ChBE News—Spring/Summer 2003

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After more than three years of planning and anticipation, the School of Chemical Engineer- ing officially relocated to the newly constructed Ford Envi- ronmental Science and Technol- ogy Building in January. Four months later, on May 16, the building was officially dedi- cated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and named for its principal and $10-million-donor, the Ford Motor Company. Numerous special guests attended the event, including Edsel Ford II, a member of the Board of Directors of Ford and great-grandson of the company’s founder; Thomas C. Meredith, Chancellor of the University System of Georgia; and Virginia and Thomas Gossage, ChE ‘56, MSChE ‘57, who provided funding for the building’s Gossage Atrium. The School was honored to have Tiffany Stark, a senior chemical engineering major who will graduate this summer, selected to speak for the student body. She presented her thoughts on the new facility and how it will impact the campus now and in years to come. Quoting President John F. Kennedy, Tiffany challenged the audience to consider the impor- tance of change: “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” Tech President Wayne Clough, Mr. Ford and Dr. Meredith also addressed the large crowd during the dedication ceremony. Boasting 287,000 square feet, the building is the largest acade- mic structure on campus and anchors the Institute’s interdisci- plinary Life Sciences and Tech- nology Complex. Each depart- ment in the facility emphasizes in their curriculum the implica- tions of technology on the environment. In addition to housing Chemical Engineering, classrooms and research facili- ties are also designated for the Advanced Technology & Devel- opment Center, Civil and Envi- ronmental Engineering, and Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, as well as the disci- plines of environmental biology and chemistry. “Georgia Tech is already a recognized leader in creating sustainable technologies, solving environmental problems and educating students to view their professions through the prism of sustainability,” said President Clough during the dedication. “The ES&T Building will take our efforts to a new level, and we are very pleased to have Ford Motor Company as a part- ner in this effort.” The $58 million Ford ES&T Building was built with a combi- nation of state and private funding, including $38 million from the state of Georgia, $15 million from private donors and $5 million from the Georgia Research Alliance. “This is a tremendous new building, and it also is a tool,” said Mr. Ford. “But what counts most is the Georgia Tech scien- tists, engineers and cadre of dedicated graduate assistants. In the hands of these very capable people, this facility will help increase our environmental understanding and shape a better world for all of us.” Ford has a long history of hiring Tech graduates as well as funding the Institute’s programs. Over the past 40 years the company has been a key corporate partner with the Institute, giving more than $10.4 million with an additional $6.2 million committed for future gifts. Ford celebrated its 100th anniversary on June 16. Please see pages 2, 3 & 4 for photos of the Ford ES&T Building. Tech Dedicates the Ford Environmental Science and Technology Building, the School of Chemical Engineering’s New Home School Chair Ronald Rousseau stands outside the Gossage Atrium with the Ramblin’ Wreck at the Ford ES&T Building dedication. CHEM NEWS GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY • SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING • VOL. 11 NO. 1 • SPRING/SUMMER 2003

description

Newsletter from the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech.

Transcript of ChBE News—Spring/Summer 2003

Page 1: ChBE News—Spring/Summer 2003

After more than three years ofplanning and anticipation, theSchool of Chemical Engineer-ing officially relocated to thenewly constructed Ford Envi-ronmental Science and Technol-ogy Building in January.

Four months later, on May 16,the building was officially dedi-cated with a ribbon-cuttingceremony and named for itsprincipal and $10-million-donor,the Ford Motor Company.Numerous special guestsattended the event, includingEdsel Ford II, a member of theBoard of Directors of Ford andgreat-grandson of the company’sfounder; Thomas C. Meredith,Chancellor of the University

System of Georgia; and Virginiaand Thomas Gossage, ChE ‘56,MSChE ‘57, who providedfunding for the building’sGossage Atrium.

The School was honored tohave Tiffany Stark, a seniorchemical engineering major whowill graduate this summer,selected to speak for the studentbody. She presented herthoughts on the new facility andhow it will impact the campusnow and in years to come.Quoting President John F.Kennedy, Tiffany challenged theaudience to consider the impor-tance of change: “Change isthe law of life. And those wholook only to the past or present

are certain to miss the future.”Tech President Wayne Clough,Mr. Ford and Dr. Meredith alsoaddressed the large crowdduring the dedication ceremony.

Boasting 287,000 square feet,the building is the largest acade-mic structure on campus andanchors the Institute’s interdisci-plinary Life Sciences and Tech-nology Complex. Each depart-ment in the facility emphasizesin their curriculum the implica-tions of technology on theenvironment. In addition tohousing Chemical Engineering,classrooms and research facili-ties are also designated for theAdvanced Technology & Devel-opment Center, Civil and Envi-ronmental Engineering, andEarth and AtmosphericSciences, as well as the disci-plines of environmental biologyand chemistry.

“Georgia Tech is already arecognized leader in creatingsustainable technologies, solvingenvironmental problems andeducating students to view theirprofessions through the prismof sustainability,” said PresidentClough during the dedication.“The ES&T Building will takeour efforts to a new level, andwe are very pleased to have

Ford Motor Company as a part-ner in this effort.”

The $58 million Ford ES&TBuilding was built with a combi-nation of state and privatefunding, including $38 millionfrom the state of Georgia, $15million from private donors and$5 million from the GeorgiaResearch Alliance.

“This is a tremendous newbuilding, and it also is a tool,”said Mr. Ford. “But what countsmost is the Georgia Tech scien-tists, engineers and cadre ofdedicated graduate assistants.In the hands of these verycapable people, this facility willhelp increase our environmentalunderstanding and shape abetter world for all of us.”

Ford has a long history ofhiring Tech graduates as well asfunding the Institute’sprograms. Over the past 40years the company has been akey corporate partner with theInstitute, giving more than$10.4 million with an additional$6.2 million committed forfuture gifts. Ford celebrated its100th anniversary on June 16.

Please see pages 2, 3 & 4 for photosof the Ford ES&T Building.

Tech Dedicates the Ford Environmental Science and Technology Building,the School of Chemical Engineering’s New Home

School Chair Ronald Rousseau stands outside the Gossage Atrium with theRamblin’ Wreck at the Ford ES&T Building dedication.

C H E M N E W S

GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY • SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING • VOL. 11 NO. 1 • SPRING/SUMMER 2003

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Ford ES&T Building

The east side of the Ford ES&T Building comprises mostly facultyoffices and offers a wonderful view of the Tech baseball field.

The south wing of the Ford ES&T Building (right) faces Ferst Drive.To the left is the U.A. Whitaker Building for Biomedical Engineering,which is currently under construction.

A park-like quadrangle connects the Ford ES&T Building to the PetitInstitute for Bioengineering and Bioscience and the U.A. WhitakerBuilding for Biomedical Engineering, which will open in August.

The Gossage Atrium as seen from the outside.

The north wing of the Ford ES&T Building. The Ford ES&T Building’s signage was unveiled during the dedica-tion ceremony.

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Wayne Clough, Tech President; Edsel Ford II, Ford Board of Directors;Tiffany Stark, ChE ‘03; Thomas Meredith, University System of Geor-gia Chancellor; and Buzz participate in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Escorted by Tech President Wayne Clough (right), Edsel Ford II entersthe new building for the first time.

Students, faculty and guests celebrate with refreshments and fellow-ship after the building dedication ceremony.

Thomas L. Gossage, ChE ‘56, MSChE ‘57, and his wife, Virginia,with Tech President Wayne Clough in front of the plaque naming theGossage Atrium in his honor.

Edsel Ford II stands next to the plaque honoring Ford’s commitmentto the new building.

Ron Rousseau (center) with Tiffany Stark, ChE ‘03 (2nd from left),and her family at the building dedication ceremony.

