AChEGS is a student run and supported organization dedicated to promoting and facilitating interaction between faculty, staff, and graduate students; sponsoring academic and social activities; and enhancing graduate student life.” They hosted the annual AChEGS fall picnic in August and also sponsored a mixer, both of which were tremendously successful events with virtually every member of the School in attendance. The photo above captures one scene of many smiling faces at the mixer held on September 23.

Sponsored by the Alumni Association, Family Weekend 2005 on Sept. 16-17 was a great success with many exciting events, including seminars, bus tours of campus, a Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre show, and a Family Tailgate Party before the game against the University of Connecticut Huskies. In addition to the campus-wide events, family members of ChBE students attended a special reception on Friday afternoon. The event provided an opportunity for family members to meet their student’s ChBE professors and to tour the state-of-the-art facilities in the Ford ES&T Building. The photo above shows Prof. Pete Ludovice advising a student’s mother on the undergraduate curriculum.

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Environmental & Sustainable Development Focus onScience Research

Charles Eckert

Athanasios Nenes

Prof. Charles Eckert works jointly with Chemistry Prof. Charles Liotta: they share laboratory space and codirect students from both disciplines. Their research is focused at the interface between chemistry and engineering, focusing on sustainable technology.

They draw on the molecular interpretations of chemists to understand intermolecular interactions in solutions, and from these tailor a variety of opportunities to couple reactions with separations in processes that are both greener and more economic, using novel, tunable solvents – supercritical fluids, nearcritical fluids, and “smart” solvents. For example, nearcritical water (250-300ºC) is a safe solvent that dissolves both salts and organics to make reactions homogeneous, and simple cooling permits facile separations.

Moreover, at these temperatures the water dissociates sufficiently to promote both acid and base catalysis – without added acids and bases and without the salt waste of neutralization. Because much of this work is done in partnership with industry, technology transfer occurs naturally, and many of their methods are in industrial use now. For their work, Profs. Eckert and Liotta received jointly the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award last year.

Even though a minor atmospheric constituent, particles released from smokestacks, car exhaust, or any human activity can have a profound effect on regional air quality, the hydrological cycle, and climate. Despite their importance, the complex relationship between atmospheric particulate matter, or aerosols, and their impacts is still not quantified. Consequently, society is currently incapable of assessing its impact on the current and future environment. Prof. Nenes and his research team are focused toward resolving this problem by a) development of simple, physics-based equations that link aerosol particles and cloud droplets for use in global and regional climate models, and b) development of novel instrumentation and measurement techniques for characterizing the interactions of ambient particulate matter with water. Both measurements and models are closely integrated into state-of-the-art global climate models. In addition, Prof. Nenes’ research focuses on developing state-of-the-art thermodynamic aerosol models used for assessing the impact of particulate matter on air quality.

James Frederick

Matthew Realff Prof. Realff ’s activities in the area of environmentally benign production systems are centered on the design and analysis of renewable raw material systems, with a particular interest in biorefineries based on pulping cellulosic biomass and fermentable sugars. The key process questions are choices surrounding the use of the hemicellulose fraction and the choice of pulping technology coupled with gasification.

Understanding these options and modeling the outcomes of different choices requires coupling of simulation with decision-making under uncertainty where risk is an important component of the objective function. He is also interested in the design of recycling systems for polymers, particularly carpet, and the use of catalysts for the pyrolysis of polymers.

He has recently been leading an effort to develop carpet as an alternative fuel to help prime high-volume collection systems for this product. A 500-750 ton trial is in progress at Lehigh Cement Company in Pennsylvania that is testing all components of the system, from collection through logistics and size reduction to the emissions from the carpet.

Prof. Frederick is the Director of The Institute of Paper Science and Technology (IPST), which integrated its operations with the Georgia Institute of Technology on July 1, 2003.

His research in the area of environmentally sustainable chemical products and process technology is centered on the utilization of renewable raw material. His current focus is on the Forest Biorefinery concept and its development, utilizing lignocellulosic matter for production of high-value materials and transportation fuels.

