Year: 2012

CMBE Professor Yong Wang Receives NSF CREATIV Award

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wang_yon_profileDr. Yong Wang of CMBE was recently awarded a competitive National Science Foundation CREATIV (Creative Research Awards for Transformative Interdisciplinary Ventures) grant.  CREATIV, a pilot grant system part of the INSPIRE (Integrated NSF Support Promoting Interdisciplinary Research and Education) initiative, seeks to promote innovative and interdisciplinary projects in the areas of science, engineering, and education research. Dr. Wang is one of up to forty recipients selected to receive this grant in its inaugural year.

Dr. Wang’s winning project will use molecular nano-manufacturing strategies to develop materials that have the capability to flexibly change properties, in ways similar to that of a living organism. If successful, this will open the door for the creation of a host of smart materials that are not found in nature. The success of this project will also meet the goal of the Materials Genome Initiative launched by President Obama in 2012.

Hom Sharma is awarded the 2012 Environmental Protection Agency Science to Achieve Results (EPA-STAR) Graduate Fellowship

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Hom SharmaHom Sharma, a Ph.D. candidate from the CMBE department, has received a highly competitive and prestigious Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowship from The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This federal government award is limited to the country’s most outstanding graduate students in environmental science-related fields. The fellowship provides $126,000 over a three-year period to cover full tuition, a stipend, and research expenses. The fellowship has been awarded to the proposal titled “Computational and experimental investigation of catalyst deactivation to design sulfur resistant emissions oxidation catalysts” submitted to EPA. Hom is the first graduate student to receive the EPA STAR fellowship from UConn School of Engineering.

As part of this fellowship, Hom will be working on research that deals with engine emissions and catalyst deactivation due to sulfur—a complex phenomenon which involves interactions of sulfur with diesel oxidation catalysts (DOC) containing supported metals. This research will provide information of reaction kinetics for the underlying sulfation chemistry of DOC. It will help to overcome challenges inherent in the development of catalyst screening tools and aid in the identification of improved sulfur resistant DOC materials. Furthermore, engines and aftertreatment system manufacturers (who are required to meet increasingly stringent standards) will benefit from these research findings. Hom is currently part of Associate Professor Rampi Ramprasad’s research group, with his past two years of research being guided by Dr. Ashish Mhadeshwar (now with Exxon Mobil Corporation).

In 2011, Hom received a Department of Education GAANN fellowship to conduct his research. This summer, he also worked in a NSF REU Program at UConn to provide research guidance to a University of Michigan undergraduate student focusing on non-catalytic oxidation of diesel soot with O2 and NO2.

Brown Grease to Biodiesel

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UConn Chemical Engineering Professor Richard Parnas is co-founder and CTO of RPM Sustainable Technologies (RPM ST), a local biofuel and chemical engineering service company whose mission is to supply process technology to the biofuels and chemistry industries. Aided by research conducted at UConn’s Biodiesel lab, RPM ST has developed a process to convert waste, in the form of brown kitchen grease, into fuel, in the form of biodiesel. Previous to this innovation, Dr. Parnas converted yellow grease into biodiesel that then powered the UConn campus buses. However, this process grew to be economically inviable as it gained popularity and drove up the demand for and cost of yellow grease.

Brown grease, the thick waste that accumulates in the grease traps of fryers, is both less expensive and widely accessible. Restaurants and companies usually transport this waste to treatment plants for incineration or disposal, but this is an expensive process that poses detriment to both human health and the environment. RPM’s innovation makes use of this waste by splitting it into oils, used to make biodiesel, and biosolids, which are converted to another fuel source, synthesis gas. In all, Parnas says, the conversion of brown grease is a multi-billion dollar opportunity that benefits both business and the environment.

Professor Parnas Conducted Renewable Energy Research at the Sichuan University, China

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Dr. Richard Parnas visited Sichuan University in Chengdu, China, from May 11 to July 17, 2012. During the first four weeks, he taught the honors section of Chemical Reaction Engineering, a 3rd year core undergraduate course, by presenting several examples of multi-phase reactors. Upon the realization that partial differential equations and complex variables are included in the freshman year curriculum, Dr. Parnas also included heat transfer effects and wall boundary conditions.ChungHsing
Over the next few weeks, the class developed research ideas and started a project with switchable polarity solvents for biomass extraction. Many of the discussions occurred at social events, such as the birthday party of Dr. Parnas’s host, Dean of the College of Chemical Engineering Professor Bin Liang.
They then began a week of travel. Dr. Parnas gave a presentation to the Chinese Academy of Engineering in Beijing on the importance of separation processes in biomass conversion. Next they flew to Gansu province to visit a near-zero-emission combined steel, plastics, and fertilizer complex designed by Professor Liang and a team from Sichuan University.parnas_dinner A series of meetings with the governor’s Minister of Industry, the mayor of Jin Chuan city (where the complex is located), and the 10 CEOs of the companies involved in the complex illustrated the fast pace of development that is possible when public / private partnerships are executed with a cooperative attitude.

