CEMS Spring 01

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UNIVERSITYOF MINNESOTA

CEMSNEWSChemical Engineering& Materials ScienceA Newsletter for Alumni, Students and Friends of the Department Spring Semester 2001

Inside... Stay Connected, p. 2 Department Update, p. 3 Home-

Grown Software a Hit, p. 6 Polymer Group, p. 8 Class Notes, p. 10

Message from the Department HeadFrank S. Bates

The inauguration of our new newsletter format, and my first mes

sage as Head, are accompanied by many significant developments in the depart

ment. I would like to share with you some of the challenges and opportunities w

face in the near future.

Last year we converted to the semester system, necessitating a complete revamping

of our curriculum. I am pleased to report that this came off successfully, with only mino

modifications required this year. A recent addition to the teaching faculty, Prof.Raul Caretta

(Ph.D., 1979, CEMS) has been instrumental in making this transition. Raul has assumed

primary responsibility for undergraduate advising (Dr. Ted Zorn, who guided many o

you through our program, retired this summer). At the same time, Raul has teamed upwith several other faculty members in teaching chemical engineering design, and has

taken joint responsibility for the Unit Operations Lab with Prof. Christie Geankoplis.

We welcome the arrival of two new Assistant Professors in January, Prof. Satish Kumar (one of our own, B.S.

ChemE, 1993) who specializes in fluid mechanics, and Prof. Chris Leighton, an expert in magnetic materials. Both

of these new hires fill important research and teaching needs in the department. Profs. Lanny Schmidt andJim

Chelikowsky are leading searches for two additional faculty positions.

Since taking over as Department Head I have been most fortunate to have a talented and dedicated group o

program directors overseeing most of our academic activities. Prof. Alon McCormick, Director of Undergraduat

Studies (DUGS) in Chemical Engineering, has the monumental task of keeping track of hundreds of eager junio

and senior chemical engineering students. Prof. Lorraine Francis, DUGS in Materials Science, has been imple

menting an innovative new curriculum in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) in collaboration with the

Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), Prof. Robert Cook. A new centerpiece materials testing laboratory, created in

the basement of the new Piercy Wing, is filling up with new and renovated equipment. For the first time our MSE

program will include centralized laboratory classes like those offered for over 50 years in chemical engineering

Alon and Lorraine have also taken primary responsibility for the 2001 ABET certification process. Prof. Prodromo

Daoutidis rounds out the team of directors as DGS in chemical engineering.

I have created a new position, Executive Officer, to help manage the department. Wei-Shou Hu graciously

agreed to fill this role for the first year, helping to reorganize various department activities, particularly in the area

of budget and data management. In September, Prof. Jeff Derby answered the call to service and took over a

Executive Officer. His responsibilities include managing the burgeoning growth in Information Technology and

associated activities with the staff. Overall, the department is being managed by an exceptional group of people

The opportunities that lie before us really excite me. Our department is uniquely positioned to define modern

chemical engineering and materials science. Today, technological and societal needs are blurring classical distinc

tions between science and engineering. With a tradition in engineering science and a pool of talent that include

faculty degrees in no less than eight disciplines, we are poised to shape the research and teaching agenda across a

rich spectrum of subjects. I look forward to describing our progress in future editions of the CEMS News as ou

department evolves during the next few years.


2/16

2CEMS News University of Minnesota

DEPARTMENT UPDATE

r

CONTRIBUTE TO OUR HISTORY ISSUE

Be a part of history.The Summer 2001 edition ofCEMS Newswill focus on events of the past cen-

tury in the department. Help us to rediscoverthe past by telling us about your experiences as a stu-dent in chemical engineering or materials science and thetimes in which you lived them. Please mail or e-mailyour story by May 15, 2001 in care of:

Ms. Julie MurphyUniversity of MinnesotaDepartment of Chemical Engineeringand Materials Science393 Amundson Hall421 Washington Ave. SEMinneapolis, MN 55455E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: 612-625-4356Fax: 612-626-7246

Include your name, class date, address, e-mail addressor home telephone number. THANK YOU!

The CEMS Newshas undergone some changes. A

new Class Notes section keeps you updated on

the lives of your fellow classmates and friends.

Please send us your news and photos and we will includethem in future editions of the newsletter.

You may often wonder about your favorite professor

or advisor and what he or she is doing in the areas of re-

search and scholarship. The faculty and newsletter staff will

be attempting to answer your inquiries by publishing re-

tirement announcements, research breakthroughs, and

where are they now briefs in each of the upcoming issues.

Profiles of our distinguished alumni are true testimo-

nies to the quality of education that they received from

CEMS, and we are proud of their success after graduation.

CEMS continues to be one of the top departments in theworld, and it is always a privilege to learn about the gradu-

ates of this esteemed program. Please share your stories

with us.

Visit our Webpage to

discover many ways to stay connected: The CEMS Alumni

Webpage is your gateway to information of interest to our

alumni. You will find links to:

CEMS News and Information: Find out more

about the latest happenings in the department.

Alumni update form: Bring us up to date on your

personal and professional achievements.Institute of Technology Alumni Society: The Min-

nesota Alumni Association provides social, edu-

cational, and volunteer opportunities for IT

alumni worldwide.

Legislative Network: The Network notifies vol-

unteers about current University-related issues

at the state legislature and provides tips on how

to easily and successfully contact legislators.

Inventing Tomorrow: The magazine for alumni and

friends of the Institute of Technology.

University of Minnesota Alumni Society: Checkout the many benefits of becoming a member,

including a subscription toMinnesota magazine.

University Events: An on-line calendar of current

happenings on campus and throughout the

Twin Cities area.

We are making these changes to the CEMS News be-

cause we want you to stay connected to the classmates,

faculty, and staff who share special memories of your time

here at the University of Minnesota.

STAY CONNECTED!

CEMS News (Vol. 1 , No. 1) is published two times per year bythe Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

for alumni, students and friends of the department. Circulation

is 6,815. Spring Semester 2001 edition editors: Stephanie Clark

and Julie Murphy; Layout: Stephanie Clark. Special thanks to:

Mark Anderson and Pat Whitcomb and Class Notes contribu-

tors, CEMS Alumni; Frank Bates, Lorraine Francis, Herb Isbin,

Timothy Lodge, Alon McCormick, CEMS Professors; Mark

Hillmyer, Chemistry Professor; Stephen Biever, Paul Sorenson,

IT Deans Office; Jann Jarvis, Printing Services.

To submit class notes, change of address, and comments,

please write to: Ms. Julie Murphy, University of Minnesota,Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science,

393 Amundson Hall, 421 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis,

MN 55455; E-mail: [email protected]; Web form:

www.cems.umn.edu/Alumni/AlumniForm.htm.

The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity edu-

cator and employer. 2001 by the Regents of the University of

Minnesota. All rights reserved. This publication is available in

alternative formats upon request. Printed by University of Min-

nesota Printing Services. Contains a minimum of 10%

postconsumer waste.

3Visit the Chemical Engineering and MaterialsScience Department Websitew w w . c e m s . u m n . e d u


3/16

3CEMS News Spring Semester 2001

DEPARTMENT UPDATE

1999-2000 CEMS Scholarship Winners

Department scholarships are awardedto CEMS juniors to help

with expenses in their senior year. The students are chosen by

the Director of Undergraduate Studies and the Department Head

on the basis of academic excellence and faculty recommenda-

tion. In many cases financial need and other criteria as speci-

fied by the scholarship donor are also taken into consideration.