Thermochemical processing, especially at elevated pressure, is a key technology for biorefineries as a way to convert wastes to syngas for production of fuels and chemicals. The knowledge base for thermochemical conversion of biomass and biomass wastes at elevated pressure is very limited. While biomass and biomass wastes are readily converted to syngas, tar is a problematic co-product that can limit process efficiency. In-process destruction of tar is essential for the technical and economic viability of thermochemical processing of biomass and biomass wastes.

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On-site Machine Shop Contributes to Outstanding Research in ChBE The most important part of this process, says Jeff, is that “the students learn a lot about the mechanical element from us, and we learn a lot about the application element from them. We all benefit from the collaboration and it makes us [the machinists] better able to approach the next project because we learn what the students do with the parts in the labs.”

Machine Shop Foreman Jeffrey Andrews and graduate student Benita Comeau examine the experiment she has set up for tissue engineering research. Jeff assisted Benita with designing the customized platform that was needed to properly conduct the experiment.

Imagine wanting to set up an experiment that required a part that is unavailable. Not only is it unavailable, it has never before been made.

Fortunately, that situation is one that Tech’s ChBE students and other researchers never have to experience because the School has its own Machine Shop. In the Shop, Foreman Jeffrey Andrews and Research Machinist Bradley Parker design and craft tools and parts to fit virtually any customized experiment out of almost any raw material.

Jeff and Brad collaborate one-on-one with students, assisting them with the conceptualization of staging an experiment, designing the necessary components, and generating the mechanics involved in crafting the parts. Once all of the components of the experiment are in place, Jeff and Brad visit the laboratory to inspect the finished product and make any necessary alterations.

This close collaboration between the machinists and the researchers, combined with access to completely original parts, contributes to the overall success of research in the School by reducing the time necessary to set up an experiment and, in some cases, conduct an experiment that would not be possible without the unique parts.

Although almost all of the work completed requires hands-on craftsmanship using both manual equipment and hand tools, the Shop also has a state-of-the-art computer-integrated, numerical-controlled (CNC) milling center, a CNC milling machine, and a CNC lathe. The CNC milling center has three axes that produce 3-D parts from a variety of raw materials, which is impossible to accomplish with the manual milling machine. The CNC milling machine functions much like its manual counterpart, only it is fully automated. The CNC lathe machines parts that have curves or a rounded radius.

Considering the high volume of requests submitted to the Shop each semester, Jeff, as Foreman, must determine the most expeditious procedure to manufacture each finished product. Some projects are completely hand-tooled or created using only the manual equipment; When a new project is requested, the machinothers are made primarily using the CNC ists work closely with the students to formulate machines. All of the parts are hand-tooled at the best method to create the needed part. some point in the production process.

Brad says, “When a student comes to me to discuss what they hope to accomplish in an The CNC equipment is much more efficient experiment, I provide feedback that helps than the manual machines but requires them to understand exactly what they need.” computer prep-work that is also time consuming and unnecessary for all projects. ThereJeff agrees. He says, “Sometimes the students fore, the machinists primarily use the CNC need to see the mechanics involved – they machines for intricate projects requiring have the scientific knowledge, we just help extreme accuracy or for projects requiring an them take their ideas a step further and show extensive amount of time. For example, Brad them how the mechanics apply to their needs.” recently used the CNC equipment to machine 6

a part with 100 minuscule holes. “The CNC milling machine can drill a hole that is .005 of an inch, and it maintains accuracy up to .0002 of an inch. That is impossible to do manually,” Brad says.

Additionally, the CNC milling center is always used to manufacture 3-D objects. Using SurfCAM and other design software, the machinists generate 3-D paths that are uploaded to the machine’s on-board computer. The machine then operates three axes simultaneously. The machinists have created original molds on this machine that students used to form their own customized polymers.

