UNIVERSITY OF Chemical Engineering Alumni News

Delaware First The Path to PartnershipDiversity ™ Engagement Prominence Impact

Delaware Alumni Reception

Monday, November 17, 2008 7-10 p.m. WHAT’S INSIDE

Carpenters’ Hall 320 Chestnut Street Letter from the Chair...... 2 Philadelphia, PA Coordinator Message...... 3 www.aiche.org/annual Class Notes...... 6 Seminars ...... 16 Alumni Reception...... 17 Highlights...... 20 Al Uebler 30 years...... 20 Engineers Without Borders...... 22 Teaching Fellows...... 23 Faculty & Department News...... 24 TWF Russell Symposium 2009...... 32 Students Recognized ...... 40 2007-08 Contributions...... 43 Lette r f r o m the Chai r m an elcome to the 2008 about these and other achievements of merit by our Alumni Newsletter! faculty, graduate and undergraduate students. WAs I noted last year, I am also pleased to report that we have a record “a lot can happen in a year” incoming graduate class (30 accepts) and a near record – what an understatement! 109 (and still counting) incoming freshman class (Per- The first year with our new haps the record salaries offered the graduating class of President, Dr. Patrick (Pat) 2008 have had an effect?). Our Energy and Biochemical Harker can best be described Engineering minors are immensely popular and our as astonishing. The overrid- undergraduate research opportunities serve to further Norman Wagner ing theme on campus has engage our talented undergraduates in our mission of been the development and creating knowledge through scholarly research. From th announcement, at the first UD Forum on May 10 , of A to Z - Alzheimer’s to Zeolites - the faculty, research ™ the new strategic plan – “Path to Prominence ” –a brief staff, postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduate synopsis of which you will find on the inside back cover research assistants continue to imagine, invent, and (more details at www.udel.edu). innovate with world-class (and, as you can read herein, “Change” best describes the atmosphere on campus, extra-planetary-class) research tackling some the grand and in the past year we have seen the replacement challenges facing our society. You can learn more about of nearly the entire upper administration as well as this exciting research on our web site, as well as by many leadership roles around campus, and within the visiting Colburn lab and perusing some of the over 50 Department and College. , former Dean of research posters in the hallways that explain the work the College and valued colleague, accepted the posi- going on in the laboratories behind them. tion of provost at Stony Brook. He has been replaced With these highly visible leadership roles, groundbreak- by Michael Chajes, former chair of Civil Engineering ing research, and often unheralded, but valued ser- at UD and interim Dean. Mark Barteau (Robert L. vice to the University community, the profession, and Pigford Chair and director of the UD Energy Institute), society, Chemical Engineering is leading the University who played a central role in organizing and leading on its Path to Prominence™. You, our remarkable alumni, the development of the UD Strategic Plan, has been are largely to thank for giving us this opportunity. Our promoted to Senior Vice Provost for Research and current success, as well as the future success of our pro- st Strategic Initiatives as of July 1 . This past January, Dion gram is enabled by your valuable donations as well as Vlachos started as CCST center director and Eric Furst by your contributions to society through your service, as CMET center director. Further, as I am writing this technical leadership and citizenship. Please continue letter, Kelvin Lee (Gore Professor and DBI Fellow) has to engage your alma mater, as we are proud of your been announced as the new director of the Delaware achievements and welcome your input and sugges- Biotechnology Institute. tions. I and the rest of the faculty, students, and staff, as The Delaware Tradition of Excellence embodied in the well as your classmates look forward to hearing from Chemical Engineering program continues to help mold you! UD’s future with numerous, remarkable achievements of our faculty, students, and staff. Our three most recent hires, Terry Papoutsakis, Kelvin Lee, and Maciek An- toniewicz are highly productive, as you can read about herein, and we are proud to celebrate Millie Sullivan P.S. Please consider joining us in celebrating the 100th winning the NSF CAREER award (number 14 for the De- anniversary of AIChE at the Delaware Alumni reception partment) and Anne Robinson’s promotion to the rank in Philadelphia and meet the new UD President, Patrick of Full Professor. We are also very pleased to have Prof. Harker, and don’t forget to mark your calendar for the 75th Michael Mackay (B79) join the department of Materials birthday and retirement-fest for TW Fraser Russell. Science and Engineeringw with a courtesy appointment u in Chemical Engineering. Pleasew read on to learn more d w l.e .CH ude 2 E.

