CHEM
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GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY • SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING • VOL. 10 NO. 1 • SPRING/SUMMER 2002
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Professor William Koros Joins the School as the Roberto C. Goizueta Chair
Professor William J. Koros
In fall 2001, Professor William Koros joined the faculty of Chemical Engineering as the Roberto C. Goizueta Chair in
Chemical Engineering. He brings considerable industrial and academic experience to the School. Dr. Koros received all of his degrees in Chemical Engineering from The University of Texas. He worked in the Engineering Department of the E. I. DuPont Company for four years and joined the faculty of the Chemical Engineering Department at North Carolina State University in 1977. At North Carolina State, he primarily focused on barrier packaging and diffusion fundamentals, but also began to investigate membrane-based
separations. Synthetic membranes are thin man-made barriers capable of separating mixtures by selective passage of molecules that have different characteristics. In other words, they are molecular scale filters. Bill returned to the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin in 1984 to help lead an effort related to membrane-based separations. Since that time, his research group has focused on all aspects of these molecular scale filters. The goal is to
Global Awareness ..............Pg. 4 Faculty/Staff News ..............Pg. 5 Alumni News ....................Pg. 10 create the next generation of membrane materials and structures with the potential to minimize energy, and environmental and economic costs associated with performing important separations needed by society. The special focus of Dr. Koros’s group is on separation of gas mixtures. An important application of the membrane work is to produce nitrogen enriched air for economical storage of foods and to blanket fuels in transport for greater safety. The group also produces memContinued on page 3
Professor Arnold Stancell Named the First Turner Chair By David Terraso Institute Communications and Public Affairs Arnold Stancell’s enthusiasm for teaching is infectious. A bundle of potential and kinetic energy, the chemical engineering professor’s eyes twinkle as he delves into a subject he’s excited about, and he has the ability to convince you that you’re just as excited as he is. He’s charismatic, bright and creative, all qualities that should serve him well in his appointment to Tech’s newly
created Turner Chair in Servant Leadership. As chair, Stancell will help develop Tech’s student leadership initiative, designed to teach leadership skills to undergraduates. The Turner Chair figured prominently in this year’s State of the Institute Address, part of President Wayne Clough’s ongoing plan to create a more studentfocused education. The initiative has been under development for the past two years by Vice Provost for Undergradu-
ate Studies and Academic Affairs Robert McMath and by Lee Wilcox, Vice President of Student Affairs. “The thing that really distinguishes Georgia Tech’s attitude about leadership from [that of] other schools is our notion that leadership skills should be taught to everyone, not just a select few,” explained Wilcox. Stancell’s appointment comes after an illustrious career in the private sector. Before joining Continued on page 8
Professor Arnold F. Stancell
AIChE Chapter Beneficial to Students and Industry The AIChE Student Chapter maintains strong interactions with many of the companies seeking to recruit chemical engineers at Georgia Tech. These interactions take various forms, but clearly the most visible activity involves industrial speakers making presentations at weekly meetings. There are 25 meetings per year, which are usually attended by 60-70 students and are followed by lunch. Just the number of industrial speakers at Tech sets the AIChE Student Chapter apart from its peers. Because of the quality of our students as well as the quality and the size of our program, Tech is on the “must visit” list of most companies. This serves our students well and largely explains the success of the AIChE Employment Clearinghouse (held a day after the GT Career Fair). Now in its eighth year, this event has attracted an increasing number of companies (20 companies participated last fall).
This corporate interaction is a win-win situation for everyone involved. For sponsoring companies, it offers access to students for full-time, co-op, and summer intern positions. For
the opportunity to talk about a variety of topics: (1) guidelines to follow during an interview, (2) what companies are looking for besides academic performance, (3) the role of information tech-
Recent Corporate Participants in the AIChE Speakers Program Air Products & Chemicals Albemarle, Inc. BASF BP-Amoco Clorox Dow Chemical Eastman Chemicals Eli Lilly Equistar Chemicals Exxon Mobil Frito-Lay, Inc. General Mills Hercules, Inc. Honeywell International Paper Co.
Johnson & Johnson Kimberly-Clark KOSA Merck Milliken & Co. Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing National Starch & Chemicals Procter & Gamble Rhodia Rohm & Haas Solvay UOP Weyerhauser
students, in addition to networking for their job search, the weekly AIChE presentations offer a chance to learn about various career options. The speakers, who represent a diverse range of industries, have
nology in the current work place, and (4) corporate restructuring, futuristic themes, and so forth. In addition, the students learn about the global nature of business, the importance of team-work in a multi-disciplinary
environment, and the importance of communication skills. These industrial interactions allow students to learn about the non-academic factors that play a critical role in success at the work place. They also learn to overcome the fear of speaking with a potential recruiter. The recruiter also benefits by interviewing a well-rounded student who has already had an opportunity to focus on the kind of career he/she wants to build. Only when everyone wins, does a program become sustainable. Now in its eleventh year, the AIChE Speakers Program, with an average of 25 speakers per year, is clearly a beneficial program for both students and the industry. If your company is interested in participating in the AIChE Speakers Program, please contact the group’s faculty advisor, Dr. Pradeep Agrawal, by calling 404-894-2826 or by emailing pradeep.agrawal@che.gatech.edu.