Both Jeff and Brad most recently worked for GTRI before joining the ChBE staff. Jeff, who has 25 years of experience as a machinist, says that he “thoroughly enjoys his job, especially working with the students.” His former positions involved producing parts without involvement in their design or application. Jeff says that working for ChBE “allows me to have a say-so in the design and I get to see the end product. That is something that has kept me here 11 years!”

Research Machinist Bradley Parker operating the computer-integrated, numerical-controlled (CNC) Milling Machine, one of three automated machines in the On-site ChBE Machine Shop.

Brad, who has 12 years of experience, agrees.

He says that “it is very rewarding to be able to see what you are accomplishing, to be able to see the finished product.”

Jeff and Brad invite all alumni and friends of the School to visit the ChBE Machine Shop when they are on campus.

From Concept to Finished Product: ChBE Machinists Help Find the Solution

Benita displays the fragile array of mirrors (see arrow) that she uses to conduct an experiment with a rapidprototyping machine.

Graduate student Benita Comeau and undergraduate Benjamin Katz are well acquainted with the benefits of having a machine shop in the same building as their laboratories. They both are students working for Prof. Clifford Henderson in the area of biomaterials and rapid prototyping/ manufacturing of bioengineering devices. Specifically, Benita and Ben are working to develop new materials and methods for manufacturing the biocompatible, biodegradable polymeric scaffolds

used in tissue engineering applications. The manufacturing method the students are working with is referred to as “stereolithography” (SL). In traditional stereolithography, a single laser beam is scanned over a vat of a photopolymerizable monomer, which results in the local formation of solid polymer in the exposed regions. As each layer is polymerized, the part is lowered into the monomer vat and the process is repeated to build up another solid polymer layer. This process is repeated layer-by-layer until a finished 3-D solid part is completed. This type of method allows complex three dimensional parts to be fabricated directly from computer-aided design (CAD) files. In Benita and Ben’s case, they needed to use more than a single wavelength to perform their exposures, and they needed substantially higher resolutions than those provided by commercial laser stereolithography systems. Therefore, they decided to build their own high resolution microstereolithography (SL) system. The system they designed utilizes a digital mirror device (DMD), similar to that used in new digital light projec-

tion televisions. The DMD contains almost 800,000 individually movable mirrors to project patterns of light onto the monomer vat. As one might imagine, the entire machine is very sensitive to alignment and vibration. Many of the components they needed were available commercially, but when it came time to mount and align the DMD itself, no commercial solutions were available.

CAD files from the student directly into finished metal parts.

The final product is shown below with the array of mirrors in place.

The gimbal platform is fabricated from lightweight aluminum and contains a two-axis pivoting system that allows light to be projected at virtually any angle through the array of mirrors.

Benita says the platform provided “the solution we needed to make the experiment run the way it was intended.” She and Ben are both grateful for the services provided by the Machine Shop and especially for the opportunity to work together with the machinists to design custom materials.

The need for precision led Benita and Ben to seek assistance from the ChBE machinists. With help from Jeff and Brad, the students designed an advanced gimbal mount that allows them to control the 3D orientation of the mirror assembly with great ease and precision.

With the help of the advanced CNC machines available in the shop, Jeff and Benita demonstrates how the lightweight inner platform Brad were able pivots to allow light to be directed onto the array of to turn the mirrors at virtually any angle.

Silas Ethics & Leadership Program Symposium organization. For DuPont, these values encompass safety and health, environmental stewardship, the highest ethical behavior, and respect for people.

Dr. Thomas Connelly (second from right) speaks with students and faculty during the reception held immediately following his keynote address.

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Dr. Connelly described a number of examples of how DuPont has adhered to and promoted these values since 1802. The company places these values above business success because such behavior leads to public trust. In addition, high corporate ethics yield cost-effective programs, whereas lack of ethical behavior results in the loss of reputation, loss of business, and perhaps loss of the right to operate the business. Such ethical values are epitomized in DuPont’s vision: “To be the world’s most dynamic science company, creating sustainable solutions essential to a safer, healthier life for people everywhere.”

