THE VIRGINIA TECH DEPARTMENT Of CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CONNECTION SuMMER 2012 Greetings from the Department Head faculty, students, and alumni receive recognition Dear Alumni and Friends impacts on the quality of our newsletter as head of the of the Virginia Tech Depart- physical facilities. First, con- department, as I recently ac- ment of Chemical Engineer- struction on the Signature cepted an offer to become ing: Engineering Building is well Dean of the College of Engi- Greetings once again underway and the depart- neering at the University of from Blacksburg. I hope all of ment should be moving into Kentucky. While I am excited you had a wonderful summer this state-of-the-art building about this new opportunity, Walz and managed to stay some- in early 2014. Second, signifi - I will miss all of the great what cool. It even topped 100 cant renovations have been friends that I have made while ment is on a very positive degrees several times here! completed on the depart- at Virginia Tech. Thanks in trajectory. I certainly hope that The past 12 months ment’s unit operations labora- large part to the tremendous you will continue to provide have been another busy and tory located in Hancock Hall. support that the department similar support to the next productive period for the de- Each of these is described in continues to receive from its head of this great department. partment, which I have tried greater detail within the news- alumni, a number of positive With best regards, to summarize in this edition of letter. and signifi cant things have Connection. As you will read, Finally, it is with very happened to our program our faculty, staff, students, mixed emotions that I inform over the past seven years, John Y. Walz and alumni continue to be you that this will be my last and it is clear that the depart- Professor and Head recognized for their success, both from the university and from national organizations Construction underway on future home as well. As examples, Y.A. Liu, of chemical engineering who is well known to many As can be seen in this photo, construction is well underway on the Signature Engineering of you and who has taught Building, which will be the new home for all offi ces and research laboratories for the chemi- our senior-level capstone cal engineering department. design courses for 30 years, The machine shop will remain was named an Alumni Dis- in Randolph and the unit tinguished Professor in the operations laboratory College of Engineering, Ryan will remain in Hancock. Shaw was named the out- The current target date standing senior in the College for completion of the of Engineering for 2012, and building is the end of alumnus Joe Collie (B.S. ChE 2013, with move-in 1950) received the 2011 Col- planned for early 2014. lege of Engineering Service Award. The Signature I am also pleased to re- Engineering Building port on two ongoing projects in June 2012. that will have substantial The VIRGINIA TECH DEPARTMENT of CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CONNECTION DEPARTMENT NEWS unit Operations koros presents Doumas Laboratory continues Distinguished Lecture to undergo renovation The 2011 Bill and Ann The Doumas/Dow Chemical Doumas The department’s unit operations laboratory, located in Han- Company Distinguished lecture- cock Hall (adjacent to Randolph) continues to undergo signifi - Lecture was presented by ship was cant renovation. In addition to adding new experiments and lab Professor William J. Koros, made furniture, the lab has been painted and many of the utility lines the Roberto C. Goizueta possible have been upgraded. Chair and Georgia Research by a gen- Alliance Eminent Scholar in erous do- Membranes at the Georgia nation by Institute of Technology. alumnus Koros, a former member Basil ‘Bill’ of the department’s advisory Doumas KOROS board, spoke on “Evolution- (B.S. ary Steps Toward a Revolu- 1954, M.S. 1955, Ph.D. tion in Separation and Purifi - 1961, all in ChE) and his cation Processes.” wife Ann. ford joins advisory board Roseanne Ford, Cavaliers’ Distin- guished Teaching Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineer- ing at the University of Virginia, joined the ChE Advisory Board in the fall of 2011. Ford earned her B.S. from the Univer- sity of Delaware and Students work in the newly-renovated unit operations lab her M.S. and Ph.D. during the fi rst summer session of 2012. from the University of Pennsylvania, all in Holshouser joins department chemical engineering. She is a Fellow of the We are pleased to welcome American Institute Kevin Holshouser to the de- of Medical and Bio- partment as a lab technician/ logical Engineering, FORD machinist. Previously, Holshous- and has won both er worked in building/facilities the Thomas E. Hutchinson Research. maintenance. He has already Faculty Award for excellence Ford replaces Professor played a key role in helping to in teaching and the Univer- Bob Davis on the board, who renovate the department’s unit sity of Virginia President and was the previous chair of operations laboratory. HOLSHOUSER Visitors’ Prize for Scientifi c chemical engineering at U.Va.