School Events
Professor Robert Samuels chats with Artie Schroeder, ChE 1974 and his wife Charlotte Schroeder, ChE 1976 during the School’s Homecoming celebration last fall.
School Chair Ronald Rousseau welcomes parents and students to the campus-wide Parent’s Weekend event last fall. In addition to other scheduled activities, parents enjoyed the opportunity to meet their children’s instructors and to tour their classrooms and laboratories.
Tech’s 2002 Homecoming is set for October 24-26. You are invited to join us for a reception during homecoming to celebrate 2002 as the start of the next century of Chemical Engineering at Tech!
The next Parent’s Weekend is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, October 4-5, 2002.
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In Memoriam: Dixie E. Goins, ChE 1974 It is with sadness and regret that the School reports Dixie Goins died on January 31 following a heart attack at age 51. Dixie had been a member of the Chemical Engineering External Advisory Board for several years and served as its chair for a twoyear term ending December 2001. He was a member of the external committee that reviewed the administration and programs of the School in January 2001 and was a member of
the Albemarle Corporation Dixie Goins Outstanding Sophomore Award. A celebration to officially announce this change will be held at Albemarle headquarters in Baton Rouge, La. later this year. We are grateful to our friends at Albemarle and to Dixie’s family for attending the presentation of the first award during our Student Awards Banquet (see page 11) in April.
the Georgia Tech College of Engineering Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni. At the time of his death, Dixie was Vice President of Research and Development at the Albemarle Corporation. He is survived by his three children, but his wife tragically passed away little more than a year ago. In honor of his memory, the award that Dixie instituted for our students has been renamed
We will miss Dixie and his participation in School activities.
Dixie E. Goins, ChE 1974 and Former EAB Chairman
KOROS contd. from cover
Dr. Koros believes strongly in the complementary value of undergraduate and graduate educational efforts. While at North Carolina State University he was selected as one of the university’s fourteen Outstanding Teachers, and at the University of Texas, he received the General Dynamics Teaching Award, which is the highest award given for teaching in the College of Engineering. He edits a column entitled, “Learning in Industry” in Chemical Engineering Education to highlight this increasingly important aspect of industry-university cooperation. He emphasizes that students learn most by practicing the skills they have learned about in the classroom, and he seeks to also integrate undergraduate students into his research group as well as promoting their participation in industrial internships.
branes to remove impurities from natural gas and is investigating the removal of undesirable components from exhaust gases—the application possibilities are almost unlimited. Dr. Koros’s group includes 11 graduate students, five of whom joined him this fall from the entering class of new students. The support for his research group is provided from various sources. Federal funds come from the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Science and Technology. Industrial funds come from BP-Amoco, ChevronTexaco and Air Liquide. Ongoing collaboration with the Separations Research Program at the University of Texas, involving a University-Industry consortium, also provides funds that leverage support from the Georgia Research Alliance and the Goizueta Endowed Chair funds.
Bill, his wife, Ann, and cat (Buddy) and dog (Smoky) are enjoying their new home, which is close to campus. They have transformed their backyard into a mini nature-sanctuary. This latter feat took some effort, with their dog now wearing a “Smoky-Alert” cow bell and their cat sporting two separate “Buddy-Alert” bells to keep the squirrels and birds apprised of their whereabouts.
Dr. Koros has published over 200 articles and holds six US Patents in the areas of sorption and transport of small molecules in polymers, molecular sieve carbons and ceramics. Besides his research program, Dr. Koros serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Membrane Science, which is the major archival resource for the membrane field. This journal publishes over 4,000 pages a year from authors around the world. Dr. Koros is also the Secretary of the North American Membrane Society and is a past Chair of the AIChE Separations Division.
Funding for the Roberto C. Goizueta Chair for Excellence in Chemical Engineering provides resources for a distinguished chemical engineering scholar who is a proven leader in environmentally benign chemical processing with the potential to impact the quality of research and educational programs in the School. Such leadership is essential for the School to achieve its vision of being one of the best chemical engineering programs in the world at both graduate and undergraduate levels.
Dr. Koros has received a number of honors in recognition of his research efforts. While at North Carolina State University, he received the Sigma Xi Award, and at the University of Texas, he received a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award. He was selected as an Outstanding Young Texas Ex in 1991 and he served as Chairman of the Chemical Engineering Department at UT from 1993 to 1997. Dr. Koros received the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Institute Award for Excellence in Industrial Gases Technology in 1995 and the AIChE Separation Division Clarence Gerhold Award in Separations in 1999. He was also elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2000 and selected as a Distinguished Alumnus of the College of Engineering at UT Austin in 2000.