Chemical Engineering y comments for this year begin with a restate- ment of announcements that in February Al u m ni M2008, J. Erik Fyrwald, B81, became the chair- man of the board, president, and chief executive officer Co o r dinat o r of Nalco Company. Nalco is a leader in water treatment and energy services and related specialty chemicals Messa g e with 11,700 people worldwide and sales of $3.9 billion. Prior to joining Nalco, Erik had a fabulous career with In his lecture, “Biomass Energy: DuPont. He began as a production engineer, and be- Cost, Scale and Policy Issues”, Jon Olson tween 1981 and 1990 he held various sales and man- Peter examined the econom- agement. In the next decade he was head of DuPont ics of abundant and underuti- Plastics Asia division, the global leader DuPont lized biomasses for energy production. These include Engineering Polymers, and finally VP for Corporate straw and corn stover, forest harvest residues, whole Strategic Planning and Business Development. In 2000 forests and manure. The approach also considered he became the VP and General Manager of DuPont’s purpose-grown crops such as corn and switch grass. Nutrition and Health division followed by promotion in His analysis is a careful examination of the costs for 2003 to VP of the Agriculture and Nutrition division. growing the biomass, gathering it, transporting it to a process site, and selection of the process for recovering Rodney Chase, the interim Chairman of the Board for the energy value or converting it to fuels. Sustainable Nalco, announced the selection of the new CEO with: and carbon neutral routes to energy now have great “Erik Fyrwald brings to Nalco all of the qualities we sought in research buzz but need to be illuminated by engineer- a CEO, including a strong, extended track record of success in ing economics. large, global operations. He is both an exceptional motivator of people and a driver of innovation. His business acumen, strate- On Friday, April 11th, Michael Strano, associate profes- gic insights and commitment to sustainable development made sor of chemical engineering at MIT, presented the Col- this selection an ideal fit.” burn Lecture. This lecture is to honor individuals who Erik Fyrwald’s response was equally positive: have achieved significant success in research at a young age, and Michael Strano clearly fits this definition. Mi- “With Nalco’s water, energy, paper and air expertise, we have chael earned a BS in chemical engineering at Brooklyn an incredible range of growth opportunities to pursue. I look Poly in 1997 and his PhD at Delaware in 2003 under the forward to working closely with the Company’s experienced and deep management team to fully capture the value that exists in direction of Hank Foley. He then had a post doc ap- these businesses.” pointment at Rice with Richard Smalley, a Nobel Lau- reate who made major discoveries characterizing the Surely Nalco will be well served by this outstanding structure and properties of nanotubes and buckeyballs. corporate leader. Michael was an assistant professor at the University of Three alumni presented named department seminars Illinois from 2003 until 2007, when he moved to MIT. He this academic year. The three were Peter Flynn, Michael has won many awards including the Presidential Early Strano and Brian Baynes. Career Award (2005), the Coblentz award for molecular Peter Flynn, B67, returned to the Department to give spectroscopy (2006), the ACS award for excellence in the 2007 Gerster Lecture on November 12th. This named colloidal science (2007), and the Young Investigator lecture honors Jack Gerster for his successes in teach- award from the Materials Research Society (2008). ing, research and administration. Peter graduated with Michael’s seminar was titled, “The Chemistry of Single- high honors and a degree with distinction in three Walled Carbon Nanotubes: Applications to Biomolecule years. Peter earned a MS at Berkeley (1968) and a PhD Detection, Nanotube Separation, and Electronic Net- at Alberta (1974). He spent 25 years in Canada’s energy works.” Carbon nanotubes can be used as unique detec- industry before returning to the University of Alberta, tors. For example DNA adsorbed on a nanotube may where he holds the Poole Chair in Management for undergo a structural shift, which can be followed by w Engineers. His extensive research examines the price measuring the fluorescence in the near infrared. u patterns in deregulated power markets and the eco- Strano’s group has shown how networks of nanotubes w d nomics of greenhouse gas mitigation, particularly can be flexible electronic devices and chemical detec- .e through utilization of biomass. Peter’s success closely tors. These devices are exceedingly sensitive to their w l parallels those of Jack Gerster, and hence his selection environment, apparently adsorbing entities both . e for this lecture. CH ud reversibly and permanently. At this writing Michael is E. 3