2 The VIRGINIA TECH DEPARTMENT of CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CONNECTION DEPARTMENT NEWS ChEGSA Graduate Student Symposium held The graduate students of the department hosted another successful Graduate Student Symposium on April 12, 2012. The one-day event consisted of oral presenta- tions during the day, a poster session/reception in the afternoon, and a banquet in the evening. Overseeing the organiza- tion of the symposium this year was graduate student Francisco Guzman. One of the highlights of this year’s symposium was the ple- nary talk by Professor Scott Guelcher of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecu- lar Engineering at Vanderbilt University. Guelcher received his B.S. degree in chemical engineering from Virginia Graduate student David Herman discusses his work at the afternoon poster session. Tech in 1992 and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Carnegie Mellon University, entitled “Injectable Polymeric Treatment of Contaminated University of Pittsburgh and respectively. His talk was Dual-Purpose Bone Grafts for Open Fractures.”

Virginia Tech Chemical Engineering Department CONNECTION John Y. Walz ...... Department Head Jane Price...... Coordinator David Simpkins ...... Designer The Virginia Tech Department of Chemical Engineering Connec- tion is a publication for the alumni of the Chemical Engineering Department published by the Chemical Engineering Department, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg VA 24061.

Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, veteran status, national origin, religion, or political affi liation. Anyone having questions concerning discrimination should contact the Offi ce for Equity and Inclusion. Professor Scott Guelcher delivers his plenary lecture. 3 The VIRGINIA TECH DEPARTMENT of CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CONNECTION fACuLTy AND STAff NEWS Liu named Alumni Distinguished Professor Y.A. Liu, Frank C. Vilbrandt Endowed graduate students have made signifi cant projects that repre- Professor of Chemical Engineering, has contributions in the areas of energy and sent actual problems been named an Alumni Distinguished water savings, and design and optimiza- faced by engineers. Professor by the Virginia Tech Board tion of polymer, biodiesel, and petroleum This approach pro- of Visitors for his commitment to his refi ning operations. Together with his vides students in his LIU students and colleagues as an advi- students, Liu has published nine books senior-level capstone sor, counselor, and friend. The Alumni and some 120 research papers. design courses with fi rst-hand experi- Distinguished Professorship is a pre- Since the 1980s, Liu has worked in ence of the challenges associated with eminent appointment recognizing faculty industrial outreach during his university “real world” design. who have made outstanding contribu- breaks, promoting sustainable develop- This experience is a major strength of tions to the instructional program of the ment in Virginia industries and develop- Virginia Tech’s chemical engineering de- university, and in so doing, have touched ing countries. He has worked closely sign education. Liu has received stellar the lives of generations of Virginia Tech with both international and American- teaching evaluations, and engineering alumni. based corporations, including SINOPEC, students have twice honored him with During his 30-year academic ca- Formosa Plastics Group, and Honeywell the Sporn Award for excellence in en- reer at Virginia Tech, Liu has achieved Specialty Materials. gineering teaching. Additionally, he has international recognition for his promo- It is this unique partnership with in- inspired his students to win top awards tion of sustainable development and dustry from around the world that allows in the Chemical Engineering National environmental stewardship. He and his Liu’s students to apply design skills to Design Competitions eight times. Rajagopalan named Hord faculty fellow Associate Professor the late Robert H. Hord, Jr., faculty in the Department of in the fi eld of liver tissue Padma Rajagopalan has a 1950 graduate of the Col- Chemical Engineering who engineering. She has pio- been awarded the Rob- lege of Engineering who was have shown exceptional neered unique engineered ert H. Hord Jr. Chemical an enthusiastic supporter merit in research, teaching tissue mimics that dramati- Engineering Fellowship. The of Virginia Tech’s chemical and/or service. cally improve our ability to Robert H. Hord Jr. Chemical and mechanical engineering Rajagopalan, who joined maintain stable and func- Engineering Fellowship was programs. The fellowship the Virginia Tech faculty in tional cultures of liver cells established by a gift from acknowledges and rewards 2007, is an emerging leader outside the body. She has developed the fi rst 3D liver mimic that can recapitulate several critical aspects of liver architecture that are found within the body. Rajagopalan has a strong record of obtaining funding for her research. She has been awarded eight grants totaling more than $3.5 mil- lion from multiple agencies, including the prestigious NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award. Last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded Professor Padma Rajagopalan (far right) with her graduate students and participants in her her a three-year $750,000 2012 summer camp for female high school students. See Hord, page 7 4 The VIRGINIA TECH DEPARTMENT of CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CONNECTION fACuLTy AND STAff NEWS Two ChE faculty recognized at awards ceremony Chemical engineering fac- sentations. Recently, Martin lab, and has worked with an Lu was named a College of ulty members Steve Martin worked with four undergradu- additional 20 undergraduates Engineering Faculty Fel- and Chang Lu received ate students on improving on research projects. low, which provides $5,000 awards during the 2012 Col- specifi c experiments in the Associate Professor Chang annually for three years to lege of Engineering Awards be used in support of his Ceremony. research. Lu has made sig- Assistant Professor Steve nifi cant contributions to the Martin received a Dean’s practice of gene delivery and Award for Excellence in cellular analysis. In particular, Teaching. Over the last fi ve his group has demonstrated years, he has devoted a that a new electroporation signifi cant amount of his time technique can permeate the to improving the laboratory entire cell membrane for experience for students tak- gene delivery. ing the department’s required He and his coworkers have Unit Operations Lab. He has also shown how to signifi - created a new, comprehen- cantly improve the effi ciency sive laboratory handbook of electroporation by har- that replaced a variety of nessing the hydrodynamic legacy documents and Professors Steve Martin (l) and Chang Lu (r) pose with De- effects that uniquely occur included guidelines for safety, partment Head John Walz at the 2012 College of Engineer- when fl uids fl ow along curved report writing, and oral pre- ing Awards Ceremony. paths.

