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DAVE
C. SWALM SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING E-NEWSLETTER
Volume
2, Number 4
March/April,
2003
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FROM
THE DEPARTMENT HEAD…
I
hope this letter finds you well. The
School year is now behind us, and we have a couple of quiet weeks here in
Starkville before summer school starts.
The golf clubs are looking better all of the time, except for the
continual rain that we get … day after day after day…
This
year was a special one for me, as I officially hit “middle age”. On May 11, I turned the big 4-0. My wife threw a surprise party for me in the
student lounge of the Swalm Building, with the help of many of my
students. They came to pick me up in my
office at 5:15 on a Friday with a wheel chair, and proceeded to help me down to
the bottom floor. The room was
decorated with black balloons and prune juice cans, along with age appropriate
gifts. Many of the students, faculty,
and staff wrote humorous letters that were bound and presented to me. It was a great time, but my definition of
“old” continues to be calculated as my current age + 10 years! My two sons now remind me constantly “You
probably can’t do [fill in your favorite physical activity like backpacking or
hiking] because you are over 40!” The
fact is that I can still do [backpacking, etc.], but I just have to take a
couple of Tylenol afterwards.
If
you look at the past electronic newsletters, you can see that this has been a
very eventful year. Indeed, our student
achievements have been fabulous! I
have highlighted one achievement in particular in this newsletter. We had a group of students and faculty who
decided to enter a design contest on innovative ways to dispose of medical
waste. This was an international
competition, and the MSU Team placed third internationally in this
contest. The only other U.S. University
that placed was a team from North Carolina State University, which was selected
for an Honorable Mention Award.
I
have also included a short description on alumni financial contributions to the
Swalm School of Chemical Engineering.
I am especially pleased that our contributions are up from last year,
and I appreciate all of the outstanding support we get from our alumni and
corporate friends. As the State of
Mississippi continues to struggle financially, your contributions are what
allow us to do a little some extra educationally that separate the MSU program
from our peer institutions. If you
would like to make a donation to help support Chemical Engineering at MSU,
please email me for more information.
No amount is too small, and we hope to continue to see increased support
as state support for higher education continues to decline.
There
has been a lot of activity in the School of Chemical Engineering since our last
newsletter. Please keep those alumni
updates coming! Also, please continue
to surf our WWW site occasionally to see pictures of what is happening at MSU.
Sit
back, relax, and enjoy the newsletter.
Go Dawgs!
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DR.
MARK ZAPPI NAMED TEXAS OLEFINS PROFESSOR
Mark E. Zappi was recently named holder of the Texas
Olefins Professorship in the Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering. Dr
Zappi is the second holder of the Texas Olefins Professorship, which became
open following the retirement of Dr. Donald O. Hill this past summer.
Dr. Zappi has been a member of the Dave C. Swalm
School of Chemical Engineering at Mississippi State University since March
1996. He has a B.S. in Civil
Engineering from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and a M.S. and Ph.D.
in Chemical Engineering from Mississippi State University. His research focuses on the treatment of
hazardous materials and the production of chemicals using bioprocesses.
Prior to arriving at MSU, he was employed for over 15
years as a research environmental engineer at the USAE Waterways Experiment
Station (WES), located in Vicksburg, MS.
At the WES, he was responsible for generating over $25,000,000 in
competitive research funds. He was the
founder and first director of the highly acclaimed DoD Federal Integrated
Biotreatment Research Consortium.
During his tenure at MSU, Dr. Zappi has generated to
date greater than $9,000,000 in total research funds. He serves as Director of both the MSU Environmental Technology
Research and Applications (E-TECH) Laboratory, which is a focal point within
the university’s research efforts addressing hazardous waste management issues,
and the DOE supported Mississippi University Research Consortium for the
Utilization of Biomass, which is a collaboration between MSU, Jackson State
University, University of Mississippi, and University of Southern Mississippi
focusing on the production of chemicals from biological feedstocks.
Dr. Zappi holds two patents. He has authored or co-authored over 130
technical publications and has given over 150 technical presentations at
numerous conferences and symposia. He
has served as an associate editor for numerous technical journals. Dr. Zappi is a registered PE in the State of
Mississippi.