www.che.udel.edu/alumni.html ALUMNI NEWSLETTER Al u m ni Co o r dinat o r Messa g e featured on the MIT Chemical Engineering web page attending law school and one seeking a MBA. Those for his recent research success in developing an ultra continuing in chemical engineering will attend “top ten” small and extremely sensitive sensor for sarin and other schools. Of the 44 graduates all but three had at least poisonous gases. one minor, six had three and two had double majors. Michael’s work clearly is cutting edge, and his com- The most popular minor was biochemical engineering mand of spectroscopy and material science is leading (20), reflecting the emphasis on biological technology to novel uses and more complete understanding of nationwide. Other popular minors were economics, single wall nanotubes (SWNTs in the vernacular). chemistry and mathematics. On May 2nd Brian M. Baynes, B97, presented the 2008 Junior Jeffrey Bosco won a Goldwater based on his re- Gerster Lecture, the second of the academic year. search under the inspiration and direction of Jingguang Brian was an outstanding student here: Degree with Chen. Junior Zachary Ulissi was a member of the UD Dististinction, Panel of Distinguished Seniors, and Math team that was in the top group (10 of 100+) in multiple other undergraduate awards. He worked at nationwide competition which is described as “difficult Mobil during his undergraduate training and directly and intense”. Senior Asha Quant was placed on the All thereafter first implementing the automation of a 40 East track team based on her exceptional skill in the unit pilot plant and then connecting the molecular long jump. She was the first UD athlete to compete in composition of crudes to supply chain optimization. In the NCAA East regionals since 2005. These examples 2000 he entered MIT and earned his PhD in 2004 work- reflect the range and depth of the skills of our under- ing with Bernhardt Trout and Danny Wang on protein graduates. stabilization. After MIT he joined Flagship Ventures in Jack Weikart suggested that some acknowledgment be Cambridge, MA as a venture associate. His efforts there given to the passing of two outstanding chemical engi- led to the startup of Codon Devices, first as VP and neering graduates, Jim Westwater and Skip Scriven. chief technical officer, and then as President and CTO in James W. Westwater1 was born in Illinois and earned a 2006. BS in chemical engineering in 1941 at Illinois. In 1943 he Condon Devices has 75 employees at two locations in received his MChE from Delaware examining, “Oxygen Cambridge, MA. His lecture was based his efforts there Absorption in Plastic Films,” and in 1948 he became the and was titled, “Programming the Genome”. very first PhD from Delaware. His dissertation, “Flexural Much of the current excitement in biotechnology Testing of Plastics” was directed by Bob Pigford. He then stems from the identification the genomes of plants joined the faculty at U. Illinois as an assistant professor, and animals. Condon Devices has developed a system became an associate professor in 1955 and professor for synthesizing genomes with customer specified in 1959. He was department chairman from 1962-1980 sequences of up to 100K base pairs and potentially up and retired in1988. He was elected to the National to 1 M base pairs with extremely low error rates. This Academy of Engineering in 1974, was given the Max process is trade-marked BioFab. The other process is Jakob Award jointly from ASME and AIChE in 1971, and trade-marked BioLOGIC, which is library of rules and the AIChE Walker Award in 1966. He was recognized as th considerations which reduce the number of genomes one of 30 distinguished chemical engineers at the 75 needed to search a pathway possibility. anniversary of the AIChE. It is customary to comment on current students, and Westwater’s research combined attention to physical the Class of 2008 had many academic successes. Four fundamentals with superb and innovative experimen- graduated magna cum laude and five cum laude. There tation. His high speed motion pictures of boiling heat were six Degree with Distinctions (exemplary research) transfer showed the formation, growth and breakaway and nine Honors BChEs (scholastic distinction). In the of bubbles. This work gave a better physical under- fall the seniors found a relatively strong job market, standing of the processes and improved correlation of and many obtained and accepted employment offers heat transfer rates. He expanded his technique to study before the end of the year. The salary offers in the fall other forms of heat transfer including dropwise and were strong, particularly in the petroleum industry and flow condensation, nucleate, transition and flow boil- a little less so in pharmaceuticals. ing, Bernard cells, and freezing. Eight of the graduates are attending graduate school His career at Illinois in honored by a professorship in his with five continuing in chemical engineering, two name. He died at age 86 in 2006. 4