Ford ES&T Building Dedication

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Modern acoustical design makes the main auditorium and lecturehall well-suited for classes and lectures.

The main level of the Gossage Atrium features a café vending areawhere students gather to enjoy snacks and study together.

Three members of Professor Jay Lee’s research group conducting anexperiment in their new lab space.

Top-notch laboratories with ample space provide the ideal environ-ment for student and faculty research.

The Gossage Atrium functions as the main thoroughfare in the newbuilding by connecting the north and south wings and faculty offices.

The comfortable chairs and natural lighting in the new buildingcreate appealing space for both studying and relaxing.

Ford ES&T Building

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Global AwarenessRichard Lee Smith, ChE BS ‘80,MS ‘83 and PhD ‘85, is servingin a leadership role in Japan thatpreviously has been open onlyto native Japanese engineers. Hereceived the honor in 2002 ofbecoming the first Western engi-neering professor to serve as adepartment head at a Japaneseuniversity. Dr. Smith leads theResearch Center of SupercriticalFluid Technology at TohokuUniversity in Sendai, Japan.

This distinction poses manychallenges and demands becauseof the size of the departmentand the structure at the Univer-sity. Dr. Smith’s center is part ofthe Department of ChemicalEngineering, which is dividedinto five main teaching andresearch entities: Energy ProcessEngineering, Chemical ProcessEngineering, Process SystemsEngineering, Research Center ofSupercritical Fluid Technology,and Chemical Process Science.

This structure, which differsgreatly from what is commonlyused in Western universities, isbased on a Japanese conceptknown as koza or “family.”Each koza is led by a full profes-sor functioning in a chair capac-ity, and is supported by one ortwo assistant or associate profes-sors, as well as post docs, gradu-ate students and 4th-year under-graduate students.

Smith received all of his ChEdegrees from Georgia Tech,where Dr. Amyn Teja served ashis advisor and oversaw hisresearch on critical phenomenain thermally unstable fluids.After graduation, Smith servedas a lecturer at Tohoku in 1985-1988, and then as an assistantprofessor at the University ofSouth Carolina in 1988-1994. In1994, he returned to Tohoku asan Associate Professor in theResearch Center of SupercriticalFluid Technology.

Dr. Smith is currently involvedin several research projects,including the separation ofanacardic acid from cashew nutvesicant fluid for potential use inthe pharmaceutical industry asan antiviral treatment for suchdiseases as TB and HIV. Hisresearch group is also workingon thermally driven devices todevelop more efficient analyticalequipment for extraction, reac-tion material formation, anddyeing without the use of elec-tricity in order to create a renew-able sustainable process.

While a student at Tech, Dr.Smith participated in both theLondon Summer Program andthe Cooperative EducationProgram and he says that “hestrongly recommends” bothprograms to current ChEstudents. Dr. Smith also creditsthe education he received atTech for the success that he hasenjoyed since graduation.

In 1996, Dr. Smith was inductedinto the Georgia Tech Councilof Outstanding Young Engi-neering Alumni. He and hiswife, Azusa Haruhara, havethree children: sons Ken andShoh and daughter Mari.

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Alumni Events

East Meets West with Unprecedented Success

etired Marine CorpsGeneral Raymond G.Davis, ChE ‘38, and

three other alumni were recog-nized in a ceremony on May 19dedicated to Tech’s Congres-sional Medal of Honor recipi-ents. Gen. Davis is Tech’s onlyliving recipient of the Medal.

Plaques commemorating theMedal of Honor recipients weregiven by Joseph P. Byrd III, GE‘38, and create a wall of honorleading to the plaza entrance ofthe Wardlaw Center.

President Harry Trumanpresented the nation’s highestmilitary honor to Gen. Davis in1952 for his actions in the

Korean War. Despitefacing an overwhelmingenemy force, Gen.Davis led a battalion torescue a rifle companyand seize and hold apass that provided anescape route for twoother Marine regiments.He retired after a 33-year career in 1972 asthe Marine Corps’second-highest rankingofficer. He is America’s most decorated living soldier.

He observed his 88th birthday onJanuary 13 and enjoyed a publiccelebration a few days later atThe National Museum of Patrio-tism in Atlanta. The Davis

family now has three generationsof Tech graduates, including hisdaughter, Willa Davis Kerr, Biol‘73, and granddaughter, ShanaKerr, Biol ‘02. He and his wife,Willa, also have a son, Gilbert,and seven grandchildren.

Dr. Richard Smith, ChE BS ‘80,MS ‘83 and PhD ‘85

Homecoming WeekendAtlanta, Georgia

Thurs.-Sat., October 2-4

ChE alumni reception andtours of the School’s new

home in Ford ES&T

College of EngineeringAlumni Awards

Atlanta, GeorgiaFriday, October 17

AIChE Annual MeetingAlumni ReceptionSan Francisco, CaliforniaTuesday, November 18

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Retired Marine Corps General Raymond G. Davis,ChE ‘38, stands next to a plaque commemoratinghis Congressional Medal of Honor.

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standing-room-only crowd assembled on February 19 tohear Dr. Richard Gross present the 19th Annual AshtonCary Lecture on “Research & Development and New Busi-

ness Growth.” Dr. Gross is the Corporate Vice President ofResearch and Development at The Dow Chemical Company.

Professor Ronald Rousseau introduced Dr. Gross by extolling hisprofessional accomplishments, as well as noting his penchant forCajun-style crawfish, gumbo, and red beans and rice. Dr. Gross,who served on the ChE External Advisory Board for many years,then launched into his presentation addressing innovation, researchand chemical engineering science.

Dr. Gross first described the three core beliefs that guide his think-ing about innovation. First, he stated that technological innovationis the key for human progress. Second, technological innovation isdriven by new knowledge generated by individuals conducting R&D.And third, chemical engineering science is at the heart of producingsignificant new knowledge.

He further advocated that innovation, rather than invention, isneeded to drive the economy. Citing quotes by two of the 20thcentury’s greatest business minds, Peter Drucker and Joseph Schum-peter, Dr. Gross explained that invention generates new ideas, butinnovation brings them to the marketplace where they can impactsociety. A recent study by the Council on Chemical Research indi-cates that innovation is currently strong in the United States.

Bucking conventional wisdom, Dr. Gross asserted that “old” tech-nology has not been fully optimized and that applying new thinkingto old problems will provide great opportunities for innovation. Hecited a number of case studies from Dow to serve as examples.

The first case study concerned the conception and development ofa boiling tube evaporator to recover heat-sensitive products from adilute stream. Inspired by a wiped film evaporator used in thepaper industry, this innovation prevents product degradation byreducing contact time in the high temperature region of the device.Because it replaced a liquid-liquid extraction, this relatively simpletechnology saved millions of dollars in capital costs and annualsolvent expenses.

Another case study concerned a gas phase chlorination reactor thathad operated stably for 30 years, but had inexplicably started display-ing chaotic pressure oscillations. Using software algorithms devel-oped by Hewlett Packard for other applications, Dow engineers wereable to show that the complex behavior was actually deterministicand further found that simply placing a baffle in the feed linecorrected the problem.

Because a large fraction of drugs are poorly soluble in water, thepharmaceutical industry wants to make suspensions of drug particlesthat can rapidly dissolve in the gastrointestinal tract. Dow’sapproach was to use crystallization inhibitors to reduce drug particle

size to a few hundred nanometers. Compared to conventionalmicron-sized particles, nanoparticles of danazol, a synthetichormone used to treat endometriosis, were shown not only todissolve much more quickly in water, but also gave considerablyhigher blood levels after oral delivery to animals.

Dr. Gross concluded his presentation with a quote from Sir HenryTizard that “the secret of science is to ask the right questions” andurged the audience to think about which questions are most urgentin their fields of research. Everyone then adjourned for conversa-tion over drinks, hors d’oeuvres and desserts.

