News

Research Insight: Using Light to Control Neural Activity

Posted on by
By Sydney Souder

Prof. Yongku Cho’s research ambition is to engineer light-activated proteins as a tool to manipulate brain circuit activity. He is currently equipping his laboratory here at UConn to build on his work recently published in Nature Methods. The research article—coauthored by Dr. Cho, his postdoctoral advisor Ed Boyden, and other colleagues—documents the group’s progress in controlling neural activity using novel light-activated ion channels.

Traditionally, optical techniques have been used to observe what is happening in biological systems.  However, researchers have recently begun using light to actively control biological processes through proteins that trigger a specific function when illuminated.

“We use light-activated ion channels naturally found in green algae, which are single-celled microorganisms, to control the electrical activity of mammalian neurons,” says Prof. Cho.

In 2003, researchers realized that green algae respond to high intensities of light using ion channels that sense blue light. The light-activated channels allow ions to flow through the cell membrane, resulting in the initiation of electrical signals called action potentials in neurons. This finding signifies that light energy can be used to trigger electric signals in specific populations of neurons.

“Until now, we were able to activate one type of neuron at a time using blue light,” Prof. Cho says, “but in the brain there are many different types of neurons, forming multiple connections. So the task was to find a way to activate multiple types of neurons independently.” By collaborating with a consortium that sequenced the RNA of over a thousand species of plants (including green algae), more than one hundred new light-activated ion channels were discovered. From these novel ion channels, the group made a breakthrough discovery of a unique ion channel that senses red light, and another that is ultra-sensitive to blue light. Using these two new ion channels, it is now possible to activate two different types of neurons independently using blue and red light.

Prof. Cho intends to extend this approach to control other types of processes in neurons.  “In plants, light-activated proteins are used for controlling a wide array of functions, such as opening a flower in response to sunlight,” he says. “I believe that we can use this approach of controlling individual components in the brain to gain insight on the root cause of brain disorders, such as epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease.” Prof. Cho’s group will continue engineering novel proteins to further understand the brain and perhaps identify the causes of its disorders.

 

DuPont’s Mark Vergnano: From UConn to Global Leader

Posted on by

Screen shot 2013-06-26 at 1.29.22 PMRepublished with permission of Momentum,
a School of Engineering electronic publication.

 

Mark P Vergnano

In January, Mark P. Vergnano (B.S. Chemical Engineering, ‘80), Executive Vice President of DuPont, was named to become Chief Executive Officer of DuPont’s  $8 billion Performance Chemicals segment, which will be spun off  during the second quarter of 2015 as a stand-alone company.  It is just the latest in a long series of laurels for Vergnano, whose 33 year career with DuPont has spanned top executive positions in seven of the company’s units across two continents.

As Executive Vice President, Vergnano has had responsibility for about half of DuPont’s total businesses, including Performance Chemicals, Electronics & Communications, and Safety & Protection along with oversight of sales/marketing/communications and safety/sustainability. When the new Performance Chemicals company is launched, he notes, “It will be the 12th or 13th largest chemical company in the world. The Titanium Technologies and Chemicals & Fluoroproducts units that make up Performance Chemicals are both global leaders in their industries, so we will be in a very good position from the start.”

He explains that the major products within Titanium Technologies are whiteners or opacifiers used in a wide range of applications, from toothpaste to paint to plastics. The company’s Chemicals & Fluoroproducts business produces scores of specialty products, including disinfectants, refrigerants for stationary and mobile air conditioning, non-stick Teflon® coatings for pans, and unique industrial polymers used in automobiles, solar energy and electronics.

As Vergnano prepares the Performance Chemicals company for its debut as an independent entity, he notes, the company “Will continue to differentiate itself from competitors by working hand in hand on developing applications with our key customers, which include companies such as Gore, known for its top-selling Gore-tex™ brand of products.  With another large customer, Sherwin-Williams, we are working to develop paints that provide one-application full coverage and also have great cleaning capacity, thanks to our unique titanium dioxide opacifiers.  Batteries are a new market for us as electric vehicles grow more popular. EVs require batteries that can operate at a higher temperature and for longer durations than they have ever had to before. By using fluorochemical based electrolytes, these batteries can operate in higher temperature conditions for longer periods of time resulting in longer charges.  We are also in the midst of introducing our next generation of sustainable mobile refrigerents, Opteum® YF, which has the lowest global warming potential of any refrigerant in the industry.”