Research from Lu’s group featured on journal cover The research work by on a Chip, the premier journal measurement of quantum Professor Chang Lu and in the fi eld of microfl uidics dot uptake at the cell popula- coworkers was featured on and miniaturization. The tion level using microfl uidic the cover of issue 8 of Lab paper, entitled “Quantitative evanescent-wave-based fl ow cytometry,” describes the use of a novel microfl uidic cyto- Durrill wins Sporn award metric tool developed in Lu’s For the second time in six years, the lab to examine the delivery of students of Virginia Tech’s College of En- fl uorescent nanoparticles into gineering have selected Professor Pres- cells at the single cell level. ton Durrill to receive the Sporn Award for Excellence in Engineering Education. Nominations for the Sporn award are Marand wins award solicited from all engineering students, Professor Eva Marand her colleagues at the making the award highly competitive. has been awarded a Ful- institute aim to chemi- Durrill retired from Radford University in bright U.S. Scholar Award cally modify the surface 2002, where he had taught chemistry for that will provide support of carbon nanotubes with 37 years, and joined the chemical engi- to her to spend the spring specifi c charged molecules DURRILL neering department at Virginia Tech in 2013 semester at the that could then be used 2004 as an adjunct professor. In addition Institute of Macromolecu- to control water and ion to teaching general chemistry courses, he annually teaches lar Chemistry in Prague, transport through mem- both the introductory Mass and Energy Balances courses Czech Republic. branes composed of these and one session of the summer unit operations lab. Professor Marand and nanotubes.

5 The VIRGINIA TECH DEPARTMENT of CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CONNECTION fACuLTy AND STAff NEWS kiran named editor Liu publishes major textbook of book series Professor Y.A. Liu and his Ph.D. stu- refi ning and process optimization. Erdogan Kiran was named the Editor dents Ai-Fu Chang and Kiran Pashikanti, of the Elsevier Book Series on Supercriti- both September 2011 graduates of the cal Fluid Science and Technology (Kiran department, published a 522-page text- is also currently editor-in-chief of the book, Refi nery Engineering: Integrated Journal of Supercritical Fluids). He was Process Modeling and Optimization, the invited Plenary Lecturer at the 13th Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany (2012). European Meeting on Supercritical Fluids The book is a comprehensive guide to held in October 2011 at The Hague in predictive modeling of integrated refi nery the Netherlands and also gave an invited reaction and fractionation systems for talk at Tufts University. He organized process optimization and production plan- and co-chaired the session on Pharma- ning. It is the fi fth pioneering textbook that ceutical and Biomedical Applications of Professor Liu’s doctoral students have Supercritical Fluids at the AIChE Annual written with him based on their disserta- Meeting in Minneapolis, and served on tion work, which is a truly unique and the organizing committee of the 10th signifi cant achievement. The textbook International Symposium on Supercritical received excellent reviews and strong Fluids (ISSF) held in May 2012 in San endorsements by top industrial practitio- Francisco. ners and academic experts in petroleum

