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Volume 5, Number 1
August 2005 - October 2005
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This school year started out with a little more excitement than past years. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita had a profound effect on campus as well as having a major impact on many of our students. It has been a real challenge for those students that were most affected to stay with their school work. Some students went for several days before hearing about the welfare of their families. Some had family homes destroyed or flooded. Hats off to those students who kept their studies and other things going in the right direction in the face of adversity. We need to start giving awards for tenacity and grit.
If you have comments or questions about this newsletter, please let me know.
Clifford E. George, george@che.msstate.edu, 662-325-7205
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ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF NOTE
Speaking of awards, here is what some of our people are doing.
Current Students
Lauren Michaelson won the outstanding chemical engineering senior student of the year award presented by the Bagley College of Engineering at the annual senior recognition banquet in October.
Dow Outstanding Junior Award for 2006 was given to Jeff Rottman. The Dow Outstanding Junior Award is a prestigious honor awarded to persons that demonstrate outstanding achievement in leadership and academics. At
The MSU Student Chapter of AIChE will continue its tradition of excellence by receiving a Outstanding Student Chapter of the Year award at the AIChE Annual Meeting in November.
Our Faculty Members
Dr. Rudy Rogers was awarded the 2005 Hearing Eminent Scholar award. The award reflects the many contributions in teaching and research that Rudy has made to this department.
Dr. Rebecca Toghiani was awarded the 2005 American Society of Engineering Education Southeastern Section's Outstanding Teaching Award. She has also been recognized by our students as the
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THE SEARCH IS COMPLETE....
Dr. Mark White tapped as new Director for the Swalm School of Chemical Engineering
Dr. Mark White has been approved by the MSU administration as the new Director and Earnest W. Deavenport, Jr., Chair of the Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering. Dr. White is coming to MSU after 28 years in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department at Georgia Tech. Dr. White is scheduled to assume his duties January 1, 2006. Mark has a lot of energy and I expect that he will move chemical engineering to the next level.
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STUDENT NEWS
Twenty undergraduate students will be traveling to
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Annual Meeting and
The
In addition, the
Additional AIChE Annual Meeting News
(prepared by Sherre Denson)
A highlight of this year's conference (not mentioned above by the modest Dr. George) will be the designation of Dr. Cliff George as a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. This is a very prestigious national award in Chemical Engineering field and we are very proud of Dr. George and his accomplishments.
The
*Oleic Acid Oxidation in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide
Sparks, Hernandez, Zappi, French, Toghiani, Toghiani, Alley
*Production of Biodiesel from Wastes Associated with Meat Butchering Processes
Benson, Zappi, French Hernandez
*Production of Clean Synthetic Gas from Biomass Using a Downdraft Gasifier
Buchireddy, Bricka, Wooten, Lin, Columbus
*Extraction and Production of Value-Added Products from Waste Feedstocks
French, Zappi, Hernandez, Easterling
*Production of Biodiesel Using an Intergrated Extraction/Reaction Process
Hernandez, Zappi, French, Whitlock, Alley
*Production of a Low-Cost Biodiesel Using a Novel Bacterial-based Feedstock
Dufreche, Zappi, French,
*Plant Design Project: Biodiesel Productino Using an Acid-Catalyzed Transesterification of Yellow Grease
Hernandez, Thomas, Marwaha, Jeffreys
*Low Temperature Stabilization of High Level Calcined Waste
Marwaha
*Comparisons of Methods to Bond Metal and Chitosan: A Biopolymer for Use as an Implant Coating
Martin, Schulz, Bumgardner
*Using Technical Articles to Teach Entering Graduate Students the Role of Journal Articles in Research
Hill
*Isolation and Optimization of a Microbial Catalyst for the Conversion of Syngas to Ethanol and Acetic Acid
French, Zappi, Easterling, Brown, Green Columbus
*Optimization of Insitu Chemical Oxidation via the Elucidation of Key Mechanistic Processes Impacting Technology maturation and Development of Effective Application Protocol
Harden, Zappi, French, Kuo, Kingery
*Eyrthrocyte Behaviors in a Dielectrophoretic Microdevice: Blood Types a+, B+, Ab+, and O+
Smith, Minerick
*The Use of Pisum Sativum (Snow Pea) to Identify the Bioavailability of Lead in a Phosphate Stabilized Soil
Bricka, Baldwin, Fabian
*Treatment of Nitroaromatic Contaminate Groundwater with Zero-Valent Metals and Advanced Oxidation Techniques
Thomas, Hernandez, Kuo
*Impact of Blending Traditional and Non-Traditional Lipid Feedstocks for the Production of Biodiesel
Neaves, Zappi, Hernandez, French
*Effects of Ethanol as a Fuel Additive on General Aviation Aircraft Fuel System Electrochemical Corrosion
George, Schroeder, Xie
*Adoption of a High Performance Learning Environment (Hi-Pele) in a Capstone Process Instrumentation and Controls Course
Minerick, Arce
*Comparison of Models for Coarse Particle Shape Evolution during Attrition in a Stirred Vessel
Hill, Gandhi
*Hands on Experiments in an Introduction to Chemical Engineering Course
Minerick, Schulz
*Utilization of Triadica Sebifera as a Novel Biodiesel Feedstock
Crymble, Zappi, Hernandez, French, Baldwin, Thomas
*Incorporating Chemcad with Process Design: A Laboratory Method
Martin, Bricka
*An Overview of Gasification Systems for the Production of Syngas from Biomass
Bricka
*ph-Responsive Tethered Layers on Copolymer and Silicon Substrates
Walters
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The
Dr. Mark Zappi leaves to be Dean of Engineering at
Dr. Mark Zappi has accepted a position as Dean at
Dr. Atly Jefcoat Retires
Dr. Atly Jefcoat, Hunter Henry Chair in Chemical Engineering, retired this past summer. Dr. Jefcoat was the advisor for the student AIChE chapter and was a very effective teacher. For more information see http://msuinfo.ur.msstate.edu/msu_memo/2004/01-20-04/jefcoat.html.
Dr. Keisha Walters joins the Swalm School of Chemical Engineering
Dr. Keisha Walters, PhD in Chemical Engineering from Clemson, 2005, has joined our faculty. Her research area is Biopolymers. The research expertise that Keisha brings to MSU gives us cause to be excited about our future in chemical engineering.
Dr. Bill Elmore joins the Swalm School of Chemical Engineering as new Hunter Henry Chair
Dr. Bill Elmore joins the Swalm School of Chemical Engineering as an Associate Professor replacing Dr. Atly Jefcoat as the Hunter Henry Chair. Dr. Elmore brings fifteen years of teaching and advising experience from his tenure at
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