He remarks, “As a separate company, we will have the ability to be more flexible and nimbler than DuPont, giving us the freedom to make investment decisions that might not have been a priority within the DuPont structure. We will be a strong cash-generating company with a goal to deliver cash back to our shareholders in the form of strong dividends and returns.”

Storied Career

Vergnano’s UConn chemical engineering education honed his analytical acumen and helped him succeed in a career blending engineering and business leadership.  “I believe that an engineering background gave me the advantage to solve problems in a very logical and disciplined way,” he remarks.

During his decorated career with DuPont, he has been involved in many exciting developments. Two in particular stand out.  “Early in my career, during the 1980s, I was a member of a very small team that developed Tyvek™ Homewrap®. At that time, the product had about $2 million in sales. Traditionally, builders applied insulation and maybe a sheathing board on top of that. We built the business almost from the ground up. We would go out and talk with architects and builders and convince them of the advantages of our Tyvek® wrap. Today, it’s the standard in building construction because Tyvek® Homewrap saves homeowners money on their heating and cooling bills, reduces water damage, and extends the durability of home construction. Today, sales of Tyvek® Homewrap approach a quarter of a billion dollars.”

Another point of pride for Vergnano is more recent. “About three years ago I was asked to lead an effort to reposition the company from that of a traditional chemical company to a science company. We developed a position called, ‘Welcome to the Global Collaboratory,’ which reflects DuPont’s commitment to bringing our science together with different stakeholders from the private and public sectors to help solve global problems like food, energy and protection.  Using that positioning as a basis, we have revamped the company over the last three years through innovation, acquisition and divestitures. The success of our new positioning is apparent when we recruit on college campuses and describe our work: it’s rewarding to watch students’ faces light up and to see their excitement when we talk about a company that is truly making the world a better, safer, healthier place for people to live in.”

Vergnano has risen through the ranks of engineering and top administrative posts at DuPont, which he joined soon after earning his B.S. at UConn, as a process engineer in the former Fibers Department in Richmond, Virginia. There, he was involved in manufacturing and technical assignments for the Kevlar® and Tyvek™ products while also earning his MBA through an executive program offered by Virginia Commonwealth University. Over the next decade, Vergnano and his wife, UConn alumna Betsy (formerly Elizabeth Reddington, CLAS ‘81), relocated to Wilmington, Delaware and subsequently to Geneva, Switzerland, where he served as marketing manager for Typar® carpet backings.

In 1993, he was appointed European Regional Business Manager at DuPont Nonwovens, and in 1996 the Vergnanos relocated again to Richmond, where he assumed the role of Global Business Manager for the Teflon® fiber business. He became Global Business Director for the Nomex® business in October 1998 and then was appointed Global Business Director for Tyvek™/Typar® in March 2001, relocating once more to Wilmington. He served as Vice President and General Manager of DuPont Nonwovens from 2003-05, Vice President and General Manager of DuPont Building Innovations from 2005-06 and Group Vice President of DuPont Safety & Protection from 2006-09.  Outside of DuPont, Mark is the proud father of his two adult daughters, Elise and Haley, who are living and working in Boston and New York, respectively.

UConn Years

Vergnano loved his UConn years. “The School of Engineering is not huge, and the Chemical Engineering Department in particular is not very big. But that is the basis for some of my fondest memories. I knew my classmates well, because it was the same 20 to 30 people in all of my engineering courses. In fact, I am still very close with two former classmates, Ray Gansley and Chris Siemer. We have stayed in touch since graduation and make a point of seeing each other at least once a year. Because UConn is a public university, we had the opportunity to take courses outside of engineering and to explore other disciplines. UConn offers a well-rounded environment.  It also holds the dearest memory for me, since it is where I met my wife, Betsy. ”

His advice to engineering students?  “I think engineering is a fantastic discipline,” he says. “It’s not an endpoint, but rather a great background that will serve you throughout your career. Don’t think of engineering as merely a discipline. I’ve been in manufacturing, sales, marketing, R&D, and business leadership…I always fall back on my engineering training, which is rooted in logic, analysis, and problem solving. It’s a tremendous field, and today we need engineers more than ever.”