The late Mr. Roberto C. Goizueta, former chairman and chief executive officer of The Coca-Cola Company, was a chemical engineering graduate of Yale University. He is widely credited with the “globalization” of Coca-Cola, which also increased the prominence of Atlanta, the city that the Cuban native grew to view as his home.
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Global Awareness Living 7,000 Miles Away from Home
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ith an enrollment of 2,450 in fall 2001, Georgia Tech had the largest enrollment of international students in a single semester in its history. The country with the largest representation is India, with 494, followed by PR China (389), then Korea (339). France and Turkey complete the top five countries represented.
These numbers reflect the growth in international students on the national scene as well, with the most recent statistics showing a total of 547,867 at American institutions of higher education.
By Zubair Anwar ChE 2002 I have always embraced change because one can only become better by welcoming change as an opportunity to grow and explore one’s potential. Motivated by this spirit, I decided to come to Georgia Tech and fly 7,000 miles away from home. I had applied to very few schools in the U.S., taking care to choose some of the best engineering schools where I would have the most ease of adjusting culturally. Georgia Tech was a great choice in that regard, since it has a reputation for offering one of the best engineering educations one can find in an atmosphere where someone like me can also obtain considerable cultural comfort as an undergraduate. In helping me get me off to a good start, the strongest impression was made by Dr. Ludovice during the Chemical Process Principles class. In the very first lecture he went over the building blocks of chemical engineering and convinced me that as a chemical engineer I could do anything. He waved his hands all over the place as he talked about applications ranging from chemical vapor deposition to the material in a baby’s diaper while I absorbed everything he had to say, gaining as much excitement as I
could. Being the only international student in the class, I did feel reluctant to ask questions, but Dr. Ludovice always responded enthusiastically to increase my comfort level.
wards and sideways.” That very strategy got me through high school and it was very reassuring to hear the same at college. I believe part of being excited about learning can be attributed to what I had learned growing up. I was taught to respect teachers next to parents, which I did at Georgia Tech from within my heart. I had been among a fortunate few in Pakistan to get a good high school education and that had taught me to value what my teachers had to offer by working diligently and enthusiastically. I believe most professors at Georgia Tech sensed that and helped me improve immensely. Our respect for each other was mutual.
As a result, I continued to probe for commitment from the faculty to keep me excited about the course material. Dr. Morris and Dr. Stancell did an excellent job in that regard during Thermodynamics I and II, respectively. Both took the time to make sure that I understood the material by explaining each new concept and equation with exquisite detail. Dr. Morris would often walk out of the class room for his water break signaling a brain storm session while Dr. Stancell had plenty of examples and stories to tell to help me gain a better understanding of the material. However, amongst all the professors, Dr. Skelland did a truly amazing job of covering course material and getting me excited about learning. I was always reminded of my high school chemistry teacher when Dr. Skelland used to say, “Learn your material forwards, back-
Apart from academics, I have had a great time at Georgia Tech. I believe that Tech has a lot to offer to those who wish to engage themselves in extracurricular activities. Despite being an international student and someone who was still learning about the American culture, the Department of Housing responded positively to my desire to learn more
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about my environment by allowing me to work as a community advisor. I was enthusiastic about learning new things and adapting to my surrounding culture, and I was able to do so by interacting with residents and fellow staff members. The excellent attendance at cultural programs that I organized for the community is a prime example. For example, I recently cooked plenty of spicy Pakistani food for residents to enjoy as they socialized in a get together. Plenty of people showed up to the event and their enthusiasm to learn more about Pakistani food and culture was indicative of the eagerness of the students at Georgia Tech to broaden their perspective. As I prepare to graduate, I realize that I have grown to be a better person during the last four years that I have spent at Georgia Tech. That is owed primarily to the spirit of the students at Tech who are eager to learn. The faculty, too, is eager to teach and make learning exciting, yielding an excellent combination of faculty and students and a community that openly welcomes the perspective that international students like me have to offer. I am sure that I will always look back at the time spent at Georgia Tech with fondness.
Faculty/Staff News Sue Ann Bidstrup Allen has been elected a Fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineers.
Jenny Daley
Victor Breedveld has accepted an offer to join the faculty of the School of Chemical Engineering. He will complete a postdoctoral appointment this fall and will join the School in January as an Assistant Professor.
Position: Director of Development
Last spring, a small group of scientists from Cal Tech, Lockheed Martin Astronautics and Arizona State University invited Prof. Larry Forney to join them in the preparation of a concept study for a proposed Mars mission with a projected launch in the year 2007. The group’s proposal, subsequent award and final report is called SCIM (Sample Collection for Investigation of Mars). The mission is designed to make a single pass at over 7 km/s at an altitude of 40 km through the Martian atmosphere, collect dust and atmospheric gas and then return the material to Earth for analysis in the year 2010. Such a sample would constitute the first return in history of planetary material to Earth. Forney’s task was to coordinate a study with the NASA Johnson Space Center of potential problems in the collection of micron size particles from high speed, rarefied flows, a field in which he has published extensively.