Focus Faculty Newson Faculty Tom Fuller Joins the ChBE Faculty

Tom Fuller joined the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering in the Summer of 2004. He also has a joint appointment as a Principal Research Engineer at GTRI and directs the GT Center for Innovative Fuel Cell and Battery Technologies. Prof. Fuller received his BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Utah in 1982. He served in the Navy for the next five years as a Nuclear Engineering Officer on a submarine. Subsequently, he received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1992.

His doctoral thesis was on water and thermal management of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Thermal and water management are more highly coupled in PEM fuel cells than other fuel-cell types, and this work was among the first to treat the phenomena simultaneously. This research focused on modeling of water transport in the ionomer membranes and measuring transport properties.

A general concentrated solution model for transport in the fuel cell was created, and a novel experimental method for determining the electroosmotic drag of water as a function of concentration in the membrane was developed. Following his doctoral work, Prof. Fuller worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). His work focused on modeling of lithium batteries as part of the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium.

These models were the first to treat in detail lithium-ion and lithium polymer batteries. The initial models and subsequent refinements to them made at LBNL are still widely used in the battery community.

Fuel Cells. He was responsible both for directing research and development and for the design and delivery of cell stacks. It was this experience that got Prof. Fuller interested in the fundamentals of durability of PEM fuel cells.

Prof. Fuller’s research at Georgia Tech lies in fundamental understanding of degradation mechanisms in the fuel cell. These include chemical attack of the ionomer membranes, stability of the precious metal catalysts, and corrosion of catalyst supports.

This research combines macroscopic modeling and directed experiments to elucidate kinetic and transport data.

The motivation for this work is twofold: 1) to guide the development of new materials, and 2) to mitigate the degradation through novel system architectures and controls. “Often a system solutions is much easier to implement compared to finding a new material, and we plan to use the capabilities at GTRI in developing application-

Before joining Georgia Tech, Prof. Fuller spent just over ten years at United Technologies Corporation in Connecticut. He began as a research engineer and was principal investigator for DARPA and DOE programs in direct methanol. Prof. Fuller advanced to manager and then director of engineering at UTC

Professor Tom Fuller

specific prototypes to test these systems,” he says.

Prof. Fuller hopes that through his role in GTRI, the Center for Innovative Fuel Cell and Battery Technologies will become the preferred place that researchers at Tech go to advance their technology from fundamental discovery in the lab to a working prototype.

Prof. Fuller enjoys hiking and other outdoor activities. He is eagerly waiting for his fouryear old son to have stamina that matches his desire so that they may enjoy these activities together.

Timothy Wick Accepts Chair Position at University of Alabama at Birmingham Professor Timothy Wick, who joined the faculty of the School of Chemical& Biomolecular Engineering in 1988, left Georgia Tech in August to serve as Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Photo by Deborah Babykin

Prof. Wick was a favorite of both his students and his colleagues and served the Institute in numerous leadership roles, including holding a joint appointment to the School of Mechanical Engineering, directing the Phillips Petroleum/C.J. “Pete” Silas Program in Ethics & Leadership, and most recently chairing the Interdisciplinary Bioengineering Graduate Program for the past two years. He was also an adjunct professor to Emory University’s School of Medicine and Tech’s School of Biomedical Engineering.

Prof. Tim Wick accepts his departure gift from ChBE as his wife, Kyle, and professors Larry McIntyre and Robert Nerem gather around him.

The faculty, staff, and students of ChBE wish Prof. Wick and his family the best for their future.

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Focus on Faculty Faculty News A Los Angeles Times column “In the Lab” reported on implantable pressure sensors being commercialized by Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) company CardioMEMS. The sensor is based on technology developed in the lab of Mark Allen. The column also reported on Tech’s microneedles drug delivery system, which replaces traditional hypodermic needles with an array of very small metal or polymer needles too small to cause pain. The Laboratory for Drug Delivery is led by Mark Prausnitz.

Paul Kohl was granted five new patents and delivered three invited lectures, including at the Intel Corporation, which was a world-wide Intel broadcast.