Dr. Gross’ views have been shaped by an exceptional career inindustry with significant interactions with government and academia.Dr. Gross joined Dow in 1974, after receiving a bachelor’s degree inchemical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and adoctoral degree in chemical engineering from the University of Utah.He initially worked on hydrocarbons and energy R&D for Dow inMichigan and then transferred to Louisiana to work on coal gasifica-tion. Back again in Midland, Dr. Gross assumed a number of direc-tor-level positions in the areas of chemicals, metals, hydrocarbonsand consumer products research. Before becoming Corporate VicePresident in 1998, he was Vice President and Director of MichiganOperations and Global Vice President of Core Technologies R&D.

In 1996, Dr. Gross was a recipient of the Dow Genesis Award forExcellence in People Development. He is a member of a number ofchemical engineering professional societies, including the Council forChemical Research where he serves on the Governing Board Execu-tive Committee. He also serves on advisory boards at WorcesterPolytechnic Institute, the University of California–Berkeley, theUniversity of Michigan, the National Research Council, the NationalInstitute of Standards & Technology, the National ScienceResources Center, and the Michigan Molecular Institute Board.

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Dr. Richard Gross chats with graduate student Kerry Bullock andProfessor Dennis Hess during the reception held following his lecture.

ADr. Richard Gross Presents 19th Annual Ashton Cary Lecture

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Chemical Engineering at Tech: 1951-2001By Dr. Henderson L. Ward

Henderson Ward earned his BS in ‘48, MS in ‘52, and Ph.D in ‘53 in ChEfrom GT. Dr. Ward retired from the ChE faculty in ‘84 and is currently writ-ing a history of the School.

In 1950, the School of Chemical Engineering was a vibrant place tostudy and to teach with major changes to the student body and thecurriculum soon to come. Just two years later, Tech first admittedwomen as day students. In 1961, Tech became the first school inthe Deep South to become integrated without a court order.

At that time, the ChE faculty had more experience in industry thanin research. With the introduction of the concepts of transportphenomena, research changed from empirical to focus more ontheoretical questions. Professor Henderson Ward attended work-shops with key academics on the subject and brought the ideas toTech where they became part of the curriculum in the mid-1960s.

The next major change for the growing department was in 1964when the School moved into the Bunger-Henry Building, which wasnamed for two early ChE professors. At the time, it was considereda modern classroom and research facility. The new building hadlarger lab space to accommodate chemical engineering’s impressiveenrollment, which already qualified it as one of the largest ChEdepartments in the country.

The discipline now required more mathematical interpretation,particularly when considering transport phenomena, and the loweredcost of pocket calculators pushed slide rule use to obscurity aroundthe same time that computer courses were added to the curriculumin the late 1960s. The development of polymer engineering alsosignaled future directions for the study of chemical engineering,becoming part of the academic program in 1970.

The year 1975 marked the beginning of the School’s summer studyprogram at University College of London. Tech students joined agroup from Iowa State in a venture so successful that the Londonsummer program continues today.

During the Vietnam War, the School’s graduate program becamequite large. Significant increases in the undergraduate student bodyoccurred afterward in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Some classestopped 100 students and met in auditoriums and larger classroomsin the facilities of nearby schools like Electrical Engineering.

In 1979, the School’s first External Advisory Board was formed.The Board comprises alumni, industrial friends, and academicmembers who advise the School’s administrators.

Today, the School remains one of the largest Chemical Engineeringprograms in the country. Its large faculty with a diversity ofresearch interests allows students to learn modern approaches totraditional topics as well as cutting-edge applications of new chemi-cal engineering principles.

The calibre of students is the one thing that has remained the samethroughout the 100-year-history of the School: they are still amongthe best and brightest coming to Georgia Tech each year. In 2002,students earning bachelors degrees in ChE had an average GPA over3.0 in a program that is still considered by many to be one of themost challenging majors at Georgia Tech.

Last year marked the beginning of the second century of the

study of Chemical Engineering at Georgia Tech. The

following is the last segment in the ChE History series as

we honor our past and look forward to our bright future in

the new Ford ES&T Building.

When Bunger-Henry opened in 1964, the surrounding area was verydifferent than today. In this photograph, Atlantic Drive and the VanLeer (ECE) Building have not yet been added.

This photograph, taken in the 1950s, shows the location of the Schoolof Chemical Engineering prior to the construction of the Bunger-HenryBuilding in 1964. The School’s facilities were housed in the buildingsecond from the right in the foreground.

A Moment in Time

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Dr. Victor BreedveldVictor Breedveld joined theSchool of Chemical Engineeringas an assistant professor in thespring of 2003. After obtaininghis Ph.D. from the University ofTwente in the Netherlands inOctober 2000, he came to theU.S. as a postdoctoral researcheron a TALENT grant from theNetherlands Organization forScientific Research (NWO) andworked at the Materials ResearchLaboratory of the University ofCalifornia at Santa Barbara.

One of his projects at the Mate-rials Research Laboratory wasconducted under the guidanceof Professors David Pine andTim Deming. It focused on theself-assembly of novel blockcopolypeptides. These polymersare synthesized from aminoacids and have uniquebiomimetic properties that arehighly tunable due to the flexi-bility and control of the synthe-sis technique. His researchfocused on the mechanical prop-erties and gelation behavior ofthe hydrogels with potentialapplications in tissue engineeringand drug delivery. The goal wasto optimize the molecular designfor desirable material properties.

His postdoctoral experienceinspired Dr. Breedveld to stay inthe U.S. and he took the oppor-tunity to start his own researchgroup at Georgia Tech. Thegeneral theme of his research is

“Structure and Rheology ofComplex Fluids,” which investi-gates the structure and mechani-cal strength of materials that areneither simple Newtonian fluidsnor elastic solids.

Complex fluids encompass alarge variety of materials: foodproducts, polymer melts andsolutions, coatings, personal careproducts, biological fluids andgels, etc. The mechanical prop-erties (visco-elasticity, shearviscosity) are controlled by themicroscopic molecular structure,which can be tuned by changingthe interactions between mole-cules. The interplay betweenmolecular structure and rheol-ogy is the focus of his research.

Experimental research in thegroup is centered around tworheological techniques: conven-tional rheology with a rheometerand microrheology. Macrorhe-ology studies the mechanicalproperties by deforming a fluidsample (0.5 to 10ml) in acontrolled way in a rheometerand measuring the relationbetween applied stress andresulting deformation.Microrheology employs sub-micron particles as mechanicalprobes. The thermal fluctua-tions of these particles can beused as the driving force (~kT)and the resulting Brownianmotion can be analyzed underan optical microscope to extractrheological information aboutthe surrounding fluid. The

approach offers a number ofunique opportunities. Due tothe small sample size (microliteror less), microrheology is verysuitable to investigate the struc-ture and mechanical propertiesof expensive and rare materials.Microrheological measurementsare also much faster thanconventional approaches, thusenabling high-throughputscreening of rheological proper-ties. Last but not least, the sizeof the probe particles allows forlocalized rheology measure-ments with micrometer spatialresolution so that inhomo-geneities in the structure can bedetected. Capitalizing on theseadvantages of the novel tech-nique, Dr. Breedveld currentlyfocuses on the local rheology ofbioengineering materials, such astissue engineering scaffolds andon high-throughput applicationsfor systems where screening andoptimization of rheologicalproperties is important.

Dr. Breedveld enjoyed the beau-tiful late spring weather inAtlanta and is curious to experi-ence what the “Hotlanta”summer is like. His Dutch back-ground regularly causes hilarityin the classroom when using

Dutch expressions in theEnglish translation. It alsoinspires an ongoing effort toteach Atlanta drivers how to dealwith cyclists by commuting ontwo wheels, in spite of thegeneral opinion that biking inAtlanta is not a wise idea.