British Petroleum Exploration $500

Wijawa Martanto

Charles Mann Chemical Engineering

Alumni Scholarships $1000

Hoai Pham

Stanley Rendon

Darren Woulfe

Evi Oktavia

Melvina LeolukmanKroy Johnson

Thomas Patrick

Wing Lam

Yakov Lapitsky

Chevron $1000

Mary Becker

Karissa Krautbauer

Katie Ohotto

Elizabeth Weisbrod

Jared Haun

Potlatch $2000Ed Kopesky

Frederyk Ngantung

Dow Chemical $1750

Troy Peterson

General Mills $1500

Page Johnson

Jared Johnson

Mann Award $500

Jeffrey Sommers

Pillsbury $1500

Dana Waldvogel

Procter & Gamble $1000

Dan Ellingson

Chris Cordina

Professor Isbin received his award

March 7, 2000 at the AIChE Spring

National Meeting held in Atlanta,

GA. The plaque reads In recogni-

tion of numerous pioneering contri-

butions to nuclear chemical engi-

neering and for his decisive role and

impact in successfully addressing

the Light Water Reactor LOCA-ECCS problem.

CharlesMannrecipients (ltor):Wing Lam,DeanH. TedDavis,EviOktavia,Prof.AlonMcCormick,ThomasPatrickandProf.LorraineFrancis.

GeneralMillsSch

olarship

recipients(ltor):

DeanH.

TedDavis,JaredJohnson

,

Prof.AlonMcC

ormick,

PageJohnson, an

dProf.

LorraineFrancis.

CEMS Department Mission

The mission of the Department of

Chemical Engineering and Materials

Science is to perform the highest

quality education and research, at

the undergraduate and graduate

levels, in the behavior and structure

of chemical processes and materials.

Professor Emeritus Herbert S. IsbinReceives Robert E. Wilson Award

P

rofessor Emeritus Herbert S. Isbinreceived the

Robert E. Wilson Award for 2000, for his out-

standing contributions in chemical engineering

and achievements in the nuclear industry and for promot

ing the objectives of the Nuclear Engineering Division of

AIChE. Prof. Isbins award address was entitled, Is Eth

ics on Your Checklist?

Prof. Isbin, who has been a member of AIChE since

1942, was also elected Fellow of the society this year, in

recognition and appreciation of his superior attainments

valuable contributions, and service to chemical engineer

ing. Prof. Isbin reports that his principal participation in

public service today is as Commissioner of the St. LouisPark, MN Human Rights Commission.


4/16


DEPARTMENT UPDATE

(

Dr. Lynn Orr and RegentsProfessor L. E. SkipScriven the two shared asuccessful working relationshipand friendship. Now Dr.Franklin Lynn M. and SusanP. Orr have established the L. E.Scriven Chair in honor of Lynnscolleague, friend, advisor, men-tor, and professor who feels thedeepest appreciation for his edu-cation and for the important rolethat Prof. Scriven played in pre-

paring him for a successful ca-reer and future.

Prof. Scrivens influencemade a lasting impression on Dr. Orr. His rigorous ap-proach to teaching and research has given me and manyother students a solid foundation on which to build andhas created a flow of ideas that is the hallmark of the mostsuccessful university research groups,said Dr. Orr.

The holder of the L. E. Scriven chair will be a facultymember who, like Prof. Scriven, embraces a multifacetedengineering science approach to teaching and research thatexplores the frontiers of chemical engineering and materi-als science disciplines.

Scriven Chair Dr. Acrivos Honored

You !

What have you been up to? Please tell us about yourprofessional and personal life over the past year. Send us

your class note. Turn to page 10 for details.

Andreas Acrivos, Albert Einstein Professor of Scienceand Engineering, City College of the City University of New

York, received the honorary degree Doctor of Science at the

Institute of Technology Commencement ceremony May 4,

2000. The honorary degree is the highest award conferred

by the University of Minnesota, recognizing individuals

who have achieved acknowledged eminence in cultural

affairs, in public service, or in a field of knowledge and

scholarship.

When Prof. Acrivos was a graduate student here in theearly 1950s he was one of those who worked with Neal

Amundson and contributed to the revolution that put sci-

ence into chemical engineering science and gave to the

subject a tone that it has had ever since.

IT Associate Dean Peter Hudleston, Prof. AndreasAcrivos, Executive Vice President and Provost

Robert H. Bruininks, Regent William E. Hogan II.

Cell & Tissue Reactor Engineering, March 19-22, 2001 Strasbourg, Francehttp://HuGroup.cems.umn.edu/CTREFor further information, contact:Ruth Patton, Associate Program DirectorPhone: 612-626-7630 / E-mail: [email protected]

Rheological Measurements, June 3-8, 2001 Minneapolis, MNhttp://orion.cems.umn.edu/research/rheologyFor more information, contact: David GilesPhone: 612-625-0880 / E-mail: [email protected]

Coating Process Fundamentals, June 20-22, 2001 Minneapolis, MNRegistration: Catherine Ploetz 612-625-4257For further information, contact: Phil Jensen 612-625-9075

Announcing

3Short Courses

Regents Professor L. E.Skip Scriven

NEXT ISSUE PREVIEW

A sample of people to be featured in the Summer 2001 edition of CEMS News


5/16


CEMS ALUMNI

Professor Robert Seidel, History of Science and Technology, contributed to this article.

George T. Piercy Professors

Robert J. Stokes 1987-1988

Doraiswamy Ramkrishna 1988-1989

B. Hken Wennerstrm 1989-1990

Philip M. Gresho 1989-1990

Bruno Scrosati 1990-1991

Kurt Kremer 1990-1991

Glenn H. Fredrickson 1991-1992

Joseph M. Crowley 1993-1994

Reinhard Strey 1993-1994

Hermann P. Schmalzreid 1995-1996

Y. Ishi Talmon 1997-1998

Julio M. Ottino 1998

Meir Lehav 1999

Ferruccio Doghieri 1999

Wesley Burghardt 1999-2000

G

eorge Tobias Piercy was a life-long friend of the University of Minne-sota and the CEMS department. His generosity is remembered in the

new wing of Amundson Hall that bears his name.George died March 30, 2000 at his home in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. He

was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on November 29, 1915, and graduated in1939 from the University of Minnesota with a degree in chemical engineering.

After college he joined the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey, later known asExxon, as a process engineer in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at the refinery infor-mally known as the Exxon Academy. After a twenty-five year rise through thecompanys ranks, in 1964 he was elected to the board of directors of ExxonsCanadian affiliate, Imperial Oil Limited. Two years later he was elected direc-tor of the company.

In 1965 he moved to London and was the Middle East representative forExxon. During the 1970s oil crisis, Mr. Piercy was the petroleum industry rep-

resentative responsible for many of the negotiations with the Organization ofPetroleum Exporting Countries. He was, according to one observer, probablythe single most important figure in oil diplomacy. He retired in 1981 as SeniorVice President of Exxon after 42 years. In addition to Exxon, Mr. Piercy servedas director of the Chemical Bank and Chemical New York Corporation.

Throughout his illustrious career at Exxon, Mr. Piercy always found timeto help his friends at the Hospital for Special Surgery. He was also a patron of

public television in New York, where he served as the chairman of the Educa-tional Broadcasting Corporation of New York from 1981 to 1983. He was also atrustee of Princeton Theological Seminary and served on many other boards ofnon-profit organizations.