William Koros was an invited speaker at the 8th International Conference on Frontiers of Polymers & Advanced Materials in Cancun, at the International Congress on Membranes in Seoul, Korea, and at the Herman Mark Symposium at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Fall Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Andreas Bommarius was appointed to the editorial board of Enzyme and Microbial Technology and delivered two invited lectures, including at the Center for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing at the Univ. of Iowa.

Charles Liotta received the 2005 Mac Pruitt Award, the highest award given by the Council for Chemical Research (CCR).

Hang Lu was named one of 35 top technology innovators under age 35 by Technology Review magazine. She was recognized for her expertise in building bioMEMs to devise innovative experiments in neurobiology. Currently, Prof. Lu has designed minute mazes to test how microscopic worms learn using smell, and she constructed microscale gas gradients to help identify the sensory pathways that the worms use to detect oxygen levels. She hopes her continued worm work will yield clues to the workings of the human brain.

Rachel Chen was appointed to the editorial board of Microbial Cell Factory. She also presented at an invited workshop on Biochemical Engineering XIV: Frontiers and Advances in Biotechnology, Biological and Biomolecular Engineering and delivered an invited lecture at the Gordon Glycobiology Conference.

Yulin Deng was appointed an Adjunct Professor at Tianjin University of Science and Technology in China. He also gave three invited lectures, including at the Pira International Conference of Pigment and Filler in Lisbon, Portugal.

ChBE named J. Carson Meredith, who was recently promoted to Associate Professor, the James F. Simmons Faculty Fellow. In addition, Thompson Essential Science Indicators™ has ranked him in the top 1% of cited authors in the field of combinatorial materials.

Prof. Meredith also presented invited lectures at the Arkema Central Research Facility in France and at the ACS Fall Meeting in Washington, D.C. He and his family welcomed their second child, a son, Grant Michael, on July 20.

Charles Eckert was selected as the 2005 recipient of the Clarence Gerhold Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). Additionally, he, along with Charles Liotta, was part of a research team that included members from Queen’s University in Canada that reported on the development of “switchable solvents” in the August 24 issue of the journal Nature. Development of this new class of solvents could provide a more environmentally friendly way of producing specialty chemicals for pharmaceuticals and other high-value specialty chemicals.

John Muzzy received the 2005 Circle of Excellence Award given by the National Textile Center.

Athanasios Nenes was the 2005 recipient of the Sheldon K Friedlander Award from the American Association for Aerosol Research.

He also presented at the ACD Seminar at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder.

Martha Gallivan was named the winner of the 2005 W. David Smith, Jr. Graduate Student Paper Award for her graduate work, which is given by the Computing and Systems Technology Division of the AIChE. She also presented invited lectures in October at Virginia Tech and the University of Washington and will present at The City College of New York in December.

Mark Prausnitz and Andreas Bommarius co-developed a new course entitled “Drug Design, Development, and Delivery,” which was offered for the first time in Spring 2005 to senior undergraduate and graduate students. Prof. Prausnitz also gave invited talks at the 32nd Annual Meeting & Exposition of the Controlled Release Society and at the 230th American Chemical Society Meeting and was appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board of NanoVec, LLC.

Dennis Hess was the 2005 recipient of the Solid State Science and Technology Award from the Electrochemical Society (ECS).

Recently appointed to Associate Professor, Chris Jones was selected to participate in the National Academy of Engineering’s (NAE) 11th annual Frontiers of Engineering Symposium. The three-day event in September brought together engineers ages 30 to 45 who are performing cutting-edge engineering research and technical work in a variety of disciplines. Prof. Jones also presented six invited lectures, including at Eastman Chemical Company and at Lonza Group, Ltd.

Matthew Realff is currently on leave from Tech to serve as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the Division of Design and Manufacturing Innovation (DMI).