Dr. Martha GallivanIn the fall of 2002, MarthaGallivan joined the School ofChemical Engineering as anassistant professor. She earnedher bachelor’s degree at theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1996, anddefended her Ph.D. thesis at theCalifornia Institute of Technol-ogy in 2002.

Her thesis work was directed byRichard Murray in Control andDynamical Systems, DavidGoodwin in Mechanical Engi-neering, and Harry Atwater inApplied Physics. The goal ofthis multidisciplinary project wasto control microstructural evolu-tion during thin film depositionfor microelectronic applications,using simulations of atomicscale behavior as the plantmodel, process history as an

Chemical Engineering Welcomes Four New Faculty

ChE’s new faculty members toast at the 2003 Graduate Student Recruit-ment Weekend banquet at the Renaissance Hotel in Atlanta: (from left)Victor Breedveld, Martha Gallivan, Sankar Nair and Athanasios Nenes.

he School is excited to announce the addition of

four new faculty members: Victor Breedveld,

Martha Gallivan, Sankar Nair and Athanasios

Nenes. Drs. Breedveld, Gallivan and Nenes are featured in

this issue. An article spotlighting Dr. Nair will appear in

the next issue.

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input, and final material proper-ties as the control objective.Experimental work includedreactor design for chemicalvapor deposition of supercon-ducting thin films and ultra-highvacuum deposition of germa-nium using electron diffractionas the real-time process sensor.Theoretical work focused on thedevelopment of low-dimen-sional models that describe anatomistic Monte Carlo simula-tion of surface evolution to beused for control.

Dr. Gallivan is developing aresearch program with the goalof applying mathematical engi-neering approaches like opti-mization and feedback controlto complex dynamic systemsdescribed by discrete atomicinteractions. While atomistickinetic models have been devel-oped within the field of compu-tational materials science, theyare high-dimensional, nonlinear,and stochastic, not like theprocess models typically usedfor optimization and control.Her research involves develop-ing process models that arecompatible with existing algo-rithms and developing algo-rithms that are compatible withexisting plant models. Themodeling effort is also needed tobest utilize the noisy and incom-plete data that is acquired fromon-line process sensors, bycombining knowledge of thedynamics with sense data toprovide the most completepicture of system evolution andmaterial properties.

The primary focus of Dr. Galli-van’s current research is onproblems in materials process-ing, although the same mathe-matical structure and complexityis found in other models ofsmall-scale dynamics, includingintracellular reactions, proteinfolding, and quantum comput-ing. It is expected that the

development of general mathe-matical algorithms will play arole in these and other applica-tions.

Dr. Gallivan taught NumericalMethods this spring, an under-graduate sophomore-levelcourse. This was her first expe-rience teaching, and she enjoyedit even more than she expected.

She is new to the South, and isenjoying the dogwood trees andlunches at Junior’s and PiccadillyCafeteria. She made the longdrive from California to Georgialast July with her husband, Dr.Justin Gallivan, along with theirtwo cats. They recently movedinto their first home in the LakeClaire neighborhood of Atlanta,and are now learning about yardwork and home maintenance.Her husband joined the chem-istry faculty at Emory Universityin the fall of 2002, and both arehappy to have found excellentresearch and teaching opportuni-ties in the same city.

Dr. Athanasios NenesIn fall 2003, Professor Athana-sios Nenes joined the faculty ofChemical Engineering in a jointappointment with Earth andAtmospheric Sciences as anassistant professor. Dr. Nenesreceived a Diploma in ChemicalEngineering from the NationalTechnical University of Athens,Greece in 1993. He thenworked at LDEKO & Associ-ates in Athens, Greece as anEnvironmental Consultant fortwo years.

Between 1995-1997, he pursuedand obtained an MSc in Marineand Atmospheric Chemistryfrom the Rosenstiel School ofMarine and AtmosphericSciences in Miami, Florida.During that time, Dr. Nenesfocused on thermodynamic

modeling of troposphericaerosols and developed a model(ISORROPIA) which has sincebecome a model of choice inthe international air quality andglobal modeling community. Itis currently being used in morethan 25 modeling groups ingovernment, industry and acade-mic sectors, including the Envi-ronmental Protection Agency(CMAQ), Harvard University(GEOS-CHEM), NASA (GISSGCM), the Ford Corporation,the Meteorological Service ofCanada, EPA-Taiwan andMeteo-France.

Dr. Nenes continued his gradu-ate studies at the CaliforniaInstitute of Technology inPasadena, California, where heobtained his Ph.D. in 2002. Histhesis work focused on improv-ing the understanding of howaerosols (airborne particulatematter) affect climate.

Human activities increase theconcentrations of aerosols andlead to more reflective andpersistent clouds. Since cloudsare very effective reflectors ofincoming solar radiation, evensmall perturbations in theirproperties can significantlydecrease the amount of solarradiation absorbed by theclimate system, and thus lead tocooling. Quantitative estimatesof this “indirect climatic effect”of aerosols are highly uncertain,but potentially can be as large asthe warming from greenhousegases. Of all the components ofclimate change, the aerosol indi-rect effect is the most uncertainand potentially has the largestcooling effect. Until the aerosolindirect effect is well quantified,society is incapable of assessingits impact on future climate.

Part of the challenge in assess-ing the aerosol indirect effectoriginates from the wide rangeof length scales involved in the

problem. Such assessments aredone with global climate models,with a typical mid-latitude gridcell size of a hundred kilometers(or a few degrees) and can onlyresolve the largest of cloudsystems. Ideally, one needs toexplicitly resolve processestaking place on the meter lengthscale. Global models are farfrom being able to achieve thisresolution, and thus heavily relyon parameterizations to accountfor the sub-grid processes ofcloud formation. It is believedthat over the next few years,advancements in computingcapabilities and improvements inmodeling efforts will be able toaddress the scale issue. Whileconducting his thesis researchwork, Dr. Nenes developed avariety of aerosol-cloud interac-tion modules for global climatemodels that can substantiallyreduce the uncertainty of keyaerosol-cloud interactions. He isstill currently focused on thisarea of research.

Dr. Nenes has published morethan 20 articles and holds oneU.S. patent (pending) in the fieldof cloud microphysics instru-mentation. He has also receiveda number of professionalhonors. His diploma thesis,which was in numerical model-ing of multiphase flows, wasnamed by the Technical Cham-ber of Engineers in Greece asbest diploma thesis for 1996.He was awarded a University ofMiami Fellowship between1996-1997 and received theRosenstiel School of Marine andAtmospheric Sciences Dean’sPrize for outstanding MastersThesis in 1998.

Dr. Nenes is an avid fan of clas-sical music and enjoys playingthe piano in his free time. Hisother favorite pastimes are thecinema and travel.

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Each year the Women’s Lead-ership Conference honorsoutstanding Georgia Techwomen. The 2003 Women ofDistinction include ChEnominees and award winners.

Celesta White and AlexisHillock were among five ofthe women nominated for thisyear’s Outstanding Graduatestudent award. Celesta was aco-recipient, along with anMBA student, Katie Hudson.

Amanda C. Gable, who is anAcademic Professional in theGraduate Studies Research

Department, nominated Celesta because of her unique ability togive so much to the Tech community while still achieving academicperfection. Among her numerous achievements, Celesta hasreceived two national graduate fellowships from the NationalScience Foundation (NSF) and the American Association of Univer-sity Women (AAUW). She has also maintained a perfect GPAthroughout her entire undergraduate and graduate studies. As presi-dent of the campus chapter of the Society of Women Engineerslast year, she more than doubled membership, offered more devel-opmental and social programs, and instituted a new graduatewomen’s component to the organization open to women of allmajors on campus.

