************************************************************************
DAVE C. SWALM SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING E-NEWSLETTER
Volume 1, Number 3
January/February, 2002
************************************************************************
FROM THE DEPARTMENT HEAD…
Well, I hope that this winter finds you warm and enjoying this season of the year. “Winter” in Mississippi is quite different than winter in the upper Midwest. A lot of our friends in town ask us questions on the weather here in Starkville, like “Do you miss the snow” (My answer: NO). “Did you miss not having a White Christmas?” (My answer: NO). I must say it has been quite a while since I have worn short sleeves outside during January. My conclusion is that many people in Mississippi take the beautiful weather here for granted. However, there is no question my blood is “thinning”….when it hits 40 degrees, I am already complaining about the cold. When we were at Michigan Tech, 40 degrees meant that the students came to class wearing shorts!
January and February is also Science Project time at our house. Our sons have the unique opportunity to come up with science projects that will satisfy two engineers. This year’s project was to compare the number of bird species observed in our neighborhood and Noxubee Wildlife Refuge. We drove the 4Runner out to Noxubee several times to watch for birds, make notes, and try to take pictures. If you never tried to identify birds using a bird book, it is not an activity for the impatient. In what was supposed to be a family “fun time” affair, Tim, Andrew, and myself often got into heated discussions about what bird we actually saw. Both of my sons insisted that they were correct, and most fortunately, one sits on the front seat, and the other sits in the back, so it is hard for them to come to blows with each other over bird identification. In the end, Tim’s project came out great, Mom and Dad were happy, and we had several enjoyable afternoons out at Noxubee enjoying the outdoors.
Let me extend a quick congratulations to the ChE flag football team (Isotopes) that won the co-ed flag football championship.
With a little luck, we should see both the Men’s and Women’s basketball teams in the NCAA Tournament this year. Anytime MSU is on national television, it is great exposure for the university. Make sure and remind everyone where you went to school come tournament time!
There were several of you that received a computer virus because we were using MS Outlook to keep all of our email addresses. However, with this issue we have switched to a list-server, which means that you should not have any further problems receiving a computer virus through Mississippi State U.
If you haven’t done so already, I would invite you to check out the Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering WWW page (<http://www.che.msstate.edu/index.html>). We are constantly updating the School WWW pages, so be sure and check back once every couple of weeks to see new pictures and stories. We are working hard to update the School web pages, and I would encourage you to visit the site often and see what we are doing. I would especially direct you to visit the alumni page (<http://www.che.msstate.edu/Alumni/alumni.html>). Past issues of the Electronic newsletter will be posed to this site following distribution to the electronic email list.
I would also encourage you to send in Alumni Updates. I will put them in the newsletter (at the end) so that your former classmates can see what you are doing. If you would like to contribute an update, just send it to me (schulz@che.msstate.edu <mailto:schulz@che.msstate.edu>).
Sit back, relax, and enjoy the newsletter. Go Dawgs!
************************************************************************
STUDENT RESEARCH AWARDS
Several of our students have won awards at regional and national meetings recently. Here is a list of these students, their awards, and where they presented their projects.
SOCIETY OF RHEOLOGY MEETING
Mitra Yoonessi (Graduate Student): Honorable Mention
Poster Title:Intercalation and exfoliation of modified montmorillonite clay in dicyclopentadiene
Project Advisors: H.Toghiani, C.Pittman, and W.Kingery
MISSISSIPPI WATER ENVIRONMENT ASSOCIATION
Rafael Hernandez (Instructor of Chemical Engineering, Graduate Student), 2nd Place
Paper Title: Development of an Innovative Treatment Process for Explosives Contaminanted Waters
Project Advisor: M. Zappi
Katherine Taconi (Graduate Student), 3rd Place
Paper Title: Remediation of Petroleum Contaminated Soil Using an Innovative Biocell Design
11th SOUTHERN STATES ANNUAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE
Project Advisor: M. Zappi
Jack Ford (Undergraduate Student), 1st Place
Paper Topic: Restoring TNT Contaminated Sites
Project Advisor: M. Zappi
Michael Bestor (Undergraduate Student), 2nd Place
Paper Topic: Removal of Lead Contamination from Firing Ranges
Project Advisor: M. Bricka
Arun Subramani (Graduate Student), 3rd Place
Paper Topic: Use of Fibrous Plant Kenaf as a Filter in Water Treatment Systems
Project Advisor: M. Zappi
2ND ANNUAL TRI-STATE ENGINEERING CONFERENCE
Michael Bestor (Undergraduate Student), 1st Place
Paper Topic: Removal of Lead Contamination from Firing Ranges
Advisor: M. Bricka
OTHER AWARDS:
Rochelle Smith and Christine Morrison received CSEM Fellowships that provide supplemental funding while in graduate school. These funds are administered through an NSF project entitled, “CSEM Fellows: Increasing Participation in Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics through Scholarships".
Katherine Taconi received an NSF Graduate Fellowship, which is awarded based on a national competition. Katherine is the first NSF Fellow to study in the Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering at MSU.
************************************************************************
DEPARTMENTAL VISITS TO ALUMNI IN BATON ROUGE
I had the opportunity to visit with some of our alumni in Baton Rouge last month on a visit to Albemarle Chemical and ExxonMobil. Beth Callahan, who helps direct the cooperative education program at Mississippi State, accompanied me as we took some plant tours, visited with alumni, and saw what some of our cooperative education students are doing. I am planning a follow-up trip to Baton Rouge again this spring, so if you would like to have someone from the department come by for a visit, drop me a quick email note. Some of the alumni we visited with:
Mark C. Rohr, President and COO, Albemarle Chemical
George A. Newbill, Vice President of Sourcing, Albemarle Chemical
Bonnie Barker, Product Supervisor, Albemarle Chemical
J. Lee Meeks, Control Engineer, Operations Support Department, ExxonMobil Refinery
R. Brian Bradford, Process Contact Engineer, Coordination and Product Quality, ExxonMobil Refinery
W. Robert (Bob) Blackledge, Delayed Coking Process Specialist, Operations Support Department, ExxonMobil Refinery.
Gabriel W. Lancaster, Engineer-Machinery Section, Baton Rouge Area Engineering Specialists (ME), ExxonMobil Chemicals.
Joseph H. (Joe) Sims, Manufacturing Manager, Basic Chemicals Americas, (ME), ExxonMobil Chemicals.
Barry Staples, Environmental and Utility Services, Section Supervisor, ExxonMobil Refinery
Our visit was hosted by Bonnie Barker (Albemarle) and Barry Staples (ExxonMobil).
********************************************************************************************
ALUMNI UPDATES
Look here next month to see what your classmates are doing!
DAVID R. RADEN (Manager, Truck Network, ShipChem, Inc.) I am a 1978 December graduate of MSU with a BS in ChE. Since then, I have obtained an MBA from LeTourneau in Longview, TX. I am now living in Kingsport TN working for ShipChem, Inc. ShipChem is a logistics provider for the chemical and plastics industries, worldwide. My current responsibility is managing the North America truck network for the company.
********************************************************************************************
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kirk H. Schulz
Earnest W. Deavenport Jr. Chair and
Director
Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical
Engineering
Mississippi State University
Box 9595
Mississippi State, MS 39762
Email: schulz@che.msstate.edu
Phone: 662-325-2480
FAX: 662-325-2482
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------