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Focus on Alumni

Alumni News Adapted from an article that appeared in the GT Alumni Association’s Tech Topics magazine

This year, three Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering graduates were elected as Trustees of the Alumni Association. ChBE is proud to have them representing Tech in the Association. The following profiles provide an overview of their background and accomplishments: Thomas C. DeLoach Jr., ChE ‘69, is the retired executive vice president of Mobil Oil Corp. and president of Global Midstream, both wholly owned subsidiaries of Mobil Corp. From 2000 to 2003 he was an active partner, then consultant with Penske Racing’s NASCAR Winston Cup Race Team. He is the managing partner of PIT Instruction and Training in Mooresville, N.C. He was named to the College of Engineering Hall of Fame in 2000 and is vice chairman of the ChBE External Advisory Board. He and his wife, Carol, live in Mooresville and have two grown sons and four grandsons.

James P. Harris, ChE ‘70, is senior vice president of ExxonMobil Chemical Co. As an alumnus, he chairs the ChBE External Advisory Board and is a member of the advisory board to the College of Engineering, which named him a distinguished alumnus in 1996. Harris also serves on the board of the Chemical Industry Association in Europe, is past chairman of the American Plastics Council, and is a past member of the board of the American Chamber of Commerce of Belgium. He and his wife, Pam, live in Houston and have two grown children.

Brittany Robinson, ChE ‘95, is an environmental engineer with International Paper in Savannah, Ga., where she chaired the Savannah Georgia Tech Club’s scholarship program for four years. She was named the Alumni Association’s Outstanding Young Alumna in 2004. As the recipient of a bone marrow transplant, she has volunteered as a spokesperson for the American Red Cross in Savannah and coordinated blood and bone marrow drives.

Dr. Freeman Cary stands beside a plaque listing 20 years of speakers in the Ashton Cary Lecture Series in the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. He established the series in memory of his late brother Ashton Cary, ‘43, who served in the U.S. Army and later built a career in Georgia’s textile industry. The Cary Lecture Series draws distinguished scholars in fields of significance to chemical engineering. Dr. Cary also studied chemical engineering at Tech, received his M.D. from Emory University in 1950, and later became the attending physician for the U.S. Congress.

The 21st Annual Lecture will be held January 18, featuring Dame Julia Higgins, who is a Professor of Polymer Science at Imperial College London.

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Paul H. Williams, ChE ‘60, stands with Joey Kenny, who is the current recipient of the Paul Williams Presidential Scholarship and also a Student Ambassador. Mr. Williams established the scholarship in 1999 to assist engineering students from small towns in the South, with preference to those wishing to study chemical engineering. Paul Williams is an avid fan of the Yellow Jackets and a very loyal alumnus who has served ChBE and Tech on many boards and committees.

Have you received one of these?

ChBE has returned extra copies of theses to dozens of our graduates who earned their Masters and PhDs in chemical engineering.

Rest assured that originals of all remain in the Georgia Tech library; many are now available on-line as well. If we sent you a card and you’d like your thesis but haven’t yet responded, please do so by December 1st.

Thanks to alumni who shared memories with their responses, like Zelvin Levine, BS ‘51, PhD ‘56: “Choosing Georgia Tech for graduate education was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.” We’re glad to hear Dr. Levine feels this way, and we’re always happy to hear from alumni with remembrances and news of what’s happening now.

Contact Jenny Daley, Director of Development, anytime to keep in touch at jenny.daley@chbe.gatech.edu.

Focus News Briefson Alumni & Friends 1970

Dave Burford has been named nuclear fleet security and emergency preparedness manager for Southern Nuclear. Burford is also a brigadier general in the Alabama National Guard and in 2001 was immediately mobilized after Sept. 11 as the deputy commanding general of the U.S. Army’s Green Beret special operations force. He spent more than two years on active duty and served in several combat zones.

1980

Chris Broome was named general manager of the SmurfitStone Container Corp. paper mill in Ontonagon, Mich. He and his wife, Virginia, and daughter, Abby, are moving to Michigan.

Rebecca Peterson, plant manager for Solutia Inc.’s nylon fiber plant in Cantonment, Fla., was featured in the St. Petersburg Times in a story about women who have “cracked the glass ceiling” in business. Peterson, her husband, Kyle, and their two children live in Pace, Fla.