In addition to Celesta and Alexis’ nominations, two other ChEstudents were nominated for the Outstanding Undergraduate award:Andrea Ostby and Nina Paolella.

Graduate student KarstenBartling was presentedwith a distinguished awardfor his thesis entitled“Lipase Catalyzed Synthesis ofGeranyl Acetate in n-Hexanewith Membrane-MediatedWater Removal.” His workwas named best mastersthesis for 2000/2001 by theWorking Committee forTechnology Transfer, Inno-vation Advancement andContinuing Education atthe Giessen-FriedbergUniversity of Applied Science in Germany. The research for histhesis was conducted at the Chemical Recovery Group at the Insti-tute of Paper Science and Technology in conjunction with his advi-sor, Professor Mary Rezac. The work has been published in thejournal Biotechnology and Bioengineering and has been presented atnumerous poster sessions and talks.

Senior center and chemical engineering major Sonja Mallory wasnamed to the first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference women’sbasketball team by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association,earning All-ACC honors for the second year in a row. She was thennamed a member of the ACC’s All-Defensive team following a voteof the league’s nine head coaches, and to the District 2 WBCA/Kodak All-America team. Soon after, Sonja was also named Geor-gia Division I Player of the Year, making her one of only three play-ers in Tech history to be so honored.

She had the best season of her career in 2003, finishing the regularseason by leading the Jackets in scoring (16.9 ppg), rebounding (9.3rpg) and blocked shots (1.79 bpg). Her rebounding and blockedshot totals were tops in theACC, while her scoringaverage was third. She alsoled the Jackets in beatingthe Lady Dawgs for thefirst time ever in 2003.

She capped her outstandingseason by being selected inthe second round of theWNBA draft by the NewYork Liberty. Sonja, whowas an honorable mentionWBCA All-American andfirst-team All-ACC pick asa senior, became the secondYellow Jacket to be selectedin the draft, joining KishaFord who was also pickedby the New York Liberty inthe fourth round of the inaugural WNBA draft in 1997. By beingselected with the 24th overall pick, Sonja becomes the highestdraftee in Tech history.

“Sonja really is a great success story,” said Georgia Tech women’sbasketball coach Agnus Berenato. “She never lost faith in herselfand was motivated to improve every day. She really always had faithin her ability and trusted that she could become a great player. Itwas one of her goals to make first-team All-ACC, but she reallywanted to be on the All-Defensive team and she’s accomplishedboth of those things.”

Sonja still has a few core chemical engineering courses to completebefore she graduates, but her Chemical engineering professors saythat she brings the same dedication to her studies as she displays onthe basketball court. “I am impressed with Sonja’s ability to handlethe demanding chemical engineering curriculum and the pressuresof playing and achieving at a high level in Division I basketball,”said Professor Arnold Stancell. According to Professor Amyn Teja,who has followed Sonja’s career since she joined the program in1999, “Sonja is very smart and personable. Her chemical engineer-ing and time management skills will serve her well in whatever shedecides to do in the future.”

ChE Students Shine

Graduate students Celesta White(left) and Alexis Hillock wererecognized as outstanding GeorgiaTech women.

Karsten Bartling (left) and ProfessorMary Rezac hold the trophy Karstenreceived for his thesis award.

Dr. Amyn Teja, one of Sonja’s ChEprofessors, shared a happy momentwith the basketball star at a party heldin her honor.

Page 11: ChBE News—Spring/Summer 2003

Chris Power, who will graduate in August with a Ph.D. in Chemi-cal Engineering and received an MBA in May from the DuPreeCollege of Management, was part of a group of MBA studentswho formed a company named Torex International.

In March, Torex International took third place and received $2,500in funding at the 2003 Georgia Tech Business Plan Competition.They also won $45,000 in services for being the most fundableventure team. The group then participated in the 2003 CarrotCapital Business Plan Challenge on April 26 in New York City.They were one of 20 finalists selected from 750 business plansubmissions. Torex International placed third in the competitionand received $250,000 in funding.

Torex International offers steel fiber designed for the internationalconstruction industry. The product enables customers to createsafer structures at a lower cost with revolutionary, patented SteelFiber Reinforced Cement (SFRC) composite technology.

Undergraduate students Abimbola Balogun and Jennifer Ebnermade paper presentations on their research at the AIChE studentchapter Southern Regional Conference March 6-8 at Florida Tech.Abimbola Balogun, whose advisor is Dr. Cliff Henderson, wonfirst place in her session and first place in the overall competition.She will represent the Southern Regional Conference at the nationallevel in San Francisco in November. This is the second year in arow that a GT student has received this honor—In 2002, StephenBaisch was the overall winner. His advisor is Dr. Mark Prausnitz.

Michael W. McKittrick’s poster paper “Single-Site Olefin Poly-merization Catalysts via the Molecular Design of Porous Silica”was selected for an AIChE Catalysis and Reaction Engineering(CRE) Division award for best poster paper in Catalysis. Theaward will be presented at the AIChE meeting in San Francisco inNovember. His advisor and co-author is Dr. Christopher Jones.

Last fall, a group of 15 ChEstudents comprising mostlyAChEGS and AIChE members,participated in a communityservice activity called TEAM-Buzz. The group volunteeredat Al-Farooq Masjid, a school inMidtown, where they cleanedand performed maintenance.Alexis Hillock, AChEGS pres-ident at the time, participated inthe event. She said that “thestaff and teachers there werevery welcoming and happy tohave help in preserving andimproving their school.”

The 14th Annual Chemical Engineering Graduate Symposium, co-chaired by Courtney Woods and Tina Tosukhowong, was heldApril 3-4 in the Bill Moore Student Success Center. The two-dayconference assembled 28 graduate students to share advances intheir research through oral and poster presentations. Twenty-twoindustry representatives from 17 companies attended to review andjudge the presentations.

This year’s winners for Best Oral Presentation were: Roy Furbank(1st place), Shilpa Damle (2nd place), and Michael McKittrick(3rd place); and for Best Poster were: Alexis Hillock (1st place),Luis Aguilar (2nd place), and Tina Tosukhowong (3rd place).

ChE Students Shine

Graduate students Celesta White(top) and Benita Comeau cleanplayground equipment at a TEAM-Buzz community service event.

The Annual Student AwardsBanquet, which was sponsoredthis year by Fluor and AIChE,was held April 22 in the GordyRoom of the Wardlaw Center.In addition to the 60 under-graduate and graduate studentsrecognized for exemplary acad-emic achievement, the follow-ing students were also honored:

Joseph Scattergood–AIChEStudent Chapter PresidentNicholas Holiday–OmegaChi Epsilon Student ChapterPresidentSidney Kossowsky–AIChE/Kimberly-ClarkOutstanding SeniorNicholas Silvestri–BASFOutstanding JuniorRyan Lewis–AlbemarleCorporation/Dixie E. GoinsOutstanding Sophomore

Katelyn Swindle–Omega ChiEpsilon Excellence AwardRoy Furbank–NTC GraduateStudent Speaking ContestWinnerKrishna Tej Marla–2003Ziegler Award for Best PaperMichael McKittrick–2003Ziegler Award for BestProposalTina Tosukhowong andCourtney Woods–2003 Grad-uate Student Symposium ChairsRaymond Chafin, AnshulDubey, Alexis Hillock,Trevor Hoskins, JeessyMedina, and CelestaWhite–2003 Graduate StudentTeamwork AwardsJames Broering, BenitaComeau, Karla Dennis, JohnPerry, and Karen Polizzi–2002 National Science Founda-tion FellowsDan Euhus, Alexis Hillock,and Courtney Woods–2003 Outstanding TeachingAssistants

John Ziegler, Phys ‘61, MS ‘65;Michael McKittrick; Krishna TejMarla; and William Ziegler, IM ‘41.