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CHE
STUDENTS WIN PRESIDENT’S COMMISSION AWARDS
The
MSU President’s Commission on the Status of Women recently recognized two
Chemical Engineering students. Ms.
Mitra Yoonesi, a doctoral candidate in Chemical Engineering, and Ms. Laura Beth
Dong, an undergraduate in Chemical Engineering were selected to receive the
Outstanding Graduate Woman and Outstanding Undergraduate Woman awards,
respectively. Mitra is working on her
dissertation under the guidance of Dr. Hossein Toghiani in the general area of
polymer rheology, and expects to finish her work in the next academic
year. She has presented her work at
several different national meetings, and has won several awards for her research
work. Laura Beth served as President of
Omega Chi Epsilon, the ChE honorary society, this past year, in addition to
duties as Vice President of the AIChE Student Chapter. In addition to all of her activities, she is
also involved in undergraduate research in the E-Tech lab under the direction
of Dr. Mark Bricka.
Congratulations
to Mitra and Laura Beth on their awards!
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MSU
CHE STUDENTS FINISH 3RD IN INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL WASTE DESIGN
CONTEST
(Excerpt
below taken from News Release at: http://www.medwastecontest.org/)
World Health Day; April 7, 2003 - Health Care Without Harm
today announced the winners of its international contest for innovative
non-incineration technologies to treat medical waste in developing areas. The
winning conceptual designs - revealed today as the international community
observes World Health Day 2003 and the theme of “Healthy Environments for
Children” - will be made available in the public domain.
“These technologies provide a solution to a problem faced
by many poor rural communities, which are burning medical waste and polluting
the air with dioxin, mercury and other toxins because they lack access to
affordable alternative technologies that are available in industrialized
countries,” said Gary Cohen, director of Health Care Without Harm, an
international campaign to reduce the environmental impact of health care (www.noharm.org <http://www.noharm.org>).
“We congratulate our winners for creating low-cost, easily
replicable, non-burn treatment technologies that are safer for public health,
workers and the environment.”
First place and $5,000 went to the Team of Rys
Hardwick-Jones of the University of Sydney, Australia, for a
solar-powered autoclave system named Prometheus, which is portable and can be
used in any weather conditions. Second place and $1,500 went to M.G. Holliday
of Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals, United Kingdom, for a simple system
that combines mechanical grinding with boiling water to treat medical waste.
Third place and $1,000 was awarded to the Team of Prof. Mark Bricka, Prof. Todd
French, Allissa Willis, Beth Hestor, Michael Bestor, and Holly Martin of Mississippi
State University, USA for a proposal to treat waste through the heat
generated by a chemical reaction involving lime and subsequent hardening of the
waste into a cement-like material. Five Honorable Mentions were awarded $100
each.
“These innovative designs can be built using local
materials and operated with little or no electricity, and they do not require
highly skilled labor,” said Dr. Jorge Emmanuel, a medical waste consultant who
chaired the panel of international judges for the contest. “As the World Health
Organization (WHO) expands immunization and rural health programs, the problem
of medical waste treatment and disposal in rural areas is becoming critical.
These technologies are potential solutions to this problem.”
Winners were
selected for designs that best met technical criteria developed in consultation
with WHO. Complete design descriptions are available at www.medwastecontest.org
<http://www.medwastecontest.org>.
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DR.
BETH FLEMING NAMED 2003 DISTINGUISHED ENGINEERING FELLOW
During
ceremonies held on campus recently, Dr. Beth Fleming was selected as a 2003 MSU
Engineering Fellow. Beth was selected
by the faculty in the School of Chemical Engineering, and was recognized by
Dean Bennett at a dinner and ceremony.
Dr.
Beth C. Fleming is Deputy Director of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and
Development Center's (ERDC) Environmental Laboratory in Vicksburg,
Mississippi. She also serves in a dual
position as the laboratory's Acting Director.
The
ERDC is the premier R&D facility for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with
seven laboratories across the United States and a workforce exceeding 2,000
employees. ERDC conducts military and
civil works research for the Department of Defense and the nation, with an
annual research program exceeding $570 million. As Acting Director, Fleming is responsible for the planning and
execution of the laboratory's research program and manages a staff of 235
employees.