1982

Wilbur Strickland Jr. has been appointed Science and Technology Director for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa for Cadbury Schweppes. Strickland will lead scientists at 16 locations in those regions. He lives near London with his wife, Cindy, and sons, Blake and Brad.

1984

Kathy Pearson is the recipient of the Texas Chemical Council’s (TCC) A.D. Cypher’s Safety Professional of the Year (SPOTY) Award for 2004.

Pearson is currently a senior risk analyst for Rohm and Haas Texas, in Deer Park.

1991

Janice Dodson Teske and her husband, Erich, announce the birth of a son Alexander, on Oct. 3. Alexander joins brother Andrew and sister Susanna at the family’s home in Chicago.

Teske is a technical innovation knowledge manager with The Wrigley Co.

1995

Keisha Wilson Tanner and her husband, Tyrone, announce the birth of a daughter, Chelsea Tiana, on Sept. 26. Tanner is a project manager with BP. The family lives in Missouri City, Tex.

Bill Grieco (left), PhD ChE ‘92, Process Engineer in Monomer Research for Rohm and Haas, speaks with an undergraduate student during a mixer and information session the corporation sponsored on October 14. Rohm and Haas has donated almost $400,000 to Tech, mostly to ChBE. In the School, the corporation sponsors an award for an outstanding sophomore, and proceeds from their endowment assist with graduate student funding.

1996

Kimberly Cochran Kozakis and Jason Kozakis, announce the birth of a son, Alexander James, on Feb. 26. Kimberly is an environmental engineer with the Shaw Group and Jason is a management consultant for Mercer Management Consulting.

The family lives in Chicago.

Jay Curtin and Tiffany Dickey Curtin, CE ‘97, announce the birth of a daughter, Abigail Constance, on Dec. 29. Abigail joins brother Leo at the family’s home in Marietta, Ga. Jay is a radiologist with Emory University Hospital and Tiffany is a full-time mother.

1999

Jennifer Stoudt received her MBA in April from the University of Florida. She and her husband, Damon Woodson, are residents of St. Petersburg, Fla.

2000

Allison Dickey and John Stalvey were married July 31 in Forsyth, Ga. Dickey is a senior business analyst at Delta Technology in Atlanta. They live in Hapeville, Ga. 11

Graduate and undergraduate participants in the ExxonMobil Success Program in ChBE recently met for lunch on campus with corporate representatives to provide feedback about their activities in this dynamic initiative. Guests from ExxonMobil included Bing Kao, ChE ‘97 (front row, far left); Ken Lee, Truman Bell, Charlie Dickson, ChE ‘87, MS Env ‘01 (back row, from far left); and Gerald McElvy (back row, 2nd from right).

Under the leadership of Prof. Sue Ann Bidstrup-Allen (front row, third from left), Associate Chair for Student Initiatives and Executive Assistant to President Clough, the program provides mentoring, study help, and professional development assistance to students, as well as sponsors guest speakers from academia and business.

Lee Suber and Kelly Points, Mgt ‘00, were married June 5, 2004. Lee graduated from Duke University School of Medicine in May and Kelly is a communication coordinator at a non-profit trade association in Raleigh, N.C. The couple live in Durham.

DEATHS 1943

Mr. Francis S. Dennis, Jr. of Augusta, Ga. on Sept. 3, 2005.

1955

James F. Rutledge of Smithville, Tex., on March 2, 2004.

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) 894-1838 Email: grad.info@chbe.gatech.edu Email: ugrad.info@chbe.gatech.edu

Susan Hutcheson (404) 894-8475 Email: susan.hutcheson@chbe.gatech.edu

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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

Construction continues on The Molecular Science and Engineering Building, which is the fourth and final building in the Biotechnology Complex.

The photo on the left, taken in mid-October, shows the side of the building visible from the Ford ES&T Bldg. The image on the right depicts a rendering of that side’s final appearance. ChBE will have laboratories in the “M” building, which is expected to be completed in September 2006.

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