Professor Don Baird had an extremely productive year in research. He gave Professor Emeritus Garth Wilkes an invited lecture at the International Congress of Rheology in Lisbon, Portugal, remains busy teaching short courses completed the second edition of his textbook Polymer Processing: Principles and around the country. Since October 2011, Design, and graduated four Ph.D. students from his group. In addition, Baird’s Wilkes has taught eight short courses at Ph.D. student Gregario Velez-Garcia accepted a faculty position in the Department academic and industrial locations on a of Chemical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. variety of topics related to polymers. In Memoriam: Dr. Arthur M. Squires The Department was saddened to learn Manhattan Project. He Professor of Chemical Engineering from that University Distinguished Professor later worked at Hydro- 1976 to 1982 and University Distinguished Emeritus Arthur M. Squires passed carbon Research, Inc. Professor from 1978 to 1986. away May 18, 2012 at the age of 96. (HRI) of New York City Those who knew Squires will remem- A distinguished member of the chemi- from 1946-59, where ber his quick wit, broad interests, and cal engineering profession, Squires was he became an expert enthusiasm for teaching, mentoring and a member of the National Academy of in industrial fl uidization helping young people in their careers. Engineering and a Fellow of the American processes. He was a Since his retirement from the department Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was self-employed consul- in 1986, he continued to enjoy a variety of a recipient of the Henry Storch Award of tant from 1959 to 1967 activities in music, philosophy, anthropol- the American Chemical Society in 1973, and then joined the Squires ogy, and world travel. He was particularly recognizing his contributions to fuel chem- chemical engineering (photo circa 1983) proud of his book, The Tender Ship: Gov- istry and engineering. faculty of the City Col- ernmental Management of Technological Educated at the University of Mis- lege of The City University of New York. At Change, published in 1986, that shared souri (A.B. 1938) and Cornell University City College, Squires served as chemical his many unique insights and experiences (Ph.D. 1947), Squires started his career engineering chairman from 1970 to 1973 about how government could productively at the M.W. Kellogg Company in 1942, and as University Distinguished Profes- get involved in technology development. participating in the design and startup sor from 1974 to 1976. He joined the In 2011, he published From Toumai to G. of the gaseous diffusion plant at Oak chemical engineering faculty at Virginia Stein and O. Wilde, a book that describes Ridge National Laboratory as part of the Tech in 1976, and was Frank C. Vilbrandt his latest interests in human evolution.

6 The VIRGINIA TECH DEPARTMENT of CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CONNECTION STuDENT NEWS B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees awarded The department awarded 74 B.S. degrees during the Matthew Green, Ph.D. spring 2012 graduation. We are happy to report that more Tailoring Structure and Function of Imidazole-Containing Block than 75% of these students had plans for either full-time em- Copolymers for Emerging Applications from Gene Delivery ployment or graduate school. to Electromechanical Devices The department also awarded the following M.S. and Ph.D. Advisors: Professors Tim Long (Chemistry) and Richey Davis degrees over the past year. Michael Heinzer, Ph.D. Ratthaporn Chatchaidech, M.S. Phase Behavior and Ordering Kinetics of Block Copolymers in Lubrication Forces in Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) Melts Solution During Solvent Removal Advisor: Professor William Ducker Advisor: Professor Don Baird David Herman, M.S. Kevin Ortman, Ph.D. Stabilization of Weakly Charged Microparticles Using Highly Assessing an Orientation Model and Stress Tensor for Semi- Charged Nanoparticles fl exible Glass Fibers in Polypropylene Using a Sliding Plate Advisor: Professor John Walz Rheometer for the Use of Simulating Processes Miles Dion Ngute, M.S. Advisor: Professor Don Baird Comparison of Multieffect and Extractive Distillation Systems Kiran Pashikanti, Ph.D. for Corn-Based Ethanol Plants Predictive Modeling Large-Scale Integrated Refi nery Reaction Advisor: Professor Y.A. Liu and Fractionation Systems from Plant Data: Fluid Catalytic Ai-Fu Chang, Ph.D. Cracking (FCC) and Continuous Catalyst Regeneration Process Simulation of Next Generation Liquid Fuel Produc- (CCR) Catalytic Reforming Processes tion – Commercial Hydrocracking and Biodiesel Manufac- Advisor: Professor Y.A. Liu turing Gregorio Velez-Garcia, Ph.D. Advisor: Professor Y.A. Liu Experimental Evaluation and Simulations of Fiber Orientation Chen Chen, Ph.D. in Injection Molding of Polymers Containing Short Glass The Manufacture of Polymer Nanocomposite Materials Using Fibers Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Advisors: Professors Don Baird and Peter Wapperom (Math) Advisor: Professor Don Baird