A devoted and generous alumnus of the University of Minnesota, Mr.

Piercy served as a Trustee of the University of Minnesota Foundation from1976 to 1996, including terms as President (1981-83) and Board Chair (1983-85). He received the Universitys highest recognition of alumni, the Out-standing Achievement Award, in 1979.

He established the George T. Piercy Distinguished Professorship of Chemi-cal Engineering and Materials Science whose recipients have included: Dr.Glenn H. Fredrickson of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Uni-versity of California, Santa Barbara; Dr. Kurt Kremer, Director of the Max-PlanckInstitute for Polymer Research; Dr. Julio M. Ottino, Walter P. Murphy Professorand Chair, Department of Chemical Engineering at Northwestern University;

and Dr. Ishi Talmon of Technion in Haifa.

The new Piercy Wing of Amundson Hall was made possible by a $1.125million gift from the Piercys. It is a fitting memorial to, and testimony of, Mr.Piercys commitment to the department, university, and profession.

Mr. George Piercy is survived by his wife, Ms. Janet Aldridge Piercy; twodaughters, Ms. Nancy P. Murray and husband Mr. Neil Christner of Elkton,

Maryland, and Ms. Susan P. McCarthy and husband Mr. Tom McCarthy of ArdenHills, Minnesota; as well as five grandchildren and many loving and gratefulfriends.

A Memorial Tribute to George T. Piercy

George T. Piercy


6/16


CEMS ALUMNI

B

ringing design of experiments (DOE)to

England might be likened to delivering

coals to Newcastle, but that is what threeUniversity of Minnesota Institute of Tech-

nology alumni accomplished through their company, Stat-

Ease, Inc. Last September, Patrick Whitcomb (BSChE, 1973,

MSChE, 1976), Mark Anderson (BSChE, 1975, MBA, 1980),

and Trygve Helseth (BSPharm, 1969, BSCSci, 1984) dis-

played their new version of statistical software, Design-

Expert, at the International Industrial Statistics in Action

conference at Newcastle University. Attendees from the

United Kingdom, Europe, and worldwide responded en-

thusiastically. As testimonial, statisticians from SmithKline

Beecham Pharmaceuticals displayed a poster saying that

easy-to-use software, specifically Design-Expert, should

be made available to all experimenters to foster use of DOE.

The irony of this trans-Atlantic software success is that

DOE methods came to the United States from England. Sir

Ronald Fisher, a distinguished British statistician, devel-

oped the basic tools while at Rothamsted Agricultural Sta-

tion in the 1920s. He published the seminal Design of Ex-

periments in 1935. During this period, most of the DOE work

occurred in the field of agriculture. In a pioneering study,

researchers from the University of Minnesota made use of

the statistical tools developed by Fisher to evaluate differ-

ent types of barley. They randomly applied the various treat-

ments within several blocks of land at various agricultural

stations around the state. After removing the block differ-

ences and accounting for natural variability in yields, they

saw statistically significant advantages to growing certain

types of barley. The design used for this one-variable ex-

periment is called a randomized block.

During World War II, a more sophisticated form of

DOE, called factorial design, was used to facilitate indus-

trial development for the allied forces. Factorial designs can

be quite compact, involving as few as two levels of each

factor and only a fraction of all the combinations, and yet

they are quite powerful for screening purposes. After the

war, a statistician at Imperial Chemical, George Box, de-

scribed how to generate response surfaces for process opti-

mization. From this point forward, DOE took hold in the

chemical process industry, where factors such as time, tem-

perature, pressure, concentration, flow rate and agitation

are easily manipulated. Later, Mr. Box co-authored a text-

book, Statistics for Experimenters, that formed the basis for

the original version of DOE software by Stat-Ease, named

Design-Ease.

Mr. Whitcomb and Mr. Anderson learned DOE whileworking together at General Mills in its chemical research

laboratory only a few miles north of the University of Min-

nesota campus. They recognized an opportunity with the

advent of the personal computer: methods described by Mr.

Fisher and Mr. Box could be incorporated in a menu-driven

computer program that would make DOE easy for non-

statisticians.

At this juncture Mr. Whitcomb devoted himself full-

time to Stat-Ease, a DOE software venture he started on a

moonlighting basis in 1982. He incorporated Stat-Ease in

April 1985, and with programming help from his colleague

Mr. Helseth, completed development of Design-Ease. In

1987 profits were sufficient to hire Mr. Helseth full-time and

hire Mr. Anderson as the business manager.

In 1988, the company released its first version of De-

sign-Expert, which provided the tools for response sur-

face methods (RSM) for process optimization. This pack-

age complemented Design-Ease..

In 1996 a milestone occurred when Stat-Ease incorpo-

rated all of the features of Design-Ease into Design-Ex-

pert version 5 and translated it to the graphical user inter-

face of Windows. The current version of Design-Expert

version 6 released in 2000 rounded out the array of designs,

including the ability to combine mixture components with

process factors. The software is widely recognized as one

of most powerful programs for doing DOE, yet easy enough

for use by non-statisticians who do industrial experimen-

tation. Design Expert is also used by college and univer-

sity professors as a teaching tool.

Stat-Ease currently employs twelve people at its Min-

neapolis headquarters and is represented by consultants

and resellers at major cities throughout the United States

and most developed nations. The future looks bright for

Stat-Ease here in the center of North America, throughout

the continent, and across the Atlantic to Europe. The next

stop is the Far East. Stat-Ease already has a foothold there

through its connections to United States-based multina-

tional companies, one of which commissioned Mr.

Whitcomb to teach at its technical facilities in Japan, Tai-

wan and Korea. It is now just a matter of time for the word

to spread throughout the Far East on how easy design of

experiments can be using Stat-Ease software.

Home-Grown Software a Trans-Atlantic Hit F


7/16


CEMS ALUMNI

...were your favorite classes

...is your advice to students and recent graduates

My senior class project. We worked with some people in Food Science to

produce artificial cheese using an acid precipitation followed by extrusion.

I felt very lucky to have had a whole crew of excellent professors. If I had to

pick one out of my many favorites it would be Professor Chris Macosko.

Keep an open mind a chemical engineering background can open many

doors.

Pat Whitcomb

Unit operations because I liked doing hands-on experimentation.

Ted Davis, who taught heat transfer. I liked problems such as how long does

it take to chill a warm can of beer and how best to do it, e.g., freezer versus

running cold water.

For students I advise they get some practical experience by working in the

process industry during summers. For recent graduates I advise that they learn

statistical methods for design and analysis of experiments.

Mark Anderson

Chemical Engineering and Materials Science alumni giveback to their alma mater for many reasons. Some alumni seethe University of Minnesota as a vehicle for accomplishing per-

sonal goals, perpetuating their values and beliefs, and making a differ-ence in the world. Others have special memories of their time as stu-dents and hope to pass along good experiences to future generationsof scholars. Many alumni invest in the future of Chemical Engineeringand Materials Science by supporting our outstanding faculty.

In October 1999, the University of Minnesota launched the largestfundraising effort in University history, Campaign Minnesota, with a goalof raising $1.3 billion. The Institute of Technology (IT) set its collegiategoal of $160 million to achieve four key initiatives: attract the best andbrightest students; recruit and retain top-caliber faculty; respond strate-gically to emerging opportunities; and provide ongoing support for pro-grams within the college.

These priorities are shared by our department and will play a piv-otal role in helping to prepare young chemical engineers and materialsscientists for leadership roles in their respective fields.

