Department News

The Chemical Engineering program at URI continues to have a successful, high quality research program, educating both masters and doctoral level students.

Members of the department are assisting the Athletic Department with determining the explanation for what is happening to the materials of the main floor in the Mackal Gym. Prof. Michael Greenfield has led the effort, with students in his Polymer Experimental Methods course conducting FTIR and DSC experiments on degraded and non-degraded floor samples. Publicity has included a story in the 10/22/08 issue of the Good Five Cent Cigar.

Program News

The Pharmaceutical Track combines courses from Pharmacy and Chemical Engineering into one synergistic curriculum. See the press release for additional information. The program was also promoted in the URI "Facts about Fall 2007" news.

Our undergraduate enrollments have shown a sharp upward trend. The sophomore class has 40 students, the freshman class has 35 and counting, and we graduated one of our smallest senior classes in May. Our current undergraduate strength is at 112, with a few more additions expected over the next few months as we get transfers from other colleges and the undecided engineers choose their majors.

In June 2008, the department welcomed researchers from across New England and less nearby regions when it hosted the 35th New England Complex Fluids Workshop. The workshop featured invited presentations by Pankaj Karande (RPI), Diane Hoffman-Kim (Brown University), Darren Link (Raindance Technologies), Paul Calvert (UMass Dartmouth), and Ian Morrison (Cabot Corporation). Attendees contributed "sound bites" on a wide range of complex fluid topics.

On October 21, Steven Ead of Schlumberger presented an information session to interested students about Schlumberger as a company and about job opportunities there for Chemical Engineers. Schlumberger also provided dinner right before their presentation. The session occurred in the Cherry Auditorium on October 21, 6:00pm.

Alumni News

John Clapham (URI ChE 1989) was welcomed into the URI Founders Club in May, 2007.

Clarice Odhiambo (MS at URI CHE) has founded Africa Center for Engineering Social Solutions, an organization devoted to developing inexpensive solutions to clean water in Africa. A story about her work appeared on the cover of the URI QuadAngles alumni magazine. She is being honored with a URI Distinguished Alumnae Award in 2008.

Student News

Sophomores Sam Matus and Brian Bonk were named University College Scholars. Students considered for these awards must earn a minimum of a 3.9 cumulative grade point average out of a possible 4.0 in their freshman year. Then, of the about 30 candidates, the students compete for the award based on contributions that they have made outside of the classroom to the community and university. See also the URI press release.

Sophomore Matt Burak was honored in January 2008 for having the highest GPA of all varsity male athletes at URI during the Fall 2007 semester.

Ashish Jha, Ph.D. student in our department was awarded a URI Graduate Fellowship for 2006-2007, one of 6 to be awarded in the university.

Many students were honored with awards at graduation last May. Congratulations to both the new alumni and to continuing students! Congratulations as well to student award winners from 2007, 2006, and 2005.

Donations

The department has been thrilled to receive additional corporate donations that help to improve the quality of the teaching and research programs delivered to our undergraduate and graduate students. These complement those received earlier.

Paul McGarty ('82) provided funds through Altana for the new Pharmaceutical Engineering track. John Clapham ('89) established the G. David Shilling (fondly remembered by many of you as "Coach") Memorial Endowment in Chemical Engineering. Bob Andren sent us a huge amount of equipment through his contacts in Amgen in Thousand Oaks. Victor Baxt has set up a fund to enhance the polymer program at URI; we plan to offer a laboratory course in Polymer Engineering in Fall 2008, led by Prof. Mike Greenfield. Several of you have sent us substantial funds over the past year, and the department is deeply grateful for your individual support.

From the corporate world, funds from Pfizer have been critical for rejuvenating the AIChE Student Chapter and for providing support for our rather unique program that brings in four high school students to do research with faculty over the summer. Next year, our undergraduate students will, for the first time, participate in the CheME Car contest because of this support. Amgen provided support for our seminar program, allowing us to bring in a host of highly reputed individuals from other institutions to our department. This program has significantly aided the visibility of or department, while providing our graduate students and faculty the opportunity to hear about cutting edge research. Speakers in 2007-2008 include Prof. Joan Brennecke of Notre Dame and Prof. Vijay John of Tulane.