Shaw named 2012 Outstanding Graduating Senior Hord - from page 4 in Virginia Tech College of Engineering Science to Achieve Results (STAR) award. At Virginia Tech, she serves as Chemical Engineering major Ryan Shaw was presi- the program director for a new interdis- Shaw of Roswell, GA, was named the dent of the student ciplinary graduate education program on Outstanding Graduating Senior in the chapter of the Computational Tissue Engineering. The College of Engineering for the 2011-12 American Institute of program focuses on training a new com- academic year. Shaw, who also majored Chemical Engineers munity of graduate students at the con- in mathematics and minored in chemistry, and was a member of fl uence of tissue engineering, systems is the son of Gill and Karen Shaw. Omega Chi Epsilon biology, and computer science. As an undergraduate, Shaw was a Honors Society and She also founded and co-directs the member of the University Honors Pro- the International Institute for Critical Technology and Ap- gram and was the recipient of numerous Association for the plied Science Center for Systems Biol- merit-based scholarships and awards, Exchange of Stu- ogy of Engineered Tissues, which seeks including the prestigious Barry M. dents for Technical Shaw to defi ne a new synthesis between tissue Goldwater Scholarship. He conducted Experience. He engineering and systems biology. undergraduate research in the chemistry served as a volunteer with elementary In July 2012 Rajagopalan conducted department, served as a teaching as- school students, and was involved in a week long summer camp for female sistant, was a team leader of the Chem-E community service activities with National high school students entitled “Cells and Car design team, and worked as a co-op Chemistry Week, E-Week, Relay For Life, Biomaterials.” student with Eastman Chemical Com- and Meals on Wheels. pany. See Shaw, page 8 7 The VIRGINIA TECH DEPARTMENT of CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CONNECTION

Shaw - from page 7 STuDENT NEWS After graduation, Shaw accepted a full time position with Eastman Chemical Company at its Kingsport, Tenn., facility. Cox named outstanding student The Outstanding Graduating Senior Awards are Megan Cox, a 2012 chemi- Phi Sigma Pi (a presented at the Student Honors Day Banquet cal engineering senior from professional national each spring. These awards are co-sponsored Silverdale, WA, received the honors society), and by the Virginia Tech Alumni Association and the James Lewis Howe Award was active in Relay senior class. The purpose of the award is to rec- for Outstanding Student. This for Life and the Big ognize outstanding student performance in each award is presented annually by Event. After gradu- college of the university. the Virginia Blue Ridge Section ation, she will be Students are selected on the basis of their of the American Chemical Soci- continuing her studies grade point average (3.4 or higher on a 4.0 scale) ety and consists of a certifi cate at Virginia Tech as a and outstanding performance in several or all and a copy of the Merck Index, Ph.D. graduate stu- of the following areas: academic achievement, which are presented at one of dent in the School for extracurricular activities, leadership positions, and the section’s dinners. Megan Biomedical Engineer- Cox contributions of service to the university and/or was a member of AIChE and ing and Sciences. community. Taking uO lab in Denmark a popular option

In 2011, 36 students elected to complete their Unit Operations Laboratory at the Technical University of Denmark in Lyngby (about a 20 minute train ride from Copenhagen). As part of the four-week program, students complete seven laboratory experiments plus a fi nal presentation on a topic focused on some aspect of life in Denmark (e.g., culture, history, business, geography, etc.) Students also tour several industrial facilities to learn about differences in similarities between business practices in the U.S. and Europe. And of course, sight-seeing in Denmark is a major part of the experience.

A group of Virginia Tech students in front of Hamlet’s Castle in Elsinore. For an additional photo, see page 13.

8 The VIRGINIA TECH DEPARTMENT of CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CONNECTION STuDENT NEWS Students launch Chem-E-Car team One of the exciting events our stu- dents prepared for during the 2011-2012 academic year was the Chem-E-Car Competition. A team was formed in the fall semester to design, build and test a small vehicle with the goal of ultimately competing against other universities at the AIChE Spring regional student con- ference, held at Clemson University. The main team members – Hassan Assaad, Mohamed Chouat, Josh Henry, Tony Himes, Tim Kent, Ryan Shaw, and Amanda Vermaaten – undertook quite a challenge, as typically it takes years for a team to be prepared for competi- tion. Strong support was also provided by Kerry Goldsmith, Yousef Hanif and Megan Salvato. One of the more challenging aspects of the competition is that the vehicle Members of the 2011-12 Chem-E-Car team. From left to right: Megan Salvato, must be powered by a chemical reaction Ryan Shaw, Kerry Goldsmith, faculty advisor Professor Peter Rim, Tim Kent, and travel a prescribed distance, with Amanda Vermaaten, Yousef Hanif, Tony Himes, Hassan Assaad, Josh Henry, and the distance being provided only a few Mohamed Chouat. minutes prior to the competition. As the stopping mechanism must be a chemical drive, hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicle mented, “The team’s achievement was reaction as well, the contest truly tests with an iodine clock stopping mechanism. remarkable and was particularly impres- the chemical engineering skills of the Against all odds, the team met the sive given the tight schedule.” competitors. competition deadline and was able to fi n- The team graciously acknowledges Our team achieved their goals with ish in the middle of the competition fi eld. alumnus Steve Cope (B.S. ChE 1981), fl ying colors, creatively building a 4 wheel Their advisor, Professor Peter Rim, com- who provided funding for the project.