Campaign Minnesota is successful both university-wide and within

the Institute of Technologybecause of alumni like you.The University has receivedover $903 million, or 69 per-cent, of the total $1.3 billiongoal through August 2000.IT has raised over half of its$160 million goal and is aim-ing to raise the remaining$80 million before the endof the campaign in 2003.

I am delighted to be working on this outstanding fundraising cam-paign and welcome the opportunity to advance the mission and futuregoals of CEMS by securing long-term, permanent funding. Please con-tact me for more information about Campaign Minnesota: Mr. StephenBiever, Institute of Technology Deans Office; Room 112, 1701 Univer-sity Ave. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414; phone: 612-626-9501; e-mail:[email protected]. Thank you.

Giving Back to the Future of CEMSMr. Stephen Biever, Development Officer for CEMS

? ...were your favorite professorsWhich

WhatWho


8/16

CEMS News University of Minnesota

Become An Official Corporate Sponsor

The Polymer Group (l to r): Assistant Professor David C. Morse,Professor Timothy P. Lodge (group leader), Professor Frank S.Bates, Professor Christopher W. Macosko, and below, AssistantProfessor Marc Hillmyer (Dept. of Chemistry).

Focus On: The Polym

The universe of polymerswith over 70 post-doctora

bine efforts and resourceworlds within it.

The research laboratory is an exciting place for the

faculty and students of the Polymer Group. There

they study fundamental topics in polymer science

and engineering (PS & E) that have an impact in ev-

eryday applications. PS & E, when combined with research effortsin the biological and other sciences, has lead to new discoveries in

fields where polymers were never considered. We are now able to

use polymers in ways we never before thought possible, said Prof.

Frank Bates.

Here are just a few examples.

Drug Delivery

Researchers are designing a polymersome: a vesicle or microscopic

molecular bag that encapsulates pharmaceuticals. This deliverydevice could be inserted in the blood vessels of the patient for steady

and targeted delivery of drugs. The key for specific drug delivery is

to place a recognition element on the outside of the bag, allowing it

to discern the part of the body in need. There the bag latches on and

releases its contents. A significant discovery was finding a proper

biocompatible material for the vesicle. Using FDA-approved poly-

ethylene oxide (PEO), these polymersomes were designed such that

the body wont reject them, a common problem upon introduction of

foreign material. The researchers are also investigating the bags

elasticity since the rate of drug diffusion and vi

of the polymersome varies according to the pro

ties of the walls. Researchers at the University of P

sylvania will be conducting clinical trials in col

ration with the Polymer Group in order to tes

polymersomes stability within the human body.

Compact Disks

Compact disks are currently made from polycar

ate which is strong and resists heat distortion. U

tunately, polycarbonate is relatively expensive an

high birefringence, meaning that it limits the fide

optical readout, and therefore limits the amount of information

can be stored reliably on the compact disk. A polymer develop

the group may change all that.

Using mundane chemical ingredients (butadiene, styrene

hydrogen) configured into a specific multiblock polymer arch

ture, researchers have produced a material with extremely lo

refringence and with mechanical properties comparable to

carbonate. When used in a compact disk application, this new

terial will result in higher information storage capacities at a l

cost, a significant achievement indeed.

Biodegradable/Biorenewable Polymers

Biodegradable and biorenewable polymers are very attractive

an environmental standpoint, but there are practical difficultie

sociated with their use. For example, the brittle nature of polyl

acid, a polymer derived from corn, limits its potential applicat

Researchers are investigating methods for the preparation of m

fied polylactic acids that are tougher and still retain environ

tally beneficial characteristics. By combining a small amoun

polymeric modifier to a polyethylene/polylactic acid blend, rese

ers have discovered that the impact resistance of this new h

material is significantly enhanced over the parent material. This

material will open many doors for the environmentally frie

polylactic acid.


9/16

CEMS News Spring Semester 2001 9

The Synthetic and Natural Worlds

Polymers may be placed in two basic categories: synthetic and natu-

ral. While polystyrene and polyethylene are man-made examples, fa-

miliar terms such as proteins, DNA, and starch are abundant naturally

occurring polymers. The Polymer Group is changing the way chemical

engineers and materials scientists think about naturally occurring poly-

mers. The researchers understanding of synthetic polymers has helpedhem to better understand natural polymers because their fundamen-

tal properties are similar. Furthermore, researchers in the Polymer

Group are working to design new polymers that mimic the unique prop-

erties of naturally occurring polymers.

Not a One-Man Show

The members of the Polymer Research Group take pride in their col-

aborative approach to research. The men and women of the group

share their work, resources, equipment, industrial and unrestricted

unds, and laboratory space. This group serves as a model for univer-

sity research in the 21st Century.

Matching Program for Gifts toGraduate Fellowships in CEMS

T

he 21st Century Graduate Fellowship En-

dowment program allows contributions

to be matched dol-lar-for-dollar for combinedgifts

of $25,000. Once the amount in

the fund reaches $25K, the en-

dowment is matched and your

support for our graduate stu-

dents is doubled!

Fellowships help CEMS at-

tract the best and brightest

graduate students, whose creativity and hard workenhance the quality of our research. Our students

future contributions are essential to our countrys suc-

cess and competitiveness in the global, high-tech

economy. Your support in both word and deed will

strengthen CEMSs position of leadership in instruc-

tion and research for decades to come.

The source of the matching fund is a generous

stream of royalties that the University is receiving

from a licensing agreement with Glaxo-Wellcome, apharmaceutical company that manufactures and mar-

kets a leading anti-HIV drug, Ziagen, invented by a

University of Min-

nesota professor.

Please contact

Mr. Stephen Biever

if you would like to

learn more about the

Matching Programfor Gifts to Gradu-

ate Fellowships in CEMS and to make a contribu-

tion: Mr. Stephen Biever, Institute of Technology

Deans Office; Room 112, 1701 University Ave. SE,

Minneapolis, MN 55414; phone: 612-626-9501; e-mail:

[email protected]. Thank you.

The Polymer Groups Scope of Research Inquiry

chemical synthesis -- making new polymers

characterization of molecules and

structure of materials

properties of materialsprocessing of materials

theory --

a fundamental understanding of the science

W

roup

xpanding. Five professors togethere and undergraduate students com-

dy that universe and discover new


10/16


xCLASSNOTES Chemical Engineering & Materials Science AlumniSend Us Your News!

We are proud of our alumni and believe that the CEMS News

should reflect that pride. We all want to know what our

peers and colleagues are doing. Please tell us about your profes-

sional and personal life over the past year. Photographs, paper

or digital, are welcome (mark paper copy with your name andaddress on the back so it can be returned to you). Please send by

post or electronic mail your contribution to:

Ms. Julie Murphy

University of Minnesota

Department of Chemical Engineering

and Materials Science

393 Amundson Hall

421 Washington Ave SE

Minneapolis, MN 55455

E-mail: [email protected]

Web: www.cems.umn.edu/Alumni/AlumniForm.htm

Phone: 612-625-4356

Fax: 612-626-7246

Responses received by May 15, 2001 will be included in the

Summer 2001 newsletter. Refer to page 2 to find out how you can

also participate in the departments history issue. All submissions

are subject to editing.

Thanks to all the alumni who responded to our request for thisissue. We welcome your suggestions and ideas for the alumni

newsletter and are looking forward to hearing from you!