School Chair Ron Rousseau;Sylvia Little, ChE ‘84, Kimberly-Clark; and Sidney Kossowsky.

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Page 12: ChBE News—Spring/Summer 2003

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Charles Eckert gave the 2003 Warren McCabe Lecture at NorthCarolina State University, making him the first person to give thelecture for the second time—the first was in 1990. Also last fall, heand Charles Liotta both gave invited lectures at the Midwest Ameri-can Chemical Society (ACS) Meeting in Lawrence, Kansas.

Dennis Hess was elected a Fellow of the American Association forthe Advancement of Science.

Chris Jones edited Nanostructured Catalysts, which was recentlypublished as volume three of the Nanostructure Science and Technol-ogy book series, and he contributed a chapter in the book Strategies forthe Control of Porosity Around Organic Active Sites in Inorganic Matrices. Dr.Jones also received a $25,000 Faculty Career Initiation Award from theShell Oil Company Foundation, and was awarded a U.S. Patent for“Acylation of an organic group over a zeolite.”

William Koros was named a Fellow of the American Institute ofChemical Engineers and was selected for the 2003 Ziegler Outstand-ing Faculty Award. Also, funding for the Science and TechnologyCenter on “Environmentally Responsible Solvents and Processes” inwhich Dr. Koros participates, has been renewed for another fiveyears. The cooperative project involves five universities—UNC–Chapel Hill, NC State, UT–Austin, NC A&T and Tech. Tech willreceive $674,000 over the five-year period for research focusing onmembranes and sorbents to enable recycling and reuse of CO2.

Jay Lee gave invited lectures at FSU, USC, UT–Austin and the Univ.of Pittsburgh. Dr. Lee, along with other Tech faculty members,founded the Center for Process Systems Engineering (CPSE), forwhich he is the first director. The CPSE will promote research andeducational activities that address process systems engineering chal-lenges seen in various application domains and at multiplelength/time scales. The CPSE will work with the Centre for ProcessSystems Engineering at Imperial College/University College Londonto create a PSE super-center.

Charles Liotta was elected Chair of Oak Ridge Associated Universi-ties (ORAU) Board of Directors at the 58th annual meeting of theORAU Council of Sponsoring Institutions in Atlanta. The boardmanages the property and affairs of ORAU for its membership.ORAU is a university consortium leveraging the scientific strength of88 major research institutions to advance science and education bypartnering with national laboratories, government agencies, andprivate industry. ORAU manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Scienceand Education for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Athanasios Nenes gave invited lectures at the Center for IntegratedStudy of the Human Dimensions of Global Change at CarnegieMellon, NASA-Goddard Institute of Space Studies, and the NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administration–Aeronomy Lab in Boulder,Colo. He also received an NSF Fellowship to attend the ACCESS VIIColloquium and the Gordon Research Conference on AtmosphericChemistry in Yellowstone National Park and was invited by NCAR toattend the UCAR/NCAR National Center for Atmospheric ResearchJunior Faculty Forum on Future Scientific Directions.

From May through December 2002, Mark Prausnitz was theNSF/NIH Scholar-in-Residence at the National Institute of Health’sVaccine Research Center through a “sabbatical” program sponsoredby NSF. Dr. Prausnitz also gave several invited lectures at locationsincluding the 144th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America inCancun, Mexico and the University of Colorado–Boulder. Hisresearch group was awarded a grant called “Painless Glucose Moni-toring Using Microneedles” as part of the Georgia Tech/CDCCollaborative Research Program and also completed a DARPA-funded project called “Microneedle-Based Pain Management” incollaboration with Emory.

Arnold Stancell was appointed Co-Chair of the Board of ChemicalScience and Technology. The Board is a unit of the National ResearchCouncil and advises U.S. government agencies on technical mattersregarding anti-terrorism. He also was the invited speaker at the 100Year Seminar Series at the University of Illinois–Urbana last fall.

Faculty News

Two ChE professors werehonored with distin-guished awards during the2002 annual AIChE meet-ing held in Indianapolislast fall.

Cecil J. “Pete” Silas Chairand School Chair RonaldRousseau shares the pres-tigious Warren K. LewisAward with Richard M.Felder, a professor at NCState. He and Dr. Felder

co-authored the text Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes,which is now in its third edition. The book has been thedominant introductory text in chemical engineering for morethan 25 years.

The award recognizes important contributions to chemicalengineering education based on criteria that include strongleadership skills, creative teaching that inspires students, andcontributions of superior textbooks, lectures, inventions andlaboratory techniques or models.

Professor and Associate Chair for the Graduate Program,Amyn Teja received the Institute Award for Excellence inIndustrial Gases Technology, which is open to non-AIChEmembers and recognizes an individual’s sustained excellencein contributing to the advancement of technology in theproduction, distribution and application of industrial gases.

Dr. Teja was selected for the award for his ongoing contribu-tions to the measurement and analysis of thermophysicalproperties and phase equilibria that have led to new applica-tions of industrial gases in extracting biomolecules, makingnanoparticles, and processing polymer composites.

Ronald Rousseau (left) and AmynTeja with their AIChE awardplaques at the Honors Luncheon.

Page 13: ChBE News—Spring/Summer 2003

The School recently bid farewell to two long-standing members ofthe department when professors Jude Sommerfeld and RonnieRoberts retired.

After more than 30 years on the faculty, Dr. Sommerfeld left astrong mark on Georgia Tech. He was actively involved in manyaspects of service, including a decade-long assignment as AssociateDirector of the School of Chemical Engineering.

Dr. Sommerfeld’s teaching and researchinterests primarily emphasized the field ofcomputer-aided process design and simula-tion. Other interests included reactionkinetics and process control.

Despite retirement from Tech, Dr. Sommer-feld continues to be an active chemical engi-neer. He is preparing and reviewing exam

questions for the chemical engineering Principles and Practice ofEngineering (PE) exam for the National Council of Examiners forEngineering and Surveying.

In addition to continuing professional activities, Dr. Sommerfeld isalso an extremely busy grandfather, with grandchild number 18 onthe way! To escape the big city of Atlanta, he has decided to moveto the banks of Lake Hartwell in South Carolina, where he looksforward to a quiet lifestyle with plenty of fishing.

Dr. Ronnie Roberts had a 27-year presenceat Georgia Tech and his absence is alreadybeing felt. “Rocket Ron,” as he is affec-tionately known by some, influenced manystudents as their instructor in reactionkinetics and separations classes, and as thefirst–and for many years, the only–memberof the chemical engineering faculty work-ing in the field of bioengineering.

Beginning in the 1970s as one of the earliest engineers to work onmammalian cell culture technology, Dr. Roberts’ research interestshave addressed the fields of biochemical engineering, reactordesign, and process modeling. He has been especially interested infermentation research and the concept of vigorous stationary phasefermentation. As a notable product of his research, he received U.S.and Canadian patents based on his collaborative work with fellowChE professor John Muzzy in neutral solvent deliginification.

In the early days of computers, Dr. Roberts led the School to inte-grate computer-aided calculations into courses, which today can beseen in the widespread use of HYSYS and other programs through-out the ChE curriculum.

He also developed a reputation in the department for knowing howto throw a good party featuring Louisiana crawfish and shrimp.

13

Dr. Jude Sommerfeld

Dr. Ronnie Roberts

Chemical Engineer-ing professor LarryForney and GeorgiaTech Research Insti-tute engineer JohnPierson have devel-oped a better-performing, lesscostly method ofdisinfecting waterused in food process-ing. Like currenttechnologies, the new Advanced Disinfection Technology Systemrelies on ultraviolet (UV) radiation to eliminate molds, viruses andbacteria. But the new system handles water more efficiently andthus improves the overall effectiveness of the disinfection process.