Parham receives AIChE award Samavedi awarded research fellowship Based on her work as part of a tissue Satyavrata (Satya) Samavedi, a 4th year engineering research group and her overall chemical engineering Ph.D. graduate student academic achievements, Virginia Tech working with Professors Abby Whittington and chemical engineering student Reisha Par- Aaron Goldstein, was awarded a Francis Re- ham, of Chesapeake, Va., received a 2011- search Fellowship from the Virginia Tech Grad- 12 American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ uate School. The David W. Francis and Lillian Minority Scholarship Award. Parham worked Francis Scholarship Fund was established for the past two years in the research lab to provide graduate fellowships in research of chemical engineering Professor Padma emphasizing longer, safer, and healthier lives. Rajagopalan on a project focused on the The Francis Research Fellowship includes a design and assembly of three-dimensional stipend of $18,000 plus tuition for one aca- liver-mimetic cellular architectures. Parham, demic year. One such fellowship is awarded Parham Samavedi who has made the academic Dean’s List annually. Savavedi’s research focuses on since her freshman year, is a member of the Virginia Tech chap- regenerating tissue interfaces using graded electrospun scaffolds ter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and has and stem cells. Using different approaches, he investigates the served as AIChE’s Student Government Association representa- role of mechano-chemical gradient cues in infl uencing stem cell tive. behavior to promote regeneration of ligament-bone transitions. 9 The VIRGINIA TECH DEPARTMENT of CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CONNECTION

ALuMNI NEWS Lohr appointed to state commission Virginia Governor Bob responsible for assessing and Executive Director of lege of McDonnell has appointed manufacturing needs and the Commonwealth Center Engineer- alumnus David Lohr (B.S. formulating legislative and for Advanced Manufactur- ing’s ChE 1976) to the Manufac- regulatory remedies to en- ing (CCAM), is an active Advisory turing Development Com- sure the future of the manu- and founding member of the Board and mission. facturing sector in Virginia. department’s advisory board Commit- The commission is Lohr, who is President and also serves on the Col- tee of 100. Lohr Collie awarded engineering service award Alumnus Joseph H. Collie (B.S. ChE 1950) received the 2011 College of Engineering Service Award. Collie, who currently resides in Durham, NC, was a combat infantryman in World War II, and when he returned to the United States, he used the G.I. bill to pay for his college education. Upon his graduation he joined DuPont, and then spent some time at another smaller company. In 1969, Collie decided to pursue the American Dream and start his own company, Southchem, based in Durham, N.C. He built this chemical distribution fi rm into a thriving business, one that he sold in 1992, but continued as a member of its board. In 1995, Joe and his wife Barbara Collie presented Virginia Tech’s chemical engineering department with a $1 million gift. He specifi ed this money should be used to establish a chaired professor- ship dedicated to developing an interdis- ciplinary program in chemical distribution and marketing. The Collie Professorship is awarded to a distinguished professor who has extensive industrial experience and expertise in production, market- ing, and sales of chemical products to introduce chemical engineering students to advanced business and marketing Joe Collie, right, receives the 2011 College of Engineering Distinguished Service concepts in chemicals distribution man- Award from Engineering Dean Richard Benson. agement. Today, Collie is an active member chemical engineering, the Joseph and Society of Virginia Tech, the College of of the chemical engineering Advisory Barbara Collie Undergraduate Scholar- Engineering Committee of 100, and has Board, and he and his wife recently ship. also served on the University’s Founda- established another endowment within He is a member of the Ut Prosim tion Board. 10 The VIRGINIA TECH DEPARTMENT of CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CONNECTION

CLASS NOTES The information below was taken from the mail-in response cards that the department received during the past year, or through the on-line alumni feedback form. The on-line form can be accessed via the Alumni Feedback tab on the left-hand side of the department’s home page (www.che.vt.edu). Our goal is to continue to publish all such information that we receive so that our alums can stay connected both to the department and to each other.