Joined School: September 24, 2001 Before ChE: Spent two years as director of development for Atlanta adult education agency Literacy Action, Inc.; prior to that worked two years at The Carter Center; previous experience at Reinhardt College in Waleska, Georgia Education: B.A. in Classics (Latin) and English from the University of Virginia
Martha Gallivan has accepted an offer to join the faculty of the School of Chemical Engineering. Her official appointment as Assistant Professor begins in January, but she will be on campus a couple of months prior to that time.
Personal Interests: I stay busy teaching adult tap dancing classes and power walking. I completed two marathons last year – but I think the Peachtree Road Race 10K will be enough for 2002! I enjoy movies and curling up with a good book. I grew up in Roswell, and I’m thrilled to be working at a world-class university in my hometown.
Christopher W. Jones was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,331,500 (2001) “Functionalized Molecular Sieves;” awarded an NSF CAREER Award; and attended the first “International Catalysis Workshop for Young Scientists” in Beijing, China, as part of the NSF-sponsored, seven person delegation from the U.S. On May 13, Jacqueline Mohalley joined the School as a Program Specialist and is responsible for conducting the Air Products and Chemicals Communication Program. Jacqueline’s experience includes working as an instructional design consultant at CustomTBT and as a teaching assistant and a rhetoric instructor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She has a B.A. in History & English from Stanford and M.A. degrees from both Stanford and the University of Illinois. Sankar Nair has also accepted an offer to join the faculty of the School of Chemical Engineering. He will complete a one-year postdoctoral appointment before he joins the faculty as Assistant Professor in fall 2003.
The new home of Chemical Engineering is well on its way to completion with construction on The Ford Environmental Science & Technology Building scheduled to be completed in late summer 2002. The School expects to move into what will be the largest academic building on campus during the fall semester. The photo above shows how the building looks now with a portion of the new Ross Chandler Baseball Stadium in the foreground. Weekly photos of the construction progress are available on-line by visiting our web site at www.che.gatech.edu.
Mark Prausnitz, along with M.G. Allen, D.V. McAllister, and F. Cross, was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,334,856 in January for microneedle devices and methods of manufacture and use thereof. He was also selected as one of the “40-Under-40 Rising Stars” of 2001 by Georgia Trend Magazine; and was appointed to the editorial boards of two journals: Pharmaceutical Research and the Journal of Controlled Release. Athanassios Sambanis will be promoted to the rank of Professor effective July 1.
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Dr. Ignacio Grossmann Delivers 18th Annual Ashton Cary Lecture
Professor Ignacio E. Grossmann
On March 20, 2002, Professor Grossmann delivered the 18th Annual Ashton Cary Lecture entitled “Modeling and Computational Challenges in the Planning and Scheduling of Process Systems,” and a second companion lecture on the following day entitled “Logic-Based Modeling and Solution for Discrete/ Continuous Problems in Process Systems Engineering.” Professor Ignacio E. Grossmann is the University Rudolph R. and Florence Dean Professor of Chemical Engineering and Department Head at Carnegie Mellon University. He obtained his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, in 1974, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Imperial College in 1975 and 1977, respectively. After working as an R&D engineer at the Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo in 1978, he joined Carnegie Mellon in 1979. He was Director of the Synthesis Laboratory in the Engineering Design Research Center from 1988 to 1993. Together with Professors Westerberg and Biegler, he is cofounder of the “Center for Advanced Process Decisionmaking,” which comprises about 15 chemical and petroleum companies. His research inter-
The lecture provided an overview of planning and scheduling in the process industry, emphasizing both modeling and computational challenges, as well as the role that chemical engineers can play in these problems. Professor Grossmann demonstrated that there are a great variety of applications and considerations that make it extremely challenging to develop general-purpose models, as well as solution methods that remain computationally tractable as the problem size increases. The key challenge is to keep the exponential “knee” in the computational time above the problem sizes in which you are interested. Specifically, he described several applications on which he has worked in the last few years. One application was assisting Exxon-Mobil with the longrange planning of off-shore oil field infrastructures, especially in Africa. He demonstrated how detailed geophysical 3D reservoir simulations that predicted oil recovery could be combined with optimization techniques to help determine the locations of well-heads and platforms over the lifetime of the field, improving the overall economics by millions of dollars.
ests encompass process synthesis, energy integration, process flexibility, planning and scheduling of batch and continuous processes, and mixed-integer and logic-based optimization. He has authored more than 190 papers, several monographs on design cases studies, and the textbook Systematic Methods of Chemical Process Design. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, Mexican Academy of Engineering, associate editor of AIChE Journal, and member of the editorial boards of Computers and Chemical Engineering, Journal of Global Optimization, Optimization and Engineering, and Latin American Applied Research. His major awards include the 1984 Presidential Young Investigator Award, the 1994 Computing in Chemical Engineering Award of the CAST Division of AIChE, and the 1997 William H. Walker Award of AIChE. His first lecture was entitled: “Modeling and Computational Challenges in the Planning and Scheduling of Process Systems” In this lecture he demonstrated that there are potential savings that can be achieved by improving the logistics of manufacturing without new capital investment. This is a major reason for the recent attention given to the development of optimization models for planning and scheduling of chemical processes. This is true for both large-scale continuous processes and specialty batch operations. Examples of savings include lower inventories, lower transition costs, and reduction in production shortfalls. More importantly, the interest in planning and scheduling has increased with the process industry’s goal of improving the management and dynamics of their supply chains.