Advisory Council News

The Department of Chemical Engineering Advisory Council has continued to provide fruitful suggestions and comments for the department. The most recent meeting occured in October 2007. The Council includes URI CHE alumni and supporters from industry and academia. Advisory Council members have been crucial in the donations and high school internship programs described above.

NASA Exploration Engineering Challenge

URI Chemical Engineering students were invited to participate in the first Rhode Island Inter-university NASA Exploration Engineering Challenge. The challenge will consist of designing saliva bio-chips for monitoring human stress levels. This competition is sponsored by NASA Kennedy Space Center's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate and the NASA RI Space Grant Consortium. Visit the Challenge home page for more information. The sign-up deadline was October 5.

Faculty News

Dr. Geoffrey Bothun joined the department in summer 2006 as an assistant professor, after completing an NSF Discovery Corps Postdoctoral Fellowship with the NSF Science & Technology Center for Environmentally Responsible Solvents & Processes. Geoff works in the area of bionanotechnology, and, has already had a huge impact on our program. As of January 2008, he has received highly competitive funds from NSF and ACS-PRF, supervises four graduate students and two undergraduates, and has taken over UC Advising as well as becoming the AIChE Student Chapter advisor. He is also setting up a new course in Bionanotechnology, to be offered in spring 2008. Watch out for another star faculty member from our department!

Our faculty presented seminars at a range of universities, and were strongly represented at National Meetings (AIChE, ACS, and MRS). New research grants to the department rose to a total $1,875,000.00, an all time record. Not only is this the highest amount per faculty, but it is higher (by a quite bit) in total than any other department in the College (including some that are twice as large as us).

The URI Center for Pollution Prevention, led by Director Stanley Barnett and Co-director Eugene Park, received the 2005 Senator John H. Chafee Conservation Award from the Environment Council of Rhode Island.

Professor and Department Chair Arijit Bose was awarded a 2005 Honda Initiation Grant for his proposal on single-step scaleable synthesis and characterization of nanocatalyst-support composites. He has also directed new initiatives in the department, such as the Biology Track in Chemical Engineering. (See also the URI press release.)

Prof. Richard Brown has continued his research programs on corrosion and alternative coatings, sponsored by the Navy and the Rhode Island Dept. of Transportation.

Prof. Don Gray has continued to hone his design expertise. Examples of Prof. Gray's work can be found by searching at the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Associate Prof. Michael Greenfield has continued his successful research on molecular simulation of model asphalts. Several research papers appeared in 2007. He also is continuing his research programs in molecular simulations of polymers and fluids, including polythiophenes.

Prof. Otto Gregory has been involved in several research projects, including an NSF PIRE (Partnerships for International Research and Education) project focused on microfluidics.

Prof. Harry Knickle directed another successful summer program for high school students interested in science and engineering. This program is conducted under the auspices of the Northeast Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (NE-LSAMP).

Prof. Angelo Lucia was on sabbatical during the fall 2006 semester. His current research includes projects sponsored by BP, the ACS Petroleum Research Fund, and the National Science Foundation.

Prof. Mercedes Rivero-Hudec has returned to the department in Fall 2006 after serving as the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Diversity.

Prof. Vincent Rose has continued to contribute his teaching and undergraduate mentoring skills to the deparment after retiring and becoming Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering. He also remains with URI as the Ombudsman.

Staff News

Old News

In old news that remains exciting, then Chemical Engineering undergraduate Tim Pitts represented the Virgin Islands at the 2004 Athens Olympics in the Laser sailing event. Tim was the first Virgin Islander to earn a spot in this event and was the only sailor from the Caribbean in the laser event at the Athens games. Lasers are single-handed boats that are 4 meters long with one sail. Laser sailing requires strength, as well as tactical proficiency. You can read the complete press release to learn more about Tim's talents and skills. What's next for Tim? Preparing for the 2008 Olympics, of course!