2000

Susan Ginsberg (Ph.D., 2000) is currently working in Washington D.C.as a OSA/MRS Congressional Science and Engineering Fellow. Thisone-year appointment sponsored by the Optical Society of America andthe Materials Research Society gives Dr. Ginsberg the chance to con-tribute her knowledge of optics and materials science to the federal gov-ernment sphere and to act as a facilitator for discussion between scien-tists and legislators. We need people in Washington who will point outthat the scientific process is, by necessity, a process of both successesand failures. It is often through a failed experiment that scientists learnthe most, she said in the summer MRS Bulletin. Without an under-standing of the scientific process, legislators may easily dismiss the im-portance of science.

Jake Mulligan (B.S., 2000) is a graduate student in Polymer Engineer-ing at the University of Akron. His research involves the crystallization ofpolylactic acid.

Katherine Ohotto (B.S., 2000) is living in Andover, MA and working forGeneral Mills in quality and regulatory operations. I cannot thank thedepartment enough for preparing me for my current position.

Wijaya Martanto (B.S., 2000) is currently pursuing a graduate degree inChemical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. His primaryresearch involves a drug-delivery system using microneedle technology

under the supervision of Dr. Mark Prausnitz. I am proud to be an alumniof CEMS at the University of Minnesota. The learning experience I gainedthere is essential and valuable for my future career in chemical engi-neering. All of this is a result of the strong relationship and support Ireceived from the faculty, staff, and students.

Dana (Waldvogel) Ramshak (B.S., 2000) is currently working for Kim-berly-Clark Corporation at their Neenah, WI facility as a material re-searcher for Huggies Diapers. Ms. Ramshak reports that her first sevenmonths of being out of school have been great. I was married June 10,2000 to Troy Ramshak, so if you are looking for me in the phone bookuse Ramshak, not Waldvogel.

Molly Weissberg (B.S., 2000) works at Schlumberger inthe Wireline department in Oklahoma and is currently atthe companys training school in Venezuela.

1999

Kim Chaffin (Ph.D., 1999) is a Senior Scientist at Medtronic, Inc. in theMaterials and Biosciences Center. In addition, she has been working asan adjunct faculty member in the CEMS department. She and her hus-band Paul are expecting a baby boy in March.

Dov Cohen (Ph.D., 1999) moved to California after graduation and hasspent the past couple of years backpacking through the high Sierra moun-tains and scuba diving in the depths of the kelp forests of the PacificOcean. Yeah, life in California can be really difficult, he said. Profes-sionally, Dr. Cohen has completed a post-doc at Sandia National Labo-ratories and now works there as a senior-level computer system analyst.

Penny Thompson Starkey (Ph.D., 1999) is employed with GradientTechnology located in Blaine, Minnesota.

Kendall Thomson (Ph.D., 1999) is currently an Assistant Professor ofChemical Engineering at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.

1998

Nathan Aldrich (B.S., 1998) is currently working with Joe Bianconi atMotorola in the semiconductor products sector working with BiCMOStechnologies in a semiconductor wafer manufacturing facility. Mr. Aldrichmakes many of the RF/IF converters for Motorola cell phones in additionto many other chips used in picture televisions and clock drivers for internetservers. On a personal note, he writes, I have been busy hiking andcamping in the mountains around Arizona and am also taking graduateclasses at Arizona State University.

Joseph Bianconi (B.S., 1998) currently works for Motorola, Inc. at oneof the high volume integrated circuit production facilities in Chandler,

Arizona. He serves as Device Engineer working as a cross-functionalliaison between product manufacturing and process engineering.


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xCLASSNOTES Chemical Engineering & Materials Science AlumniAfshin Falsafi (Ph.D., 1998) works in product devel-opment at the 3M Dental Products Division located inSt. Paul, Minnesota. I have enjoyed the opportunityto apply my Ph.D. skills in the area of polymer adhe-sion, writes Dr. Falsafi whose work includes new den-tal materials, composites, and adhesive bonding of

hard tissues.

Chang-Chun Hsiao (Ph.D., 1998) was promoted to Associate Profes-sor at the University of Taiwan. His department received a grant from theMinistry of Education to set up the Institute of Biochemical Engineering,which will serve as a unique entity bridging biotechnology research andengineering sciences in Taiwan. Dr. Hsiao is conducting research on thexenogeneic bioartificial liver in collaboration with Dr. Chih-Chi Wang ofChang Gung Memorial Hospital. I visitedProfessorWei-Shou Hu inFebruary with Dr. Chih-Chi Wang; in turn, we played host to ProfessorHu this summer when he was an NHRI reviewer in Taipei.

Scott Lindquist (B.S., 1998) was recently promoted to Manager, New

Product Development for the Performance Magnetics Division ofHoneywell located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He returned to schoolpart-time to earn his MBA.

Dan McGurran (B.S., 1998) has been working at 3Ms Film/Light Man-agement Technology Center, 3M Optical Markets and Technologies sincegraduation. He lives in Woodbury, Minnesota with his wife, Nicki, andtheir new born baby.

Glenn Merkel (B.S., 1998) is working in Ireland for Masonite Corpora-tion as an reliability engineer. In that role, he implements a predictivemaintenance program in the new door manufacturing facility, working toimprove maintenance systems such as downtime recording and report-

ing, PM routes, and condition-based monitoring systems. For fun I havebeen traveling throughout Ireland and Europe. If anyone is planning tovisit Ireland or Europe, feel free to contact me and Ill provide some sug-gestions on must-see areas: .

Steve Rankin (Ph.D., 1998) spent a little under a year as a post-doc-toral fellow at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM con-ducting research on mesoscale molecular simulations of self-assemblyfor materials synthesis. He received the U.S. Department of Energy EarlyCareer Award for Scientists and Engineers in October for this work. Prof.Rankin recently took an assistant professor position at the University ofKentucky in Lexington, KY. The first semester has been exciting and Iam happy to report that I survived. If there are pending Minnesota gradu-ates interested in moving to a warmer climate for graduate school, butwithout giving up seasons entirely, we can help! Contact Prof. Rankinat: .

1997

Anders Carlsson (B.S., 1997) is currently a fourth-year Ph.D. studentat Stanford University where he is studying surface science and cataly-sis.

Tom Tepe (Ph.D., 1997) has been promoted to Group Leader of the

rheology lab in the Analytical and Computational Technology Center oRohm and Haas located in Spring House, Pennsylvania. He is workingto develop better polymeric materials for a wide variety of applicationssuch as paints for walls and cars, adhesive tapes, soaps and laundrydetergents, make-up, and dinnerware. On a personal note, most of mytime is spent trying to catch up with my one-year-old daughter, Annie.

1996

Tom Cooney (Ph.D., 1996) was promoted to Business Unit Manageresponsible for the polymers commodity at Intel. The group is responsible for the technical and business management of the raw materialssuppliers supporting the Intel assembly factories and conducts materialpath finding and coordination. On the personal side I have been busydoing woodworking and exploring the Arizona wilderness.

Catherine A. (Hlusak) Lee (B.S., 1996) and Terry Lee (B.S., 1996were married June 24th, 2000. To kickoff their honeymoon, the two competed in a three-day adventure race near Banff, Canada. After finishing

the race with more bruises then we could possibly count, we spent theremaining two weeks of our honeymoon recovering from the race.