In the second lecture entitled “Logic-Based Modeling and Solution for Discrete/Continuous Problems in Process Systems Engineering,” Professor Grossmann addressed technical aspects of posing and solving scheduling and planning problems in more detail. Professor Grossmann focused his talk on mixed-integer programming, which has emerged as a major enabling technology in Process Systems Engineering. Applications of this technique include process synthesis, process control, and planning and scheduling. This has allowed simultaneous decision-making for struc-
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tural degrees of freedom, such as the connectivity of the flow sheet and choice of unit operations and parameter optimization of flow rates and compositions. The lecture also addressed discrete/continuous optimization models that give rise to mixed-integer nonlinear programs when expressed in algebraic form, and provided a brief overview of these techniques. He described his pioneering work in logic-based optimization methods that can handle mixtures of equations and symbolic logic expressions in order to facilitate the modeling and reduce the combinatorial complexity when solving these problems. He introduced the topic of Generalized Disjunctive Programming (GDP), a class of optimization models that involve Boolean and continuous variables to model algebraic equations and inequalities. This permits the expression of discrete decisions in the continuous space with disjunctions, and constraints in the discrete space with logic propositions. Major developments to which Professor Grossmann was a major contributor include the derivation of convex nonlinear relaxations of the nonlinear GDP problem that rely on the convex hull representation of each of the disjunctions. The proposed nonlinear relaxation can be used to reformulate the GDP problem as a tight MINLP problem, or for deriving branch and bound and decomposition methods. The applications of these techniques in the superstructure optimization of process flow sheets, design of reactive distillation columns, and in the design and scheduling of multiproduct batch plants demonstrated that computational speed-up of several orders of magnitude could be achieved.
Chemical Engineering Bids Farewell to Three Faculty Members
Professors A.H.P. Skelland, William Ernst & Jack Winnick (left to right).
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he School of Chemical Engineering bid farewell this year to three longtime and respected members of its faculty: William Ernst, A.H.P. Skelland and Jack Winnick. Combined together, these three faculty members have an impressive 74 years of service to the School. Faculty and staff members gathered in the Gordy Room of the Wardlaw Center in October to celebrate their colleagues’ retirement with toasts and fellowship. Dr. William Ernst A 1974 Ph.D. graduate of the University of Delaware, William Ernst worked for Allied Chemical Corporation prior to joining the Georgia Tech faculty in 1973. His research interests while at the Institute were reaction engineering and kinetics and catalysis, specifically kinetics and catalysis of chlorine dioxide generation, preparation of supported metal catalysts, catalyst regeneration, and the influence of transport processes on kinetics. He also conducted research in the area of process design and pursued technical science writing. Professor Ernst is an avid tennis and golf player but his real love
is listening to and playing jazz music. Two of his favorite musicians are John Coltrane and Miles Davis. In fact, Dr. Ernst’s love of jazz actually extends beyond the realm of hobby. He was the piano-playing member of a jazz combo called “Jazz No Chaser” for several years, which consisted of another Tech faculty member and two graduate students. The group played at Tech functions and also performed off campus at several venues, including one year at the Atlanta Jazz Festival.
smiled sheepishly and said that he had tried, but simply could not think of any. “I think they must have all been funny,” he replied.
“there is a plaque stating President William Jefferson Clinton played (golf) here, costs $20, and if you’re old and cranky enough, they let you play for $12.”
Dr. Jack Winnick Dr. Winnick received his Ph.D. in 1963 from the University of Oklahoma and joined the Chemical Engineering faculty in 1979, complete with a handful of graduate students and a roomful of equipment. His research program got off to a fast start and continues now beyond his retirement. At the end of the seventies, his areas of research—electrochemical engineering—was a sleepy subset of chemical engineering, but with the advent of new batteries and fuel cells it is now an area that commands a lot of interest in the engineering community. It has always been his goal for the results of his research to help solve some of the energy and environmental problems that face our world today.
Other than his Thespian adventures, Dr. Winnick is most fondly remembered for his great sense of humor and dramatic flair. One funny story that many may have heard is that some years ago his car was stolen. After it was recovered, he found some sneakers in the back that were not his. He was then contacted by the thief who asked him to return the sneakers to him. This legend has been fondly retold over the years as one of those bizarre incidents that “could only happen to Jack!” Many students remember other stories about Dr. Winnick and his adventurous personality that have evolved into their own type of urban legends. Over the years, he has reportedly cut a block of sodium with a saw and inhaled hydrogen gas to alter his voice (as with helium) so that he’d speak like a chipmunk. Who knows which of these events truly happened? What his former students do know is that Dr. Winnick was not only an entertainer in the theatre, but also in the classroom, and he used this talent to inspire his students and enhance their learning experience.