Audax’s Koda appoints CHEG Alumnus as President and Chief Excecutive Officer

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Bergonzi-3Effective August 1st, 2012, UConn Chemical Engineering graduate Frank Bergonzi (1983) will take on the role of President and Chief Executive Officer at Koda Distribution Group.  Koda, a portfolio company of Audax Group, is a leader in the distribution of specialty chemicals used in paints, coatings, adhesives, sealants, elastomers, dyes, construction, and personal care applications. Previous to this appointment, Mr. Bergonzi was the Director of Corporate Distribution at BASF, one of the leading chemical producers. Beyond this experience Mr. Bergonzi brings the benefits and skills of 29 years in the chemicals industry and many management positions within Fortune 100 companies. Click here for more information on Mr. Bergonzi or the Koda Distribution Group.

CHEG Welcomes New Faculty Member

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Wagstrom_squareThe Chemical Engineering Program is pleased to announce the addition of Kristina Wagstrom to the ranks of its faculty.  Beginning this fall, Dr. Wagstrom will join the program as Assistant Professor. In addition to this new role, Dr. Wagstrom will be spending the next year as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow within the Environmental Protection Agency, as part of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Program. This program provides opportunities for scientists and engineers to engage in the policymaking process on a federal level. Kristina will be working to evaluate the current state of the science as it relates to air pollution and climate policy and participate in activities to determine funding priorities for EPA to encourage research in areas aimed at filling the gaps in our current knowledge.
Dr. Wagstrom joins the department and embarks on this fellowship following a term as Civil Engineering Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Minnesota (2009-2012). Previous to this, Dr. Wagstrom received her Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in 2009. Her current research focuses on improvements and novel applications of modeling to understand the impacts of air pollution to human health. Further information on Dr. Wagstrom can be found here.

Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Receives Prestigious Internship at the ExxonMobil Process Research Laboratories

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Koehle_MauraMaura Koehle, a second year Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Ashish Mhadeshwar’s research group, has received a prestigious summer internship at the ExxonMobil Process Research Laboratories in Clinton, NJ to conduct Catalysis and Reaction Engineering research. The goal of ExxonMobil Process Research (EMPR) is to develop innovative technologies for clean-burning gasoline and diesel, to find innovative ways to make refineries increasingly environmentally friendly, and to expand the production capabilities of the company to meet the growing demand for energy worldwide.

In 2011, Maura received the Kokes Award for the 22nd North American Catalysis Society (NACS) meeting in Detroit, MI. The Richard J. Kokes Travel Award program of NACS aims to encourage undergraduate and graduate students to attend and participate in this biennial conference. She presented her research on “Microkinetic analysis of sustainable hydrogen production from catalytic reforming of biomass-derived oxygenates”.
Maura was also accorded an Honorable Mention from NSF for her application to the Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Through this program, she gets enhanced access to cyber-infrastructure resources, including supercomputing time, through the TeraGrid.
Maura was also selected for the US Department of Education’s GAANN program during the 2010/2011 academic year to conduct research on sustainable energy technologies.
Finally, Maura was selected for the NSF GK-12 fellowship during the 2011/2012 academic year. As a teaching fellow, she worked closely with teachers in the State of Connecticut High School System to organize engaging, hands-on projects to convey fundamental engineering concepts, with a focus on the issues of sustainable design, efficiency, and conservation.

Board of Trustees Honors Laurencin with Title of University Professor

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Laurencin_cato_profileThe University’s Board of Trustees voted recently to bestow upon Dr. Cato T. Laurencin, the distinguished title of University Professor. This honor is reserved for scholars who are widely recognized for contributions in their respective fields.

Laurencin is a prominent orthopaedic surgeon, bioengineering expert, administrator, and professor. He is a member of both the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

Laurencin recently transitioned from his role as vice president for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine to chief executive officer of the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (CICATS).

In addition, he continues to lead the Institute for Regenerative Engineering, holds the Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery, and sees patients through his orthopaedic surgery practice.

UConn Filed Two Patents

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(Left to right) Graduate student Ying Wang and Dr. Yu Lei

Both in the United States and abroad, an increasing concern has arisen in recent years regarding the use of explosives in terrorist attacks.  UConn Castleman Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering Yu Lei and graduate student Ying Wang have developed two patented sensing technologies to ultra-sensitively detect explosives in vapor phase, solid phase, and aqueous samples.  The patents are entitled “Explosives detection substrate and methods of using the same” (US Patent, 2012) and “Explosives detection polymer comprising functionalized polyamine polymers and methods of using the same” (US Provisional Patent, 2012). Various field tests for real applications are underway.