Panagiotis D. Christofides (Ph.D., 1996) is an Assistant Professor inthe Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of CaliforniaLos Angeles. Prof. Christofides major research work is in control of non

linear distributed parameter systems with applicationto semiconductor manufacturing, particle technology andfluid flows. He recently wrote a book on control of nonlinear PDE (partial differential equations) systems, published by Birkhauser as part of their Systems & Controseries. He has received two major national awards fohis work on control of nonlinear distributed paramete

systems: the Ted Peterson Student Paper Award fromthe Computing and Systems Technology Division of AIChE in 1999 andthe O. Hugo Schuck Best Paper Award from the American AutomaticControl Council in 2000. Prof. Christofides and his wife Marina Foundalso a University of Minnesota graduate (M.S., History 1995), have twosons, Dimitrios, 6, and Marios-Evangellos, 18 months. We very oftenremember the great moments that we had as graduate students at theUniversity of Minnesota and our life in Minneapolis, and we stay in touchwith many friends that we made in Minnesota.

Christopher M. Yip (Ph.D., 1996) has been awarded the Canada Research Chair. Prime Minister Chrtien announced the appointment onDecember 14, 2000. Dr. Yip is an Assistant Professor working in theDepartments of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Biochemistry, and the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at theUniversity of Toronto.

1995

Stephane Bancel (M.S., 1995) completed his MBA in June from HarvardUniversity and started working for Eli Lilly in the manufacturing divisiobefore moving to Basingstoke near London. He is currently training tomove into a functional director position. It is fun for me to be back inEurope after more than six years in the United States and Japan. MrBancel welcomes CEMS folks to London: .


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xCLASSNOTES Chemical Engineering & Materials Science AlumniAndrew Hillier(Ph.D.,1995) is an Assistant Professor of Chemical En-gineering at the University of Virginia and works in the areas of interfa-cial engineering, materials chemistry, electrochemistry, and scanningprobe microscopy. He has received several awards in recent years in-cluding the NSF Faculty Early Career Development award (CAREER)1999-2003, Office of Naval Research Young Investigator award for 2000-

2003, and University of Virginia Teaching Fellow, 1999-2000.

C. Francisco Lorenzano-Porras (Ph.D., 1995)returned to Mexico aftergraduation and worked for the Electrical Research Institute. In June 1998,he worked for Amoco R&D in Naperville, IL, supporting the Styrene Tech-nology Group with experimental research work for technical plant sup-port. In February 1999, after Amoco merged with British Petroleum, heworked in the Specialty Intermediate Business Unit (SIBU) for the newcompany, BP Amoco. Since then, Dr. Lorenzano-Porras is a Sr. ProcessDesign and Engineering Scientist in the New Product and Process De-velopment group (NPPD), responsible for technical and economic evalu-ation of new and improved processes to guide the research efforts inprocess development for the NPPD-SIBU group. He writes, how many

good memories of my dear friends and the 7 or 8 intramural soccer cham-pionships we won at the University of Minnesota, representing the CEMSdepartment from 1990 to 1995. For all my good friends, particularly thosethat enjoy soccer the way I do, I remember and miss you all.

1994

Dean Benjamin (Ph.D., 1994) is currently at Stora Enso Research (pre-viously Consolidated Papers, Inc.) located in Wisconsin Rapids, WI work-ing in the coated papers industry. He and his wife, Jill, have four children:Daniel, 7, Philip, 6, Luke, 3, and Anna 1.

Jim Cai (Ph.D., 1994) and his wife, Julie (Zhilei) Wang, (Ph.D., 1996)had their third child, Jason Cai, in October.

Alexander Katz (M.S., 1994; B.S., 1993) is currently building a researchgroup as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engi-neering at the University of California at Berkeley. The focus of his re-search group is the development of imprinting for the synthesis of cata-lysts and adsorbents. Dr. Katz completed his Ph.D. last year under theadvisement of Prof. Mark E. Davis at the California Institute of Technol-ogy. He then completed an NSF International Awards postdoctoral fel-lowship with Prof. M. W. Hosseini in Strasbourg, France, in the area ofsupramolecular organic coordination chemistry. I enjoy coming back toMinnesota in the winter to practice snowball synthesis with my eight year-

old niece and eleven year-old nephew.

Nitin Keskar(Ph.D., 1994) has worked at leading consulting firms ininformation technology such as Oracle and Sapient, and is currently theTechnical Director at eFORCE, Inc. He has produced over 10 publica-tions and 20 patents. Nitin and his wife, Nirupa, are soon expecting thebirth of their baby.

Hugo Vits (Ph.D., 1994) moved to Rio de Janeiro in January, 1999 afterhaving lived for two and a half years in Bolivia where he enjoyed both thehigh altitude and tropical climates.

1993

Keith Glassford (Ph.D., 1993) has been working for Molecular Simula-tions Inc. for the last four years. Currently he is the product manager forMSIs Quantum Physics products and is responsible for development,marketing, and world-wide sales. My wife and I have recently moved

back from San Diego to Chicago to be closer to family...I do miss the(San Diego) weather!

Kurt Koppi (Ph.D., 1993) has been working at Dow Chemical Companyin Midland, Michigan for the past seven years. There he has worked ona variety of interesting projects spanning a vast range of materials in-cluding polyolefins, styrenic polymers, and engineering plastics as wellas a variety of new material developments. For the past three years hehas served as Dows representative to the University of Minnesotas I-Prime program (Industrial Partnership for Research in Interfacial andMaterials Engineering). He has also served as one of Dows recruitersfor Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Ph.D. graduates at theUniversity of Minnesota. For three years he was an officer of the Dow

Discussion Group on Interfacial Science (DDGIS) and invited a numberof people from CEMS to speak, including Profs. Matt Tirrell, ChrisMacosko, and Lanny Schmidt. On a personal note, my wife, Dotty,and I are expecting our second child in February. Our 5 year old sonSpencer is looking forward to being a big brother.

Dionisios Vlachos (Ph.D., 1993) is currently an Associate Professor ofChemical Engineering, Center for Catalytic Science and Technology(CCST) at the University of Delaware.

Ray Yang (Ph.D., 1993) is currently a senior researchspecialist for the electronic products division of 3Mlocated in Austin, TX . Dr. Yang writes, looking back,I have so many good memories of my school time atCEMS. I still talk with friends and colleagues thereand appreciate very much the high quality educationand training provided by professors, staff teams and my fellows of thedepartment. I wish the department and its alumni continued success.

1992

Ajay K. Ray (Ph.D., 1992)is a professor of Chemical and Environmen-tal Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Before

joining Singapore, he spent three years at the University of Groningen,Netherlands. Dr. Ray is currently working on four areas of reaction engi-

neering: Design and development of photo-catalytic reactors for water and air purifica-tion, analysis of simulated moving bed reac-tor (continuation of work learned from Profs.Carr and Aris), oscillatory reactor, andmultiobjective optimization of chemical reac-tors. His wife, Mita, (Ph.D. 1992, U of M Civil

Engineering) is also a professor at NUS in the same department. Thecouple has a 10 year old son, Rick. Our family loves to travel and wehave already visited 27 countries.


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xCLASSNOTES Chemical Engineering & Materials Science Alumni1989

Randy Schunk (Ph.D., 1989) continues his career at Sandia NationaLaboratories in the Multiphase Transport Processes Department locatedin Albuquerque, New Mexico. His technical and professional focus habeen in many areas, including the material-science and process physic

of welding and brazing of super alloy materials and the development osoftware for high-fidelity simulation of a variety of manufacturing processes. He is the project leader of a code development team which includes roughly 15 researchers, through which many advances in stateof-the-art numerical techniques have resulted. Dr. Schunk realized a longterm dream and went helicopter skiing in the Chugach range of Alaskalast March. I love spending time with my family, wife, Andrea, and daughters Sofie, 9, and Hattie, 6.