Dr. Winnick’s retirement plans have already begun and those who know of his love of the theatre, will not be surprised to learn that he has moved to southern California. His new home is located on the west side of Los Angeles near the plot of land where MGM made Dorothy’s house fall on one of the witches in The Wizard of Oz. He jokingly reports that the “other witch lives down the street.” Other than enjoying the California sun, he is also teaching Plant Design as a part-timer at UCLA.
Retirement plans for Dr. Ernst focus primarily on continuing his work as a partner in a startup company that deals with products designed for controlled release of chemicals for specialty applications. Since his official retirement in December, he has been devoted full time to this work that focuses on the safe production and controlled release of chlorine dioxide, a chemical with biocidal properties that can be used in disinfection and odor control. Dr. Ernst will be remembered by faculty and students alike for his mild manner and exceptionally friendly personality. When asked to recall one of his most humorous moments at Tech, Dr. Ernst
Dr. Winnick also reports that he misses playing tennis with “Ernst and the other guys.” He also says that everyday seems like summer in Los Angeles and he enjoys playing golf at Rancho Park near his house where
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Dr. A.H.P. Skelland Dr. Skelland discovered chemical engineering on the silver screen. As odd as that may sound, he has always sworn that it is the truth. While attending high school in his home country of England, he knew he had to choose a career, and when he watched the movie Boomtown staring Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy and Heidi Lamar, he knew that he had found his calling. Continued
STANCELL contd. from cover
Tech five years ago, Stancell honed his leadership skills during a 30-year tenure at Mobil, where he served as vice president of exploration and production. He earned his doctorate in chemical engineering at MIT and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1997. Having already included leadership lessons in some of his own classes, Professor Stancell will work on developing an elective course in servant leadership, which will be offered next fall. He is also working to imbed leadership components into existing courses involving 90 percent of Georgia Tech’s undergraduates. According to Wilcox, Stancell’s conviction and creativity make
him the perfect choice to head up the initiative. “Anyone who believes so strongly that leadership education is important for undergraduates and is creative enough to have taught leadership within thermodynamics would be my choice for this chair,” said Wilcox. Stancell says he’s ready for the job, “I’m going to be putting a lot of energy into launching the program, with a lot of help from the faculty and the other departments.” Tech’s initiative is designed to teach students the skills of servant leadership, a style which differs from the hierarchical command and control style of the past by emphasizing collaboration and respect between leaders and others in the organization.
The initiative is concentrating on teaching students six skills and characteristics they must have in order to be a good leader: vision, personal integrity, a service orientation, effective communication skills, selfawareness and the ability to work in teams made up of diverse individuals.
Stancell. “Servant leadership is supporting people, nurturing and developing people in the organization. You listen to them, participate with them and encourage ideas. Your organization will grow as a result of your having a servant leadership style. I have seen it. It’s terrific.”
While some of these characteristics may seem self-evident, others are not. “Communication is more than just being able to deliver a good speech,” explained Stancell. “Part of it is listening and sharing information. You make everyone more effective when they have the latest information.”
Even though not every student will end up as a vice president of a major corporation, Stancell believes all of them will benefit by understanding leadership skills. It’s not enough for students to just understand their major anymore. “There have been too many situations where I saw bright people who didn’t meet their full potential because they didn’t have an inkling of these skills,” he said.
Having an orientation toward serving others is also key to the servant leadership style, said
RETIREMENT contd. from page 7
He fell in love with the lifestyle portrayed on the screen of riproaring, living it up on an oil field during the day and a life on the town at night. He recalls thinking at the time, “Now that’s the life, that’s what I want to do!” So by way of Hollywood glamour, he was led to the oil industry. Fortunately, the nearby University of Birmingham had a department for oil engineering and refining and Dr. Skelland enrolled. The program’s name was changed while he was still a student so he graduated in 1952 with a Ph.D. in chemical engineering rather than oil engineering. After graduation, he soon discovered that the name was not the only thing that was different than in the movies! After graduation, he worked for Proctor and Gamble in factory production and then research and development. He
later accepted an offer to travel 4,000 miles from his home to teach on the faculty of the Illinois Institute in Chicago. Later, he also taught at Notre Dame, spent ten years teaching at the University of Kentucky and then joined the faculty of the Rio de Janeiro University in Brazil before coming to Georgia Tech, where he taught the last twenty-three years of his 43-year teaching career. Dr. Skelland reports that his favorite part of retirement is having escaped the “tyranny of the alarm clock.” He loves to wake up whenever he happens to wake up, go out for lunch, read, go to movies and go to dinner. He has maintained his membership in various clubs, including a black tie gastronome society. Dr. Skelland may also return to England this summer for a high school reunion and visit with friends that he hasn’t seen since he was 17 years old.