Chemical Engineering UNIVERSITY of DELAWARE You are a very important part of our history and our Al u m ni Co o r dinat o r Messa g e future. Jon Olson, our Alumni Coordinator, will be glad to answer any questions or concerns you may have. Please feel free to contact him at 302-831-8472, or send an e-mail to [email protected]. Class of 2008 - Where did they go? L. E. “Skip” Scriven2 was born in California and earned INDUSTRY ______30 a BS in chemical engineering at Berkeley in 1952. At UD Air Products (3) he earned his MChE in 1953 and his PhD in 1956 under Axens NA (3) the direction of Bob Pigford. His dissertation was titled “Interfacial Resistance in Gas Absorption.” He worked for ExxonMobil (3) Shell Development in Emeryville, CA before joining the US Patent and Trademark (2) faculty at Minnesota in 1959. There he rose quickly to ABB Process Control professor in 1966 and became a Regents Professor in 1988, the highest honor UM gives to a faculty member. AMEC Skip died August 3, 2007 from pancreatic cancer. BASF Skip was devoted to undergraduate and graduate Biochem Technology teaching. He championed team teaching, was very in- Boeing, Polymers volved with the undergraduate unit operations labora- Dixon, Engineering tory. His 8:00a.m. graduate fluid mechanics course was Dow unique and not to be forgotten: with his characteristic intensity, he continuously refined, polished and per- Edgewood Chemical Biological Center fected this course. Fraunhoffer Reseach Skip’s research was broad and deep. He produced over Hess 400 papers and 100 PhDs (including Eric Kaler), mainly Lehigh Cement centered on coatings and coating processes. He also MedImmune contributed to enhanced oil recovery, capillary hydro- dynamics, colloids and interfacial phenomena. His work Merck spanned experimental studies, computer simulations, Rodel and meticulous physical analysis. His efforts earned Sartomer him worldwide renowned, consulting opportunities, Sunoco and invitations to present named lectures. He has an extensive list of awards: Colburn (1977) and Founders Survice (1997) from the AIChE, and the Murphree IEC (1990), Telvent Tallmadge (1992) and Tess (2007) from ACS. He was Valero elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1978 ChEG GRAD SCHOOL______6 and was a Fellow of the AIChE and TAPPI. His papers are exhaustive and penetrating: they include a review of CMU (2) the pertinent literature, an efficient presentation of the Johns Hopkins new ideas, and comprehensive illustrations of them. Illinois His work sets a very high standard for scholarship. The Nottingham (UK) International Society of Coating Science and Technol- Wisconsin ogy established the L.E. Scriven award in his honor and Other GRAD SCHOOL______3 to recognize young researchers in this field. 1Based on a NAE obituary written by Richard Alkire and Thomas Columbia Law Hanratty. UD M Econ 2Based on an obituary written by Jim Pirie and posted on the U. Minnesota web site. UD MBA UNKNOWN/LOOKING______5 The continuing assistance by Jack Weikart is acknowl- edged and greatly appreciated. TOTAL______44