1938 Vice President and Director was promoted to Technical the University of Dayton of Research. He specialized Services Department Man- Mark is currently a Deputy Watson C. Warriner (BS) in Loss Prevention and Pro- ager at Marathon Petroleum Program Manager at the Watson was recently inter- cess Safety for Oil, Chemical Company’s Catlettsburg, Assured Aerospace Fuels viewed by Cindy Kelly from and Petrochemical insured’s. KY refi nery. He resides in Research Facility for the US the Atomic Heritage Foun- John published numerous pa- Hurricane, WV and can be Air Force. He is working to dation in Washington, D.C. pers for the AIChE Loss Pre- reached at knbasham@mara- develop, test and certify the about his involvement with vention Symposia Committee thonpetroleum.com. next generation of alternative- the Manhattan Project during and other organizations. He ly produced jet fuels for mili- World War II. (Videos of the authored and co-authored 2001 tary and civilian aircraft. He interview can be found on a number of books for the can be reached at mroosz@ YouTube.) A native of Rich- Richard Oldland (BS) National Fire Protection As- vt.edu. mond, VA, Warriner joined Other degree(s): M.S. in sociation and then Center DuPont in 1939 and worked ChE, 2004 from Virginia Tech for Chemical Process Safety. in the Design and Construc- Richard has been pro- After retirement from IRI in tion Divisions until mid-1955. moted to Operations and Site 2001, John worked for the During the war years of this Maintenance Manager for Center for Chemical Process period, he worked at a num- Dow Chemical in Ringwood, as a Staff Consultant. Now, ber of ordnance plants (pro- IL (outside of Chicago). fully retired, John volunteers ducing smokeless powder, for the Boy Scouts of America TNT, RDX) and also at the 2003 – he is a Silver Beaver recipi- Manhattan Project separa- Alyson Sagle Beldon (BS) ent. He currently resides in tions plants at the Hanford Other degree(s): Ph.D. in West Point, VA and can be Engineer Works in Richland, ChE, 2009 from the Univer- reached at jdavenport4889@ WA. Warriner retired from sity of Texas at Austin gmail.com. DuPont in 1981 and currently Alyson is currently a Senior resides in Greenville, DE, 1980 Development Engineer at Air with his wife Ann. Products and Chemicals, Inc. Stanley (Lee) Sampson (BS) 1963 Stanley is currently VP of Courtney Graybill (BS) Sales and Marketing for Eka Other degree(s): Minor in John A. Davenport (BS) Chemicals Division of Ak- John reports that he business from Virginia Tech; zoNobel. He reports that he worked for Industrial Risk MBA from Wharton School in remembers fondly about long Insurers for 36 years. He 2011. days and nights in Randolph began as a fi eld engineering Courtney is currently an Hall, especially during Unit in Philadelphia, PA (2 years) associate at Booz & Co. She Operations Lab. “It was the and then in Baton Rouge, can be reached at courtney. kind of experience that stays LA (5 years). He transferred [email protected]. with you for life.” to Home Offi ce in Hartford, 2007 CT as an Account Engineer 1992 and was then promoted to Mark Roosz (BS) Research Department. Even- Kevin N. Basham (BS) Other degree(s): MS in En- tually, he became Assistant In November 2011, Kevin gineering Management from

11 The VIRGINIA TECH DEPARTMENT of CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CONNECTION DONORS TO THE DEPARTMENT The department gratefully acknowledges the following individuals, corporations, foundations and trusts for their support during 2011. INDIVIDuALS J.B. Jones Dean W. Hearne Allen R. and Dr. Ann S. Taylor Leon D. and Mary J. Jordan Todd W. Pechar Lauren K. Angleton Dr. George E. Keller II David W. Pultz Paul J. and Lisa A. Baduini Michael T. and Lucretia H. Kender Cecil D. Quillen, Jr. James R. Ballengee John S. and Barbara C. Kent Charles H. Remsen Dr. Michael D. and Denise Barrera Edward P. Kinney, Jr. Bradford S. Ryffel Kelly E. Belz Heather M. Klesat Bryan E. Schoch Dr. G.G. Benge Russell J. Kominski Diane W. Seamans Reagan D. and Elle E. Black Roger C. Lane Dr. Starling E. Shumate II Matthew S. and Shana Bolen Fred P. and Elizabeth A. Lingamfelter Dr. Dennis F. Taylor John H. Boyd III David R. and Diane L. Lohr Patrick H. Terry Erin E. Bradshaw Paul F. and Sara H. Lumbye Dr. Peter M. Train Dr. James R. Bragg Dr. James E. Maneval Nicholas J. Turner Robert L. Brewer W.J. Matney, Jr. Russell H. Van Allen Dr. Heidi E. Burch Dr. Christopher C. McDowell Kyle J. Vaughn Dr. Thomas A. Carnevale Andrew G. Melick Dr. Lori L. and Steven S. Wagner Laura A. Chevalier Mason R. Menard Elizabeth C. Walke Timothy J. Conway James A. Miller, Jr. Yi Wang Steven R. Cope Dr. Gary N. Mock Mark C. Williams Deborah B. Crain Mr. Robert C. Morrison Timothy A. Wolk Eddie G. Dalton, Jr. Kevin R. Norfl eet Clifford E. Woodward Dr. George J. Demakis Thomas H. and Rebecca H. Nutbrown Steven M. Yates Dennis M. and Nancy C. Dickison Kirsten M. O’Brien Donald M. and Maria R. Cox Dr. Basil C. and Ann S. Doumas CORPORATIONS, fOuNDATIONS, AND TRuSTS David D. Dunlap Kenneth H. and Patricia M. Dyke Alliant Techsystems, Inc. GE Foundation John C. and Louise B. Eargle Aspen Technology Inc KBR Linda L. and Emmett L. Farrell AT&T Foundation Kureha Corporation Edward A. Fliss BAE Systems Marathon Oil Corporation George N. and Joyce A. Foster Bechtel Foundation MeadWestvaco Foundation Gerald C. Gasser California Institute of Technology Merck Partnership for Giving Deborah S. George Chevron Texaco Mohawk Carpet Foundation Soheil G. Ghassemi Dow Chemical Foundation Novozymes Biologicals Inc Sara D. Gregory ExxonMobil Foundation Occidental Petroleum Corporation Donald A. Grindstaff Jean E. Hall Eastman Chemical Company Tredegar Film Products William A. Haug Emerson Charitable Trust Tyco Electronics Corporation Derrick K. Herbst The Robert Locke Fund WHC BIO PHARMA, INC Dr. Douglas E. Hirt General Motors Corporation Robert E. Hord, Jr.