Federal regulations require the disinfection of water used in foodprocessing before it can be reused. In many cases, the lack ofcost-effective disinfection means water is used only once and thendiscarded. When a disinfection system is used, the process is notalways effective.

The heart of the new advanced system is a pair of cylinders, oneinside the other. The smaller cylinder rotates inside the stationaryouter cylinder while water is pumped through the gap separatingthe two. Inside the gap, the cylinder rotation causes water to churnand tumble in a well-documented phenomenon called a Taylorvortex, which mixes water with light shining from four UV lampsembedded in the outside cylinder wall.

UV light penetrates the water thoroughly so no additional cyclesthrough the system are necessary. Fewer UV lights are requiredcompared to conventional systems, thus saving energy. “Even ifthe fluid absorbs radiation, which would normally limit light pene-tration and thus the effectiveness of conventional UV reactors, thevortex motion in the new design continuously exposes fresh fluidto the radiation surface,” Dr. Forney explained.

The process was designed for recycling water from fruit and vege-table washing at food-processing plants, but it could be applied inother industrial processes. The new disinfection process may finduses far beyond the project’s original scope. Virtually anything thatflows can run through the system, allowing for applications in thesoft drink industry, brewing, dairy products and fruit juice process-ing. It would work for any fluid for which there are concernsabout the existence of pathogens, Dr. Forney explained. A non-thermal procedure, it could supplant pasteurization, which isexpensive, changes the taste and consumes a lot of energy.

A variation of the device could even be developed for swimmingpools as a non-chemical alternative to keeping water germ-free. “Ifyou were able to pass pool water through a UV reactor successfully,it would feel like normal water,” Dr. Forney said. “It would haveno taste and wouldn’t be irritating to your mouth, eyes and lungs.”

John Pierson (left) and Larry Forney

Faculty News

Page 14: ChBE News—Spring/Summer 2003

14

1955Darryl C. Aubrey of NorthPalm Beach, Fla., retired fromIBM’s chemical consultingpractice in Houston in 2001.Previously, he worked forExxon Chemical Co., thenbecame a faculty member anddepartment chair in manage-ment at Sacred Heart Univ.

1957William P. “Bill” Killian waselected vice chairman of Aqua-Chem Inc.’s board of directorsin Dec. 2001. Aqua-Chem is aglobal leader in boilers andburner systems as well asprocess evaporation and seawa-ter desalting systems. Heretired in 2000 as an officer ofJohnson Controls Inc., wherehe was responsible for corpo-rate strategy and acquisitions.Killian is also on the board ofdirectors of RBC BearingCorp. of Fairfield, Conn.Killian and his wife, Beverly,live in Sarasota, Fla.

1959W. John Lee, ChE ‘59, MSChE ‘61, PhD ‘62, washonored in March with the2002 Mineral Industry Educa-tion Award by the AmericanInstitute of Mining, Metallurgi-cal and Petroleum Engineers.He is a professor and holder ofthe Peterson chair in theHarold Vance Department ofPetroleum Engineering atTexas A&M University. Hewas elected to the NationalAcademy of Engineering in1993 and Tech’s inaugural classof Distinguished EngineeringAlumni in 1994.

Robert W. Glenn retired in2001 after 15 years as directorof public works and buildingfor the city of Coral Springs,

Fla. Previously, he served for27 years with the Army Corpsof Engineers, retiring with therank of colonel. He lives inMidway, Ga.

1966David Mitchell has beenelected chairman of the SouthTexas chapter of the AmericanInstitute of Chemical Engi-neers. Mitchell moved toTexas after two years in Africaas a lieutenant in the ArmyCorps of Engineers. He is asenior process consultant forGDS Engineers. He and hiswife, Ronnett, have two sonsand live in Houston.

1971Sherman J. Glass, Jr., ChE‘71, MS ChE ‘72, took over aspresident of ExxonMobilGlobal Services Company onJan. 1. Previously, he wasgeneral manager of corporateplanning for ExxonMobilCorp. in Irving, Texas. Exxon-Mobil Global Services is basedin Fairfax, Va.

1975Keith Aspray has beenappointed general manager andmanaging director of UOPIndia Private Ltd., UOP’ssubsidiary in India. He and hiswife, JoAnn, are relocating toNew Delhi, India, from DesPlaines, Ill. The couple’s chil-dren, Kristen and Dustin, willremain in the U.S. and continueto attend college. Dustin is asophomore at Georgia Tech.

Charles E. Hodges has beennamed senior vice president ofSouthern manufacturing forGeorgia-Pacific Corp. and willoversee manufacturing strate-gies for the Southern region.He will also retain his duties as

general manager for Crossettpaper operations. He and hiswife, Kathi, have three chil-dren, Meredith, Patrick andWill, and live in Crossett.

1976Michael E. Mullins has beenappointed chair of chemicalengineering at Michigan Tech-nological University, where hehas taught and conductedresearch since 1988. He wasnamed a professor of chemicalengineering in 1994.

1980Carlos Barroso was recentlypromoted to senior vice presi-dent of research and develop-ment for Frito-Lay Interna-tional in Dallas, Texas. He wasalso appointed to GeorgiaTech’s ChE External AdvisoryBoard this year.

1981Mark “Smitty” Smith isassigned to Indonesia as a staffdrilling engineer after workingfor 12 years in Europe’s NorthSea. He divides his timebetween his ranch in Lacombe,La., and Indonesia.

1983Steve Cox, ChE ‘83, MS Mgt‘85, received his doctorate incivil engineering in May 2001from Virginia Tech, where heis now a faculty member in theDepartment of Civil and Envi-ronmental Engineering. Helives in Blacksburg, Va.

1987Richard G. Hubert has writ-ten a book on software archi-tecture called Convergent Archi-tecture: Building model-driven J2EEsystems with UML. The bookwas published by John Wiley &

Sons, Inc. He is CEO ofInteractive Objects SoftwareGMBH in Freiburg, Germany.

1988Richard B. “Brad” Fabianand his wife, Leah, announcethe birth of their first child,Richard Matthew, on Oct. 3,2001. The family lives in StoneMountain, Ga.

1989Laura German Platner andJim Platner, EE ‘88, are livingin Melbourne, Australia withtheir children, Chase, 5, andShelby, 2. Jim is senior vicepresident of Asia Pacific salesfor Acterna, and Laura is a full-time stay-at-home mother.

1990Kenneth Roberts wasfeatured in the Jan. 2 issue ofBlack Issues in Higher Educationmagazine. Roberts, whoearned his MS and PhDdegrees in chemical engineer-ing from the University ofSouth Carolina, is an assistantprofessor of chemical engi-neering at North CarolinaA&T State University inGreensboro. Since taking theposition in 1997, he hasreceived numerous awards,including the North CarolinaLouis Stokes Alliance forMinority ParticipationOutstanding Science Award.

1991Janice Dodson Teske and herhusband, Erich, announce thebirth of their second child,Susanna Lanier, on May 23,2001. Susanna joins brotherAndrew at the family’s home inChicago. Teske is global inno-vation knowledge manager forWrigley in Chicago.

Alumni News

Page 15: ChBE News—Spring/Summer 2003

Christina Klein Pramudji andAri Pramudji, EE ‘90, announcethe birth of their first child,Thomas Zane, on Nov. 15. Thefamily lives in Houston, whereChristina is a doctor of urologyand Ari is a patent attorney withMoser, Patterson & Sheridan.

Andrew T. Meunier wasrecently named as a Partner atAlston & Bird, LLP in Atlantawhere he specializes in thepreparation and prosecution ofpatent applications in the chemi-cal and pharmaceutical area.