According to Dr. Skelland, his other plans are essentially to “avoid structured life, including a strict avoidance of trailing around others on a golf course.” He says to “leave that to people who cannot think of anything else to do. . . !”
1. “I asked him once what he thought about iced tea. He told me that he didn’t really like it, because back in his old country (England), when the tea got that cold they simply threw it out and brewed a new batch.”
Most everyone who knew Dr. Skelland during his time at Georgia Tech remembers his hilarious stories and outrageous British sense of humor. Dr. Jude Sommerfeld shared some of his favorite memories:
2. “I also asked him one day when we were at a Mexican restaurant what he thought of frijoles (or refried beans). He replied that he felt that they were OK, but he did wonder why those blokes couldn’t get them right the first time.”
ChE is excited to announce the next Alumni Reception held in conjunction with the AIChE Convention. This year’s event will be in Indianapolis in November. Watch your mailbox for all the details.
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William Paul Delivers the 2001 Lecture for the Phillips Petroleum C.J. “Pete” Silas Program in Ethics and Leadership Among other honors, Mr. Paul is a past president of the National Conference of Bar Presidents, a past president of the Oklahoma Bar Association, and is a member of the board of directors of The American Bar Foundation.
In recognition of the outstanding career achievements of Georgia Tech Chemical Engineering graduate C.J. “Pete” Silas, The Phillips Petroleum Foundation awarded a grant to the School of Chemical Engineering to develop the Phillips Petroleum/C.J. “Pete” Silas Program in Ethics and Leadership. Ethics, leadership and quality, founded on the basics of strong communication skills and professionalism, are regarded as essential components of an engineering education. This program spotlights the importance of ethics and leadership by focusing on technical and business decisions that have ethical ramifications. These topics and related areas are integrated into the required chemical engineering courses and are addressed in an annual public symposium with prominent industrialists and ethicists leading discussions on current issues of technology and ethics.
The Class In addition to organizing the Ethics Symposium, Dr. Timothy Wick has developed an upper division course entitled Engineering Ethics. The purpose of the Attorney William G. Paul course is to increase students’ awareness of social, leadership and ethical issues related to professional engineering practice. Toward this goal, the course focuses on engineers’ responsibilities to their employer, clients, the public, themselves, government and the environment. Specific topics address risk, safety and health; informed consent; conflict of interest; confidentiality; dissent; loyalty; expert witnessing; liability; ownership; and honesty. An analytical framework that includes critical thinking, quantitative risk/benefit analysis and strategies for allocation of resources is developed to address moral problems and ethical issues. These and related concepts are explored through analysis of engineering problems, including quantitative engineering calculations and qualitative discussions of the ethical, leadership, and moral issues associated with each problem. Here, a case-study based approach to analysis of ethics problems and development of solutions is employed.
The Lecturer The fall 2001 lecture, entitled “Ethics in Law and Business: Gone with the Wind or Alive and Well?,” was delivered by William G. Paul, former president of the American Bar Association and attorney with the Oklahoma City law firm Crowe & Dunlevy. Mr. Paul’s impressive law career and his focus on legal ethics made him the ideal choice for the 2001 lecturer. He joined Crowe & Dunlevy for a second time in 1996 after having served as senior vice president and general counsel of Phillips Petroleum Company for 11 years. Before joining Phillips Petroleum in 1985, Paul had been with Crowe & Dunlevy since 1957. He has long been active in the ABA, serving on the Board of Governors since 1995. He has been a member of the policy-making House of Delegates for 21 years, from 1975-77 and then again from 1979-98. He was the first chair of the ABA Committee on Research about the Future of the Legal Profession (1995-97). He also chaired the Coalition for Justice.
ChE Celebrates the Beginning of the Next 100 Years This year marks the beginning of the second century of the study of Chemical Engineering at Georgia Tech. We will be highlighting history and looking to the future in our 2002 editions of ChE News.
He maintains an office in the BungerHenry building while he writes a history of the School, at the request of Chair Ron Rousseau. Below Dr. Ward highlights the department’s founding, changes in the coursework, and housing adjustments for the growing department from 1901-1950.
Chemical Engineering at Tech: 1901-1950
The School of Chemical Engineering started on April 30, 1901 when Georgia Tech founding faculty member William Henry Emerson persuaded the state legislature to set up the Department of Engineering Chemistry. Emerson, who received his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1886 from Johns Hopkins
Henderson L. Ward earned his B.S.ChE in 1948, M.S.ChE in 1952, and Ph.D in 1953, all from the School of Chemical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Dr. Ward retired from the ChE faculty in 1984, after a long and respected teaching career.
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University, served as the Department’s first Chair and was known to students as “Big Doc.”
they could find good room and board near campus for $10-$15 weekly.