Vergnano, who was inducted into UConn’s Academy of Distinguished Engineers in 2005, serves on the Board of, Johnson Controls, Inc. and the U.S. National Safety Council; and is a member of the Advisory Boards for the UConn School of Engineering and the University of Delaware Lerner College of Business and Economics. The Vergnanos are committed to making a college education affordable for dedicated students through their Vergnano/Reddington Family Scholarship Fund at UConn.

Vergnano will deliver the keynote presentation at the 2014 AIChE Northeast Regional Student Conference in Storrs on April 5th, during the conference banquet.

 

AIChE 2013 Annual Conference Draws Strong Attendance from CBE Undergrads

Posted on by

By Jayna Miller

aichemeet1The University of Connecticut Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering undergraduate students recently attended the AIChE 2013 Annual Meeting in San Francisco. The AIChE Annual Meeting is an educational forum for chemical engineers focused on research, growth, and innovation. Industry and academic professionals discussed a variety of topics relating to new research, technologies, and studies in chemical engineering.

During the conference, undergraduate students attended events designed to present current research on the latest advances in core areas of chemical engineering, while also covering specific topical areas. Specialty topics included related fields such as alternative energy, sustainability, bioengineering, and process safety.

Several undergrad students gave presentations on their research. William Hale, working with Chemical & Biomolecular professors Ranjan Srivastava and Richard Parnas, presented “Design Optimization by Response Surface Methodology for Continuous Fermentative Production of 1,3 Propanediol From Waste Glycerol By Product of Biodiesel Processes.” Oscar Nordness, a Junior working with Zhiquan Zhou and professor George Bollas, presented in both the oral and poster competitions, and won the 2nd award in the Student Poster Competition. Oscar’s poster title was “Reactivity Analysis of Ni, Cu, Fe Oxygen Carriers in Fixed Bed Chemical Looping Combustion.” His oral presentation was “On the kinetics of Ni-based oxygen carrier reduction and oxidation studied in thermogravimetric analysis and fixed-bed reactors.”

aichepic2

 

Research Insight: Biomass Pyrolysis

Posted on by

Photo of Prof. Julia Valla, Mr. Shoucheng Du, and Prof. George BollasMr. Shoucheng Du, Prof. Julia Valla, and Prof. George Bollas are making exciting progress in developing the process of biomass catalytic pyrolysis. Their recent achievements are published in Green Chemistry (link to article), and were presented at the 2013 Spring Meeting of the American Chemical Society (link to presentation).

Biomass pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of solid biomass into a liquid, which after additional processing, can be employed in the manufacture of chemicals, fuels, and other products normally made from petroleum.

According to Mr. Du, a Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) graduate student, biomass pyrolysis is one of the process options most likely to solve the challenge of renewable fuels. “We let nature and photosynthesis develop biomass, such as plants and trees, from carbon dioxide in the air,” Mr. Du says, “then our work focuses on upgrading the value of that natural product, lignocellulosic biomass, into liquid bio-oil, which can then be upgraded by a catalyst into liquid products of more value to society.”

“The challenge,” says Prof. Bollas, “is that the byproducts of pyrolysis, coke and char, deactivate the catalyst by coating the surface. Hence, the most important objective is to first identify the exact amounts of coke (a catalytic product) and char (the thermal byproduct of pyrolysis) that lead to deactivation, which will further our understanding of the reaction mechanisms.”bollaspic2

Prof. Valla is studying the related issue of tar, a thick viscous form of the liquid bio-oil. “When we focus on biomass tar, the challenge is even greater. Coke dominates the product distribution and it would be invaluable to understand how it is formed,” she comments.

By studying the reactions likely to lead to coke and char, and the properties of the catalyst used (Figure 1), Prof. Bollas’ group was able to identify hemicellulose as a dominant coke precursor, separate the pathways that lead to the formation of coke and char, and propose possible reactions to minimize the deactivation of the catalyst.