12 The VIRGINIA TECH DEPARTMENT of CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CONNECTION

Giving to Chemical Engineering One of the primary reasons for the department’s re- To make it as easy for you as possible to support our cent growth and expansion is the generous support of our department, we recently added a link on our homepage alumni. Your contributions not only provide funds for the (www.che.vt.edu) that will direct you to a form for making day-to-day operation of the department, but also support a gift online. The link is entitled “Giving to ChE” and can scholarships for our undergraduate students, fellowships be found on the upper right hand side of the page. Under for our graduate students, and even support for activities the section of the form entitled “Gift Information,” you can such as our external seminar program that brings out- designate exactly where your gift is to be directed. If you standing researchers from other institutions here to Virginia type in “Department of Chemical Engineering” in the space Tech to interact with our faculty and students. Clearly, your entitled “Other Designation,” you can be assured that your continued support is vital to our goal of becoming one of support will come directly to us and that it will be used the top chemical engineering programs in the country. wisely.

Online Alumni Information System The department welcomes updates from our alumni about your lives and careers. The easi- est way of doing this is to use our online alumni update system, which can be accessed via the Department’s homepage, www. che.vt.edu, and clicking on ‘Alumni Feedback’ on the left side of the page. On this form, you can specifically state what level of privacy we should use with your information. This information will be published in our Connection newsletter. As always, if you are more comfortable with paper and pen, feel free to complete the form at the end of the newsletter and mail Virginia Tech students participating in the Unit Operations Laboratory at the back to us. We will publish all of Technical University of Denmark sightseeing in Nyhavn (part of Copenhagen). these as well. Again, this form allows you to specify exactly how much of the information you want published.

13 The VIRGINIA TECH DEPARTMENT of CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CONNECTION

We’d like to hear from you!

The Chemical Engineering Department is always interested in hearing from its alumni. Please take a few minutes to complete the following:

Full Name:______Name at Virginia Tech (if different)______

Degree received at Virginia Tech / year:______

Other degrees / Institutions:______

Home Address:______

Phone:______Fax:______E-mail:______

Business Name:______

Current Position / Title:______

Please feel free to provide any additional information about yourself or your career: ______

______

______

______

______

______

______

______

______

The Department of Chemical Engineering would like to keep our alumni updated about the careers and lives of other alumni, either via the web or the department newsletter. However, we also respect each person’s right to privacy. Thus, please indicate below the level of confidentiality that you wish us to maintain with regard to your information: ___ Feel free to make all information provide on this form public. ___ Feel free to publish my name, year of graduation, and contact information only (the additional information about yourself or career will be kept confidential). ___ Feel free to publish my name, year of graduation, and the additional information about myself (your contact information will be kept confidential). ___ Do not publish any information about me. ___ Other, please explain on a separate sheet of paper.

Please mail the completed form to: Chemical Engineering Department c/o Ms. Jane Price 133 Randolph Hall Blacksburg, VA 24061 or, by e-mail at: [email protected]

14 The VIRGINIA TECH DEPARTMENT of CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CONNECTION

15 Department of Chemical Engineering NON-PROFIT ORG. 133 Randolph Hall (0211) U.S. POSTAGE Virginia Tech PAID Blacksburg, VA 24061 BLACKSBURG VA www.che.vt.edu 24060 PERMIT #28

The Signature Engineering Building, future home of Chemical Engineering