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www.che.udel.edu/alumni.html ALUMNI NEWSLETTER He started out in the Organic Chemicals Division. When Class No tes asked if he was an exceptional student of organic rthur L. Goldstein, M59, was inducted into the chemistry, he replied: “My memory is that all the ChEs Alumni Wall of Fame at the Induction Ceremony flunked organic chemistry first and had to repeat. I got Aheld May 9, 2008. Arthur Goldstein, a pioneer in D’s on first try and didn’t have to repeat. Why DuPont water purification and separation technology, retired chose to start me in Ponsol Dyes is unknown to me.” after 32 years as Chairman, President and Chief Execu- In 1978-1981 he was a key member of a team that built tive Office of Ionics, Inc. He oversaw the company’s the Phthaloyl Chloride plant at the Chambers Works growth from a small R&D company into an internation- (intermediates for and ). He describes this ally recognized leader in water purification, desalina- work as his most satisfying success. “Nothing tops de- tion and separation technology. In 2005, Ionics was veloping a new facility and starting it up successfully.” bought by General Electric for approximately $1.3 John’s path up the technical ladder began as a R&D Engineer in the Titanium Technologies division. In 1996 he became an Engineering Fellow followed by promo- tion to Senior Engineering Fellow in 2002. His eleva- tion to DuPont Fellow in 2006 was in recognition of his significant contributions to developing profitable technologies. He emphasized that his expertise is not in

producing pigment (TiO2) but in processing byproducts generated via the DuPont chloride process. The DuPont chloride process starts with low grade titanium ores

and converts them to TiCl4 and other easily separated byproducts. This dual beneficiation and purification gives a huge cost advantage to competing chlorine processes which start with high grade ore to produce TiCl . UD Alumni Association Vice President Alan Brayman (second 4 from left) with Alumni Wall of Fame inductees (from left) Lisa John has been recognized for his work on underground Rowen, Elizabeth Morris, Alex T. Bourdon, Arthur L. Goldstein and injection of the biproducts of the chlorine process. Carol Post. In 2002 John led an effort to demonstrate the under- ground injection is the best sustainable process for billion. The holder of 18 patents related to the purifica- treating certain wastes from the chlorine process, and tion and processing of liquids, Goldstein was elected to EPA concurs with this assessment. The new DuPont the prestigious National Academy of Engineering, one titanium plant in Mexico is using underground injection of the highest professional honors that can be given to with the approval of the Mexican government, and un- an engineer. Membership in the NAE honors those who derground injection will be used for a one billion dollar have made outstanding contributions to engineering plant planned for 2010 startup in China. research, practice or education, and Goldstein joins 18 other UD alumni and six engineering faculty in achiev- John also was cited for his contributions to highly acidic ing this recognition. A member of the Delaware Dia- aqueous processing (two patents), high temperature mond Society since 2003, Goldstein was presented the ore processing, and a general approach for process UD College of Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award development called Pace for Progress. Whereas the in 1996. Mr. Goldstein continues to play an active role in DuPont Pace program covers manufacturing, Pace for healthcare, education and business. He is a trustee, Process rigorously addresses the development phase Treasurer and Chairman of the Finance Committee of and its transition to commercialization. Partners HealthCare System, a trustee at the California In 2005 John initiated an Innovation Award Program Institute of Technology, a trustee of the Massachusetts for the Titanium Technologies department. His goal General Physicians Organization and a director of Cabot was to stimulate technical innovations which yield step Corporation and many others. changes in profits. The program made a $1MM increase John Craven, B66, replied to the 2007 newsletter with a in profits each year since inception, a clear success. note describing his career at DuPont, pointing out that John notes that he has worked extensively with Bert in December 2006 he was made a DuPont Fellow, the Diemer, Jim Dyer, Art Etchells, Rich Grenville, Steve highest rung on the DuPont technical ladder. Grise, Jim Tilton, Noel Scrivner and others. These names 6