“Now the challenge is to connect these findings to the production of the useful liquid product,” Prof. Bollas says. “We believe the same precursors produce the most desired and most undesired products.” In the future, Prof. Bollas and his team will continue to study these reactions further, to perhaps determine a method to control their negative side effects.

Grad Student Spotlight: Yixin Liu

Posted on by

By Jayna Miller

yixin1At the University of Connecticut, Chemical Engineering graduate students enjoy access to an outstanding combination of academic excellence, student resources, financial support, and a vibrant community.

For grad student Yixin Liu, this is especially true. “I really appreciate that the program gave me so many opportunities to attend different conferences to present my work and communicate with others, such as AIChE annual meeting every year,” she says. She also enjoys the setting of UConn’s campus – which is very different from her hometown.

Yixin moved to Connecticut in 2010 after completing her undergraduate education at Zhejiang University, which is near the east seacoast of China. UConn was her first offer, and after admiring the respected graduate program and the helpful financial support she would receive, she decided to choose UConn to complete her Ph.D.

During her time at UConn, Yixin has worked with Dr. Yu Lei on the development of a high temperature gas sensor which will improve combustion efficiency.
“Real-time, in-situ monitoring and control of combustion-related gases are a top priority in many industrial applications, such as power plant, automotive, metal processing and casting, chemical and petrochemical industries,” she says. These high temperature gas sensors are designed to monitor gas concentrations after combustion and to optimize the combustion process via feedback system, which can improve the combustion efficiency, save more energy, and also reduce the emission of pollutants.

“Our goal is to develop sensors which can be operated right after combustion, so we can immediately get the full picture of combustion conditions and provide more precise control of combustion,” Yixin says.

Yixin’s work on this research throughout her graduate career has been publicly recognized. She has published 10 papers in various scientific journals, four of which she was the lead author. Following her graduation this fall, Yixin plans to work in industry, preferably at a large company. She would especially enjoy continuing her research in a practical, applied setting.

REU Student Innovators Wow Business Community

Posted on by

Screen shot 2013-06-26 at 1.29.22 PMRepublished with permission of Momentum,
a School of Engineering electronic publication.

 

The Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program provides undergraduates with exposure to a stimulating research environment.  The students participating in the REU program had the opportunity to present their work during the July 26 Innovation Connection academic/industry networking event hosted at Nerac in Tolland and co-sponsored by Nerac and OpenSky. Nerac president Kevin Bouley, who hosts a number of UConn start-ups in his Tolland facility, noted “This event showcases the collaborations between students, faculty and the private sector.  It was very interesting to see RPM Sustainable Technologies participate, given that they are located in the Nerac building as a launching pad for their commercial enterprise.”

Before an audience of entrepreneurs, small business gurus, state government officials, IP experts, faculty and members of the investment community, each young researcher/entrepreneur delivered a two-minute “elevator pitch” presentation of his/her work and then spoke in greater detail with attendees during the informal networking event.  The forum enabled the students to test their mettle in the real-world situation faced by entrepreneurs every day.

While all REU programs entail scholarly research, this innovation-oriented REU requires the students to participate in a business and entrepreneurship seminar taught by professor Richard Dino of the School of Business. Furthermore, the students’ research was co-sponsored by commercial businesses – a novel twist that underscores the commercial intent of the research challenges they addressed while working in the UConn faculty laboratories.

The REU theme was conceptualized by Dr. Jeffrey McCutcheon, assistant professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, and Entrepreneur-in-Residence Robin Bienemann, and NSF began funding the project in 2012.  In his introductory remarks to the audience, Dr. McCutcheon explained the genesis of the Innovation REU and noted that his goal was to “introduce the students to applied science and the way products make it to market.”

The eight innovation REU students and their projects are summarized below.

reu15-300x220Joseph Amato (Univ. of Minnesota – Twin Cities) researched reactive spray deposition technology for the one-step production of catalysts and electrodes in fuel cells. His research aim was to improve the efficiency of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells for the fuel cell and fuel-cell automotive markets. Sponsor: Proton OnSite; faculty mentor: Dr. Radenka Maric (Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering). Poster.