1994Cathy Lee Morris and BryceMorris, ChE ‘95, announce thebirth of a son, Jarod Evan, onJune 12, 2002. They live inPensacola Beach, Fla.

Shirley Wang Ho and JosephHo ME ‘94, welcomed their firstchild, Sarah, on Feb. 11. Saraharrived weighing 7 lbs., 14 oz.and was 19-¼ inches long.

1995Marvin “Richard” Brookshirewas promoted and relocated toHernando, Miss., with Kawneer,an Alcoa Co., for his role in theimplementation of a $16 millionexpansion to the company’sHernando facility.

1996Daniel Moskowitz has joinedRoth & Associates, a full-servicefinancial planning and employeebenefits company, in Atlanta.He and his wife, Nicole, live inAlpharetta, Ga.

Jay Curtin and Tiffany DickeyCurtin, CE ‘97, announce thebirth of a son, Leo, on Nov. 16.The family lives in Marietta, Ga.

Chris Gentry and Mindy BrownGentry, Biol ‘96, announce thebirth of a daughter, Allison

Dianne, on Nov. 12. The familylives in North Augusta, S.C.

Ellen McNeil Klug and herhusband, Jeremy, announce thebirth of a son, Owen James, onJune 10, 2002. Ellen is a full-time mother. The family lives inBrunswick, Ohio.

1997Tameeka Law graduated fromMercer University School ofMedicine in June 2002, and isdoing her residency training atSinai Hospital in Baltimore. Sheis a lieutenant in the Navy.

Jonathan “Byrd” MacDonaldand Kristy Leichliter MacDon-ald, Chem ‘98, announce thebirth of their first child, AllisonRose, on Dec. 25. Both Byrdand Kristy work for WyethPharmaceuticals and live inLimerick, Pa.

1998Michelle Renee Corley andCraig Michael Anderchak weremarried Oct. 13, 2001. Michelleworks for Solvay EngineeredPolymers. The couple live inDallas, Texas.

1999Jennifer Mayberry andAnthony Sasser, ChE ‘99, weremarried Dec. 15, 2001, inSandersville, Ga. Jennifer is agraduate student in the MedicalCollege of Georgia’s Pharmacol-ogy and Toxicology Depart-ment, and Anthony is a qualityassurance engineer with FujiFilm in Greenwood, S.C. Thecouple live in Edgefield, S.C.

Brian Wiley and Adina Reed,ChE ‘01, were married Septem-ber 27 in Charlotte, N.C., wherethey live.

2000Ginger Wilde and ChrisNichols, ChE ‘95, were marriedOct. 19, 2001. Both Ginger andChris are employed with Merck& Co. Inc. The couple live inAlbany, Ga.

2001Melissa Bonk and Tony Kirk-land were married Sept. 28,2001, in Columbus, Ga. Melissais a process control engineer atthe Dow Chemical Co. Thecouple live in Baton Rouge, La.

OBITUARIES

1937Marvin R. McClatchey ofAtlanta, on Oct. 28. A memberof Chi Phi fraternity and a lieu-tenant commander in the Navyduring World War II, hefounded Southern AluminumFinishing Co. in Atlanta andserved as its president until hisretirement in 1988. Survivorsinclude son M. ReynoldsMcClatchey, ChE ‘65; daughterJuliet M. Allan, MS ChE ‘88;and granddaughter P. RuthMcClatchey, ChE ‘86.

1943Charles S. Pulliam of Winston-Salem, N.C., on Jan. 14. Heserved as a Navy lieutenantduring World War II. He beganworking at the Grinnell Corpora-tion as a co-op student andremained with the company untilhe retired in 1982.

1949Frank E. Rockwell, Jr. of PortCharlotte, Fla., on Sept. 15. Heserved in the Army duringWorld War II. His career tookhim to the Philippines, Peru andColumbia, where he was projectdirector of a coal handling plantfrom 1982 to 1984. As a boy, heworked with his father in theRockwell Citrus groves. Afterleaving Columbia, he returned tothe family business in Florida.

1989Karen Platek DeBord ofAurora, Ohio, on Nov. 12, ofcolon cancer. She had workedfor Texaco, General Electric andPhillips Container beforebecoming a stay-at-home mom.Survivors include husbandDavid DeBord, ChE ‘89.

15

Alumni News

ChE welcomes the following new members toits External Advisory Board:

Carlos Barroso, ChE ‘80, Senior Vice PresidentR & D Latin America, Frito-Lay, Inc.

Steven K. Hall, Director, Citigroup AlternativeInvestments, Inc.

Ray W. Miller, ChE ‘72, Program Director, Bio-Refinery and Business Development, DuPont

Bio-Based Materials and Growth Enterprises

Jeffrey J. Siirola, Research Fellow, Eastman ResearchDivision, Eastman Chemical Company

Page 16: ChBE News—Spring/Summer 2003

We Welcome Your Questions, Comments or News:

ChE Newsletter:Josie Giles (404) 385-2299Email: [email protected]

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

ChE Development & Alumni News:Jenny Daley (404) 894-0987Email: [email protected]

C H E M N E W S Copyright 2003School of Chemical EngineeringGeorgia Institute of TechnologyAn equal education and employment opportunity institution.

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPermit No. 3023

Atlanta, GA

Our request for alumni remem-brances brought the followingresponse from George MitchellAllen, ‘37, who lives in Toccoa, Ga.While a student, he was on the Blue-print staff, an ROTC Lieutenant,and a member of Sigma Nu and PiDelta Epsilon.

I receivedmy degree inChE in 1937.Being in themiddle of arecession,my class wasthe smallestfor yearsbefore andafter. Yet atsix weeks, a

sizable portion of the freshmanclass was terminated. Thereasoning was that staying wouldbe a waste of time for both the

students and the Institute. Some-times I wonder if my memory isaccurate; however, I recall myfather paid only $2,000 for myfour years at Tech.

Outside the administration, therewere few employees with PhDs.Some departments were headedby a faculty members with only amasters degree.

Our equipment was very differentthan today and my education atTech would not have been possi-ble without slide rule proficiency.Our metallurgy text book was apaper bound set of typewritten,mimeographed sheets about ahalf-inch thick. As I recall, Dr.Harold A. Bunger wrote the text.

Dr. Bunger was a very brilliantman, but he had very poor

eyesight. One of his classroomswas in the basement of LymanHall and was always dark. It wasnot unusual for him to start writ-ing on the chalkboard withoutturning on the lights. We couldnot see what he had written untilthe lights were later turned on. There was a metalloscope (micro-scope) with camera attachmentsin the hall. The floor was some-what springy, and before taking aphoto, students had to be postedaround the building to keeppeople away from the area so theequipment would not shake.

The Class of 1937 helped movethe old chemical engineering labfrom the basement of LymanHall into the Emerson Annex.We did pipe fitting and helpedmove the tanks and vessels. Ihelped apply insulating material

to the outside of one of thevessels with my bare hands. In afew days, I had an infection inone of my finger joints. I wentto the infirmary where my fingerwas lanced to remove infection.It appeared one of the compo-nents of the insulation materialcontained rock wool fibers (aforerunner of fiberglass) and thematerial had become embeddedin my finger.

I remember some of my fratbrothers stole the components ofa lab glass still, which they carriedto the frat house. It was used todistill the contents of a woodcharred keg. The liquid lookedlike black molasses. Needless tosay, it produced very clear alco-hol, but it did not interest me forI have always been a teetotaler.

Correspondence May Be Mailed to this Address:

School of Chemical EngineeringGeorgia Institute of TechnologyAtlanta, GA 30332-0100

www.che.gatech.edu

Allen’s senior classBlueprint photo.