1988

Thierry Charbonneaux (Ph.D., 1988) is currently living in Milan, Italyand working for Nylstar, a leading european producer of nylon textile

yarn. He is manager for Polymerization Development and TechnicaProgress Services and coordinates the research and development teamlocated in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Slovakia, and Poland.

1985

Curtis Weitnauer(B.S., 1985) and his wife adopted their second sonMarcus, who was born on December 3, 1999. His big brother, Clete, ithree-and-a-half years old.

Peter Wickert (M.S., 1985) works at3M with the Microbiology ProductsProject helping to develop new prod-ucts for the detection of microbes infood. Peter lives in St. Paul with his wife,Sue, and their three children: Andrew,14, Karen, 11, and Joshua, 6. Each dayis an adventure! His e-mail address is.

1983

Robert Siegfried (Ph.D., 1983) is an Associate Professor of ComputeScience at Adelphi University in Garden City, Long Island, New York. Hlives in Oceanside, Long Island with his wife, Katherine, and their son

Jason, 4.

1979

L. James (Jim) Lee (Ph.D., 1979) has been active in research and teaching duties as Professor of Chemical Engineering at The Ohio State University (OSU). He also is serving as Director of the National ScienceFoundation (NSF) Center for Advanced Polymer and Composite Engineering at Ohio State. Dr. Lee received several OSU awards in the pasyear: the Technology Partnership Alliance Award, the DistinguishedScholar Award, and the College of Engineering Annual Research Accomplishment Award. He was recently appointed Helen C. Kurtz Chai

Rick Rolando ( M.S., 1982) was recently appointed Technical Directorof the 3M Tape Process Technology Center located in St. Paul, MN.

Ranil Wickramasinghe (Ph.D., 1992) is an Assistant Professor at Colo-rado State University. His current research interests are in the areas ofbiotechnology and bioseparations. Previously, Prof. Wickramasinghe

worked in the biotechnology industry. While at Sepracor, he developedand improved the membrane-based bioseparation processes, and atBiogen he was involved with validation of virus clearance during the down-stream processing of biopharmaceutical products. I spend my sparetime learning Chinese, German and traveling on preserved steam trains.

1991

Tim Foecke (Ph.D., 1991) appeared on Science Live on the DiscoveryScience Channel this past August in a show entitled, Living in a MaterialWorld, describing what materials science is all about. He is working onnanomaterial mechanical behavior with Don Kramer(Ph.D., 1999), whowas awarded an National Research Council post-doctoral position.

Stefano Guido (M.S., 1991) is an Associate Professor of Chemical En-gineering at the University of Napoli, Italy. His current research interestsare in polymer blends and biopolymer mixtures. I still keep in touch withCEMS people, in particular with my former advisor, Prof. Bob Tranquillo-- we had a patent issued this year, and Prof.Chris Macosko --we havea research collaboration on deformation of drops in shear flow. Im look-ing forward to coming back to Minneapolis for a visit.

1990

Mirta Ines Aranguren (Ph.D., 1990) and her husband Jorge Gonzalez(Ph.D., 1990) have three kids: Pablo, 10, Mara Beln, 8, and JuanManuel, 4. Both Mirta and Jorge work at the University of Mar del Platain Argentina. Jorge researches biodegradation and is active in projectsdealing with pollution prevention and alternative uses of wastes fromagricultural and food industries. He teaches graduate and undergradu-ate courses on waste treatment and bioprocess engineering. Mirta isworking in the areas of modified thermosets and com-posites that use vegetable fibers as reinforcementand filler. She teaches in the areas of mass transferoperations for the undergraduates (Prof. EdwardCusslercould send me whatever help he wishes),and viscoelastic properties of polymers for the gradu-ate students of materials science. Writes Mirta: Prof.

Chris Mocoskos book is a great help as well as theold notes from the short course. I certainly wouldaccept new material from him for my classes.

Rajesh R Melkote (Ph.D., 1990) currently leads a team of engineersand scientists working in the synthesis and suspension of phosphors(luminescent materials used in lamps). Outside of work, Dr. Melkote iskeeping busy with his two-year-old daughter, Ashvini Nagadevi.


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xCLASSNOTES Chemical Engineering & Materials Science Alumni

3Visit the Chemical Engineering and MaterialsScience Department Websitew w w . c e m s . u m n . e d u

at The Ohio State. Dr. Lee and several colleagues received new fundingin excess of $2 million to establish polymer microfabrication facilities andconduct related research in BioMEMS. I welcome contacts from oldfriends and can be reached at .

Julio M. Ottino (Ph.D., 1979), Walter P. Murphy Professor at Northwest-

ern University, just finished his eighth year as Chair of the Department ofChemical Engineering at Northwestern University and was named theRobert R. McCormick Institute Professor at Northwestern University.

Following in the footsteps of other illustrious Minneso-tans, Profs. Amundson, Aris, and Cussler, Prof.Ottino gave the Danckwerts Lecture in England, en-titled, The Art of Mixing with an Admixture of Art: View-ing Creativity through P.V. Danckwerts Early Work.Prof. Ottinos current research is in the area of granu-lar materials, especially in aspects having to do withthe competition between chaos and order. His recentpapers made the cover ofNature and the Proceed-

ings of the National Academy of Sciences. He has two sons, Jules, 11,

and Bertrand, 8. His wife, Alicia, is a professor and Director of the KelloggCenter for Biotechnology at Northwesterns Kellogg Graduate School ofManagement.

1972

Arvind Varma (Ph.D., 1972) continues as the Arthur J. Schmitt Profes-sor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame and wasrecently named the founding Director of the Universitys Center for Mo-lecularly Engineered Materials. Prof. Varma received the Chemical En-gineering Lectureship Award for the year 2000 from the American Soci-ety for Engineering Education. His award lecture entitled, CombustionSynthesis of Advanced Materials was presented at the ASEE annualmeeting and will appear in an upcoming issue ofChemical EngineeringEducation.

1970

Wayne A. Gifford (M.S., 1970) is president and lead consultant of Dieflow,a consulting firm specializing in design, operation and trouble-shooting of flat extrusion dies for film, sheet and coating pro-cesses, annular dies for sheet, tube and foam applicationsand certain profile dies. His prior experience includes over15 years experience with Owens Corning, Dow Chemical

and Extrusion Dies Inc. in developing 3-D CFD programs to solve extru-

sion problems.

1966

Stan Sandler(Ph.D., 1966), Professor of Chemical Engineering at theof University of Delaware, is now the new Editor of theAIChE Journal.

1965

Doraiswami (Ramki) Ramkrishna (Ph.D. 1965) is the Harry CreightonDistinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University,West Lafayette, Indiana. The landmark event of the year was the publi-

cation of his book, Population Balances: Theory andApplications to Particulate Systems in Engineering,Academic Press, June 2000. I am indeed grateful toProf. Arnie Fredrickson who was kind enough to writethe Foreword, said Ramki. He added, It was a nos-talgic get-together in Minneapolis to celebrate Re-

gents Prof. Gus Aris 70th birthday which HarmonRay did a splendid job in putting together.