Isaac Batty (California State Univ. – Long Beach) researched bio-oil production from the fast catalytic pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass (trees).  His objective was to investigate the effect of temperature and various catalyst/biomass ratios on the quality of bio-oil produced from biomass. Sponsor: W.R. Grace & Co.; faculty mentor: Dr. George Bollas (Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering). Poster.

Ryan Carpenter (Univ. of Buffalo)designed an experimental apparatus enabling researchers to observe the antimicrobial susceptibility of multispecies biofilms. Biofilms are common (e.g., dental plaques) and often contain multiple species of bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus. Biofilms are a costly problem for many industries, including food processing, oil recovery and medical implant operations.  Sponsor: BASF; faculty mentor: Dr. Leslie Shor (Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering). Poster.

William Hale (UConn) sought to understand whether acetate and butyrate influence the anaerobic fermentation of waste glycerol – a byproduct from biodiesel production – into 1,3-propanediol. 1,3-propanediol is used in the manufacture of polyesters, solvents, lubricants and other products. Sponsor: RPM Sustainable Technologies; faculty advisor: Dr. Richard Parnas (Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering). Poster.

Justine Jesse (Univ. of Massachusetts) researched heat treatments that produce the strongest possible electrospun nanofibers, used in water filtration and industrial plants, without compromising performance. Sponsor: KX Technologies; faculty mentor: Dr. Jeffrey McCutcheon (Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering). Poster.

Kyle Karinshak (Univ. of Oklahoma) researched the photocatalytic degradation of a specific fluorescent dye in aqueous environments through the use of a titanium oxide/metal doped catalyst. Kyle found titanium oxide/metal-doped fly ash to be an effective catalyst enabling the degradation of the dye, which is released from textile plants and inhibits the passage of sunlight through water/ Sponsor: VeruTEK Corp.; faculty mentor: Dr. Steven Suib (Chemistry; Institute for Materials Science). Poster.

Zachariah Rueger (Iowa State Univ.) sought to maximize the specific surface area of activated carbon nanofiber nonwoven mats, which are used in water purification and for electricity generation in certain fuel cells. A greater surface area allows greater volumes of wastewater to be purified quickly. Sponsor: KX Technologies; faculty mentor: Dr. Jeffrey McCutcheon (Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering). Poster.

Kyle Stachowiak (Vanderbilt Univ.) researched techniques to optimize the atomic layer deposition of copper on a component, the rectenna, used to enhance the performance of solar cells. A rectenna collects solar radiation and converts it to usable energy. Techniques for applying copper more reliably will improve the efficiency of solar cells. Sponsor: Scitech Associates LLC; faculty mentor: Dr. Brian Willis (Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering). Poster.

Grad Student Spotlight: Jason White

Posted on by

By Jayna Miller

JasonWhite2The chemical engineering graduate program at the University of Connecticut is comprised of bright, innovative leaders who are motivated by change and challenge. The program offers the opportunity for students to enhance their skills and develop their potential.

One student who can attest to the merits of this program is Jason White. Jason completed his undergraduate degree at UConn, and decided he wanted to continue his research here after enjoying his undergraduate experience. Throughout his time at UConn, Jason has worked with Dr. Ranjan Srivastava on analyzing biological systems and developing computational tools that deal with human health-related problems. These analyses have implications towards personalized medicine for each patient.

“Our goal is to use computational tools to understand how a disease progresses and to analyze whether treatments for patients are optimal,” Jason says. Genetic algorithms are one such method that Jason employs to develop mathematical models of biological systems from experimental data sets. He anticipates that these models could be used to help personalize medicinal treatments on a patient-by-patient basis. For instance, he created a mathematical model of an oral mucositis system, which can be simulated to help predict the outcome and potential treatment options for patients suffering with this disease.

In addition to his research, Jason has also been involved in a number of campus activities. His favorite was the GK-12 Program sponsored by the National Science Foundation, which allowed him to work once a week with technical high school students.