Chemical Engineering UNIVERSITY of DELAWARE are familiar to many in the UD chemical engineering ing, marketing, sales, strategic planning and finance. community. After Arco was acquired by Lyondell he served as Direc- Michael. Todd, B73, is now an Engineering Project tor of Research and Development from 2000 to 2003, Manager for Jacobs Engineering Group on Baton Vice President, Supply Chain from 2003 to 2006, and as Rouge, LA. He is married to Carla, and they have two President of Lyondell – Europe with additional global children, Alexander (1978) and Kathryn (1980). In a let- responsibility for Lyondell’s styrene and isocyanate ter to Fraser Russell, he commented (edited): business from 2006 to 2008. The last position encom- passed businesses with $7.5 billion sales. Dave served We’re still in Baton Rouge. I’m loving work, and I think as Senior Vice President and Acting Chief Financial I’m holding my own with respect to Jacobs’ expecta- Officer of Foamex for six months of 2000 when Foamex tions. I’m starting to feel like one of the journeymen on had the potential of going private. He rejoined Lyondell the staff, which is my career objective. I’m presently in when the transaction did not materialize. the seam between assignments. I’m being proposed to other clients for new work, of which there is plenty - so Thomas F. Degnan Jr., PhD77, was honored as a “Hero no worries about having something to do - just waiting of Chemistry”, by the American Chemical Society (ACS). to see what it’ll be. The ACS Heroes of Chemistry program recognizes chemical scientists whose work has led to the success- On the family front, Carla and I are doing fine; getting ful innovation and development of commercial prod- more and more acclimated to life here in Baton Rouge. ucts. The 2007 honorees were recognized August 19 There are a lot of positives from standpoint of work, during the ACS meeting in Boston. friendly people, mild winter weather, year-around golf, restaurants & entertainment here (broadly speaking Tom is manager of Breakthrough and New Leads Tech- includes New Orleans & Houston), and the LSU culture nology at ExxonMobil R&E in Annandale, N.J. He joined here in town. But as with any location, also some draw- the Mobil CRL in Princeton in 1980, moved to Paulsboro backs. It’s just not a well-run jurisdiction. in 1989 where he went from group leader to scientist to manager of Mobil’s Catalyst Technology Group. In 2000 My son Alex (29) has become something of a control he moved to the ExxonMobil lab in Annandale where systems guy & is now my favorite Chevroid! He starts he has served as laboratory director and manager with Dec 3rd with Chevron in their Engineering Technology increasing responsibilities. Center in California for 2 to 3 months of indoctrination. Then he expects to take on a 28/28 rotating assignment The award was given to a team under Tom’s direc- to one of their scenic destinations (Angola or Kazakh- tion that developed the PxMax process for converting stan). toluene to para-xylene at high yield and reduced cost. The team developed a unique process for making the My daughter Katie (27) is in Maryland, happy as a clam. PXMax catalyst. Don’t see her nearly enough. She’s married, teaching school, very involved in church activities with her hus- “Instead of producing a mixture of xylenes comprising band. No grandchildren yet. 25 percent para-xylene, typical of conventional, equi- librium-limited toluene disproportionation processes, On April 7, 2008, Foamex announced that David Pri- PxMax can produce para-xylene selectivities in excess lutski, B75, was named Executive Vice President and of 90 percent,” Degnan said. “It does this through a per- Chief Operating Officer reporting directly to Jack John- manent selectivation process that produces catalysts son, President and Chief Executive Officer. The press that discriminate between differences in xylene isomers release included a salutary statement from President through structures controlled to less than 0.01 nm (0.1 Johnson: “We are indeed fortunate to bring a strong, Angstrom)--nanotechnology at the ‘sub-nano’ scale. The proven leader of Dave’s caliber to our organization at catalyst is extremely stable and rarely requires regen- a time in which we are implementing and executing eration. Several units have been running longer than six our growth strategy. Dave’s depth of industry knowl- years without shut down or regeneration.” edge, international experience, versatile operations background, and demonstrated ability to create high “Besides the gain in yield, PxMax also has important performance, team-based work environments will bring environmental benefits,” Degnan said. “The process great value to Foamex.” generates less waste by reducing the energy needed for para-xylene separation. The process significantly Dave’s career started with Arco Chemical where he had reduces plant carbon dioxide emissions, a considerable many assignments of increasing responsibility. These benefit at a time when concerns about global warming assignments included engineering, R&D, manufactur- are increasing.” 7

www.che.udel.edu/alumni.html ALUMNI NEWSLETTER “I was very nar, “Dynamics and Thermodynamics on the Nanoscale”, Class No tes fortunate to was very well received, and on the basis of this and his be a m