Richard Schmeal (Ph.D., 1965) and his wife Jacqueline are enjoyingSanta Fe, New Mexico and their farm near Ames, Iowa, where they raisecorn, soybeans, and bluebirds. After managing a research center for theElectric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in Houston, Texas for five years,Dr. Schmeal is developing a web venture, GasElectricPartnership, withthe help of staffers at major gas pipeline companies.

1964

Ben McCoy (B.S., 1964) has taught at UC Davis in the Department of

Chemical Engineering (now the Department of Chemical Engineeringand Materials Science) since 1967. His research is presently focused onapplying the kinetics of distributions to polymer and particulate systems.His wife of 31 years, Edna, is a clinical microbiologist and supervisor of aregional health care laboratory.

1960

Dale F. Rudd (Ph.D., 1960) is now retired from his teaching position inthe Department of Chemical Engineering at at the University of Wiscon-sin, Madison.

1940

Henry W. Dahlberg, Jr. (B.S., 1940) has devoted several months tomaking a video tape of his color slides and black & white photographs ofNorth Africa and Italy as a B-24 Squadron Engineering Officer. I hadmultiple copies made for my children and grandchildren, but when I wasasked to show it at our annual 485th Bomb Group Reunion in St. Louis,I ended up having to send out 68 more copies! Mr. Dahlberg reports thathe feels almost as good as he did back in the 1940s and enjoys bowlingtwice a week.


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xCLASSNOTES Chemical Engineering & Materials Science AlumniManoj Dalvie (Ph.D., 1992) passed away suddenly October 20, 1999and is survived by his wife, Heidi, and their two young sons, wrote Dr.Peter W. Lee (Ph.D., 1989). Dr. Lee worked with Dr. Dalvie at AppliedMaterials located in Santa Clara, CA. Donations to the college funds forthe boys are being accepted. Please contact Ms. Julie Murphy (page 10)or more information.

Delbert F. Jurgensen (Ph.D., 1934 ) passed away October 19, 1999 atthe age of 90. He resided in Coral Springs, Florida. Prof. Jurgensen hada distinguished career as a chemical engineer. He was a fellow in the

American Institute of Chemists and served as President of The Associ-ate of Research Directors from 1954-1955. In 1962 he received the Uni-versity of Minnesotas Outstanding Achievement Award. He was a WorldWar II veteran.

In Memoriam

ABET Review is Coming in March[

To prepare for an upcoming ABET (adult basic education and training) accredidation review, we have drafted our educational objectivesand program outcomes. Feedback is welcome. Please send your comments to Danny Williams at .

Chemical Engineering Program Educational Objectives

For students to:

learn the scientific and engineering principles underlying the six major ele-ments of chemical engineering: balances of material and energy; thermo-dynamics of physical and chemical equilibria; transport of heat, mass, and

momentum; reaction kinetics and reactor analysis; separation operations;and process dynamics and control; apply and integrate knowledge of the elements of chemical engineering to

identify, formulate, and solve chemical process design problems; learn to use and apply modern experimental and computational techniques in

chemical engineering; conduct experiments, including: design of experiment, execution and record-

ing, analysis and interpretation of results, and professional reporting ofresults;

prepare for a career in chemical engineering and related fields by developingcommunication skills and coming to understand the importance of lifelonglearning, professionalism, and ethical responsibility.

Program Outcomes

Graduates who have:

an ability to apply scientific and engineering principles underlying the majorelements of chemical engineering;

an ability to design, conduct, analyze, and report on experiments and compu-tational projects in chemical engineering;

an ability to apply and integrate the major elements of chemical engineering toformulate and solve chemical process design problems;

an ability to work in teams, including a beginning ability to work in multi-disci-plinary teams;

an appreciation of the importance of professional and ethical responsibilityand of learning and applying further scientific and engineering principlesthroughout their career;

an ability to communicate effectively; a beginning understanding of the impact of engineering solutions on society,

including safety, economic, and environmental impacts, and of the impor-tance of learning more in these areas throughout their careers;

an introduction to contemporary issues in chemical engineering.

Materials Science and Engineering Program EducationalObjectives

The MSE program provides educational experiences which challenge studentsto:

learn the scientific and engineering principles underlying the four major ele-

ments of materials engineering: structure, properties, processing, and per-formance of engineering materials (including metals and alloys, ceram-ics,, polymers, semiconductors and composites);

apply and integrate knowledge of the above four elements to identify, formu-late and solve materials selection problems and design problems;

learn experimental, statistical and computational techniques in the context ofMSE;

design and conduct experiments, as well as analyze and interpret data; prepare for an engineering career by developing communication and team-

work skills, and an understanding of the importance of lifelong learning,professionalism and ethical responsibility.

Program Outcomes

MSE graduates will be equipped with:

an ability to apply knowledge of the scientific and engineering principles under-

lying the four major elements of materials engineering: structure, proper-ties, processing, and performance of engineering materials;

an ability to design and conduct experiments relevant to MSE, including theuse of experimental, statistical and computational techniques, and theanalysis and interpretation of data;

an ability to apply and integrate knowledge of the four elements in order toidentify, formulate and solve materials selection problems and design prob-lems;

an ability to work in teams, as well as a beginning ability to work inmultidisciplinary teams;

an appreciation of professional and ethical responsibility, and the importanceof continued learning after graduation;

an ability to communicate effectively; an elementary understanding of the impact of engineering on society, including

safety, the economy and the environment; an introduction to contemporary issues in MSE.

Qingli Zhang, 26,Yi Zhengs (Ph.D., 2000)wife, passed away December 24, 2000 atGarrapata State Beach south of Carmel, Cali-fornia. Qingli was posing for a photograph ona rock when a giant wave suddenly swept herinto the sea. Yi jumped into the water but couldnot reach her and he was washed ashore.Qingli was later rescued by lifeguards but could not be revived.

Yi Zheng was advised by Profs. H. Ted Davis, Ishi Talmon and L.E. Scriven. He defended his Ph.D. thesis in Fall 1999 and left in Janu-ary 2000 for Applied Materials in Santa Clara, California. He marriedQingli in the summer of 1997. Qingli joined Yi at Minnesota in Decem-ber, 1997. She studied in the Computer Engineering Program at theUniversity of Minnesota, and in 2000 transferred to the Computer Engi-neering Graduate Program at Santa Clara University. Dr. Zheng writes,On October 1, 2000, Qingli was baptized a Christian. Her life in thisworld was short, but her smile and love of other people are remembered

by all her friends.Cards may be sent to Dr. Yi Zheng at: 2070 Southwest Express-way, Apartment 34, San Jose, CA 95126.


16/16

This issue of CEMS News is available on the CEMS Department Website: www.cems.umn.edu.

Department of Chemical Engineeringand Materials Science

Institute of TechnologyUniversity of Minnesota151 Amundson HallMinneapolis, MN 55455

Non-Profit Org.

U.S. Postage

PAID

Minneapolis, MN

Permit No. 155

Return Services Requested

Kerry Lightenberg, relief

pitcher for the Atlanta

Braves, receives his Chemi-

cal Engineering Bachelors

degree from the University ofMinnesota. Fans of baseball

and the CEMS department

join Kerry before the game at

Turner Field in Atlanta, GA.

Pictured right to left are Pro-

fessor Frank Bates, Janet

Piercy, her daughter-in-law,

Marthan Mopsy Aldridge,

and Kerry.

CEMS Spring 01

Documents

Transcript of CEMS Spring 01