“I enjoyed the GK-12 experience – it gave me the freedom to develop lessons and projects, but also to continue my research as well,” he says. Through this program, he was able to work with students to build a compost water-heating system, which was presented at Lemelson-MIT’s Eureka Fest. Jason has also helped motivate students to get involved in engineering by tutoring undergraduates from Grasso Tech and by serving as a TA at UConn. In the future, Jason plans to pursue these interests and become a professor, so he can maintain the balance between teaching and his research.

During his time at UConn, Jason has earned a number of accolades for his work, such as a Unilever Scholarship, an Arnold Griffin Scholarship, and an NSF GK-12 Fellowship. He has also published two proceedings in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

New Design of Nanodiscs and Nano-vesicles to Target Disease

Posted on by

By Jayna Miller

Lipids are the basic building blocks of biological membranes – and one of the best materials that nature provides us to entrap materials in nanoscale.

nieh_muhping_profile

Dr. Mu-Ping Nieh, an associate professor at UConn, is leading a research group investigating the potential of lipid-based nanoparticles for drug delivery.  Under certain conditions, lipids can self-assemble into hollow, nanoscale spheres (vesicles), solid nanodiscs, or worm-like nano-ribbons. Depending on the properties of drug molecules, it is possible to insert drugs into these structures to help fight diseases, particularly cancer.

muping2One of the challenges involved in this research is how to determine whether the nanodiscs will target cancer-infected cells rather than healthy cells. Current chemotherapy techniques are often harsh, as many good cells are killed in the process of destroying cancer cells, causing patients to become weak from the treatment. The new treatment method proposed by Dr. Nieh’s research team will recognize and attack infected cells only, and thereby reduce patient discomfort.

muping3Dr. Nieh was recently awarded a National Science Foundation grant in 2012 to design such nano-carriers. “Lipid-based nanodiscs and vesicles have the potential to serve as delivery carriers for therapeutics or diagnostic agents, so the stability of the structure is an important issue,” he said.

By examining the morphology of the nanoparticles, Dr. Nieh hopes to gain a better understanding of how the structure affects the targeting efficacy of the nanoparticles, leading to the design of a stable drug delivery system. His next challenge is to generalize the strategy to manufacture uniform nanoparticles from any lipid system in large quantities.

Dr. William Mustain Receives DOE Early Career Research Program Award

Posted on by

Republished with permission of Momentum,
a School of Engineering electronic publication.

 

By Jayna Miller (CLAS Dec. ’13)

mustain2012_profileDr. William Mustain, an assistant professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, is the recipient of a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Early Career Award, which is one of the most competitive in the United States, with only 65 awarded annually. The Early Career Research Program supports the research pursuits of exceptional young scientists, and creates career opportunities in various research fields.  Dr. Mustain’s five-year, $800,000 award was presented by the Office of Basic Energy Science.

The award will bring new equipment to the university and fund two graduate and two undergraduate students over the life of the grant.  Dr. Mustain’s proposal, “Room Temperature Electrochemical Upgrading of Methane to Oxygenate Fuels,” will focus on the development of a new type of electrochemical device that converts methane, from natural gas or biogas, to liquid fuels, like methanol, at room temperature.  This low temperature operation is a significant improvement over state-of-the-art methane-to-fuels processes that operate at very high temperatures, sometimes more than 900°C.  They also generally convert methane to syngas then employ a second process to convert the syngas to other chemicals and fuels. These extra steps add both cost and complexity to the process.

According to Dr. Mustain, the research team will focus on understanding the fundamental mechanisms for the transformation of methane to methanol at ultra-low temperatures, bypassing the syngas intermediate,  as well as determining the optimal design conditions to maximize methane conversion and methanol selectivity.

mustain2

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this process is that it is able to operate at or near room temperature (20-50°C), which has a number of advantages.  “There will be lower energy required for the process, and much lower cost because you do not need high quality heat and you have a wider range of materials that you can consider,” said Dr. Mustain.  He hopes to leverage all of the work that has been done on other electrochemical devices, like batteries and fuel cells, over the last 20 years to make rapid improvements on his prototype.