The
Environmental Laboratory conducts research in environmental assessment and
restoration; environmental engineering, modeling and simulation, environmental
chemistry; wetlands technology; water quality, dredging/dredged material
management; and endangered and invasive species, outdoors recreation and
cultural resources.
Previously,
Dr. Fleming served as Acting Chief of the Environmental Restoration Branch,
Research Environmental Engineer and Team Leader of the Physical/Chemical
Processes Team. She also managed the
laboratory's Hazardous Waste Research Center.
Her research focused on hazardous waste treatment, with emphasis on
adsorption processes for explosives, solvents, plasticizers and fuels, and
advanced oxidation processes for explosives and solvents.
Dr.
Fleming was manager for numerous projects at Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Colorado,
involving incineration of a complex liquid called Basin F in the Arsenal's $40
million submerged quench incinerator.
Her studies into the most successful way to incinerate Basin F saved the
Army costly downtimes.
Dr.
Fleming has studied contaminated sediments cleanup in New York's Buffalo River
and organics contamination cleanup in groundwater from sites throughout the
country. She has also studied the use
of in-situ chemical oxidation and zero-valent iron reduction for groundwater
remediation under the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program
and Environmental Quality Technologies Program.
Dr.
Fleming and her husband, Trey, have two sons - Reagan and Robert.
Congratulations
to Beth and best of success in the future.
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ALUMNI
CONTRIBUTIONS UP THIS YEAR
I am
pleased to report that alumni and friends have contributed over $20,000 this
year to the Chemical Engineering Advancement Fund. Last year, contributions were approximately $17,000. These monies are used for discretionary
needs within the School of Chemical Engineering. Examples of how we use these funds include student society
(AIChE, Omega Chi Epsilon, Society for Plastics Engineers) projects, student
and faculty travel, building enhancements, our graduate seminar program, and
(or) School publicity materials. The
money that you as an alumnus contribute is what helps our students to achieve
many of the accomplishments you have read about in our newsletter. No amount of support is too small. If you haven’t given to the Swalm School or
Mississippi State University, please consider supporting us this year. If you have questions or would like
information on specific opportunities, please contact me (schulz@che.msstate.edu <mailto:schulz@che.msstate.edu>)
or John Rush, Director of Development for the Bagley College of Engineering.
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DR.
RUDY ROGERS RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTED IN TWO PUBLICATIONS
Dr.
Rudy Roger’s research on gas hydrates has been featured in two popular science
publications recently. The first was in
Technology Review: MIT's Magazine of Innovation, which featured an
article entitled “Gas Goes Solid” in the April 11, 2003 issue (www.technologyreview.com
<http://www.technologyreview.com>). This citation lead to another article which appeared in L’Usine
Nouvelle (www.usinenouvelle.com
<http://www.usinenouvelle.com>), a French magazine. Dr. Rogers was interviewed for a story on
gas hydrates (“Stocker le gaz naturel en le solidifiant”) that was featured in
the Energy section of the magazine.
This
recognition is critical for our faculty members as we seek to increase our
national and international reputation for excellence in engineering and
research. Congratulations are in order
to Dr. Rogers and his graduate students for much deserved recognition!
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FOOTBALL
TAILGATING DATES AVAILABLE
Well,
the fall football season will be here before you know it, and it is time for
you or your company to sign-up to sponsor a tailgating tent for this year. The fall football dates are:
August
30 - Oregon
September
27 - LSU
October
4 - Vanderbilt
October
11 - Memphis
November
8 - Alabama
November
27 - Ole Miss (Egg Bowl Game)
If
you sponsor one of these games, we ask your company to send some “give-aways”
and to have some representatives at the tailgate to visit with students,
parents, and alumni. Games will be
assigned on a “first-come, first-served” basis. If you or your company would like to sponsor a tailgate tent,
please send an email note to Ms. Sherre Denson (sherre@che.msstate.edu
<mailto:sherre@che.msstate.edu>) giving your first and second
choice of dates.
Go
Dawgs!
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