There are a variety of practical applications for this research.  For instance, methanol can be used as a direct energy carrier, and as a fuel source for small portable power applications or cars using a direct methanol fuel cell.  Methanol is also one of the top 25 industrial chemicals in the world, which means it has a range of uses.  In addition, it can be easily converted to formaldehyde, which is another top 25 industrial chemical.

Dr. Mustain’s previous research has involved the design of new catalyst materials for fuel cells, capacitors and lithium-ion batteries. He also has received the Illinois Institute of Technology Young Alumni Award. For more about his DOE-funded research, please visit http://science.energy.gov/early-career/.

Science Radio Show Enlightens Listeners

Posted on by

Screen shot 2013-06-26 at 1.29.22 PMRepublished with permission of Momentum,
a School of Engineering electronic publication.

 

 

Photo of Jeff McCutcheon in radio studio

Dr. Jeffrey McCutcheon, an assistant professor in the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department, is intent on bringing science, engineering and technology to a broader audience where preconceptions can be discussed openly and overturned. To that end, in April he launched a weekly, two-hour talk radio program on UConn’s noncommercial college and community radio station, WHUS (91.7 FM; www.whus.org/listen-live), called Science Friction.

He chose an edgy name to underline the show’s focus, which squarely targets scientific controversies. The program currently airs Mondays from 1-3 p.m. and reaches a listening audience well beyond the boundaries of the UConn campus.  According to Ryan Caron King, the station’s general manager, “The geographic broadcast area of WHUS’s 4,400 watt signal reaches slightly past Hartford, into western Rhode Island and into southern Massachusetts.”

In explaining his decision to launch the radio show, Dr. McCutcheon says, “A gap exists between scientists and the general public, and some view science and technology as the doom of humanity.  For example, there are debates about certain scientific issues such as climate change, nuclear power, alternative energy and water resources.  I believe that by giving scientists a platform to discuss these controversies, we can allay some of the public’s fears surrounding technology and science.”

“I look at this as a platform much like NPR’s ‘Science Friday.’  Each week I present a different topic or series of topics covering all subjects STEM [science, technology, engineering, mathematics]. I interview students, professors, entrepreneurs, people from the business arena – and not just strictly from UConn but from around the country. It’s important to get a broad spectrum of individuals to talk about the challenges they face and see in certain areas, and to allay fears that nonscientists may have about these technologies.”

His shows have generated eager calls from listeners on either side of the topical debate, and he notes that most callers have been complimentary and respectful.

To date, Dr. McCutcheon, who directs the Sustainable Water and Energy Learning Laboratory (SWELL), has interviewed engineering professors Daniel Burkey, Mei Wei, and Allison MacKay; plus student leaders Kelsey Boch (’13), Breanne Muratori (’13) and Andrew Silva (’14).  He has lined up six more programs for the summer, including interviews with professor Ranjan Srivastava, local businessman Kevin Bouley, Interim Engineering Dean Kazem Kazerounian and students participating in his NSF-sponsored Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), who will be carrying out novel research at UConn that has a business focus.

He notes that the radio show serves both the listening audience and the interviewees. “Very few people have the opportunity to be on the radio these days.  Professors and scientists relish this opportunity to talk about what they do, and students value the opportunity as a singular life event.”

Radio is a life-long interest of Dr. McCutcheon’s, whose father, a professional guitarist, has hosted a classical guitar radio show for 20 years on public radio in Dayton, Ohio.  “But what really got me into radio was listening to baseball games. I’m a big Cincinnati Reds fan and grew up listening to Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall.  When I was older, I began listening to news-talk radio. Radio is a great way to convey news, because radio broadcasts have to be clearer, in a way, than television broadcasts. Not to mention you can listen to radio anywhere, any time without it interfering with whatever you’re doing.”

Science Friction will play a central role in a proposal he is submitting to the National Science Foundation’s Early Career Development program. In his proposal, Dr. McCutcheon will articulate his intention to use this platform as a vehicle for broadening societal awareness of his research as well as that of other scientists, engineers and technologists.

Dr. McCutcheon is planning to make the show’s podcasts available via RSS feed to broaden listenership. He is eager to engage local teachers as well so that the program can reach students as they are beginning to examine scientific concepts and can learn from a spirited discussion involving alternate views.