The 1900-1901 school catalogue announced the special course of study in engineering chemistry with two main purposes: “to give the student a broad foundation in general and theoretical chemistry so that in his future work new problems may be met intelligently and solved,” and “to give [the student] special training in those branches of Chemistry which have been most generally applied industrially, so that he may be immediately useful.” The students were all male, and
The department was housed in Tech Tower from 1901 to 1906. Lyman Hall, a graduate of West Point, succeeded Emerson as head of the department and oversaw the construction of the chemistry building completed in 1906. Dr. Hall died soon after, and the building was named for him, Lyman Hall (Hall). At that time, students studied English, German, and mechanical drawing in addition to their Continued on back cover
Alumni News 1959
Dr. W. John Lee was named to receive the 2002 Mineral Industry Education Award from The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers. Lee is a professor and holder of the Peterson chair in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University. He earned all of his ChE degrees from Tech, and has been described as a “world-class scholar.”
1963
Dr. Thomas J. Malone was presented with the prestigious Milliken Medal of Quality Award from the South Carolina Quality Forum. Governor Jim Hodges made the presentation. The award is given every year by the Quality Forum to recognize South Carolinians of vision, who have demonstrated leadership, innovation, and outstanding achievement in the implementation of quality systems in their organizations. Malone is president & chief operating officer of Milliken & Company. Malone earned his Ph.D. in ChE from Tech.
1966
Louis J. Rupnik has joined the Board of Directors of ON Technology Corporation, a leading provider of remote software delivery, lifecycle management and disaster recovery solutions. Rupnik most recently founded TopLine LLC, a strategy and marketing consulting firm. He earned his B.S. in ChE from Tech.
1975
W. Michael Hulse has been named President of Murphy Oil USA, Inc. Hulse will assume responsibility for all
U.S. based downstream activities. He most recently served as president of the company’s U.K. downstream subsidiary. He joined the company in 1990.
1935
1953
1983
1936
1954
William T. Ricks of Austin, Tex. died in May 2001. He was retired from Ford, Bacon, and Davis Companies.
Steven (Steve) S. Cox received his doctorate in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech in May 2001. He lives in Blacksburg, Virginia and is now a faculty member in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
1986
Edward G. Cape has joined the Board of Directors of ThermoGenesis Corporation. Cape is a Co-Founder and General Partner of the Sapphire Group, a privately held firm engaging in investments and strategic advisory services for companies in the bioactive device and bioimaging sectors. Cape will also serve a one year term as Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy. Cape earned B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in ChE from Tech.
Frank W. Chapman of Roswell, Ga. died December 4, 2001. He was retired from Firemans Fund America.
1940
Herring Winship, Jr. of Bainbridge, Ga. died in November 2001. He was retired from AGL Resources, Inc.
1944
James D. Keith of Signal Mountain, Tenn. died February 28, 2002.
1945
Floyd W. McCollum of Easton, Penn. died on May 15, 2001. His wife writes, “He was a heckuva engineer!”
1947
J. Eddie Lerner of Houston, Tex. died. He was retired from Fluor Corporation.
1990
Jeff Holley has worked for Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati since graduating from Tech. He recently visited campus to speak to the AIChE chapter, for which he was treasurer his senior year. His son, Tyler Jeffrey, was born on July 18 and weighed 8lbs. 8oz. and measured 20 inches long.
1951
John L. Cain of Nashville, Tenn. died May 28, 1999. He was retired from Auburn University.
1952
Lawrence V. Goode of Avon Lake, Ohio died on October 3, 2001. He was retired from Geon Company.
OBITUARIES
James M. Phillips of Schenectady, N.Y. died July 28, 2001. He was retired from General Electric Company.
1934
James T. Warren of Ottumwa, Ia. died in 2001.
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James T. Porter of Atlanta, Ga. died in December, 2001. He was the retired president of Porter Carpet Mills.
Charles William “Bill” Davis of Charlottesville, Va. died on October 18, 2001. He worked for Alcoa for many years before retiring from Unirep. He was an Air Force veteran.
1955
Albert H. Twiss of Greer, S.C. died May 26, 2001. He was retired from his own engineering consulting firm Twiss, Inc. He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.
1957
Henry C. Vaughn of North Palm Beach, Fla. died August 11, 2001. He was employed by Pratt & Whitney Government Engine and Space Propulsion.
1958
Richard L. Leonard of Decatur, Ala. died June 25, 2001. He was retired from Monsanto Company.
1960
Calvin S. Moore of Richmond, Va. died on July 30, 2001. He was retired from Ethyl Corporation.
CORRECTION In our Spring 2001 edition, ChE News erroneously reported the death of alumnus James R. Tate ‘65 of Maryland. We apologize for this error and thank Mr. Tate for his understanding. ChE alumnus James H. Tate ‘73 of Roanoke, Va. died in 2000. He was employed by Hercules Incorporated.
College of Engineering Honors Six Chemical Engineers
T
he annual College of Engineering Awards were presented on November 2, 2001. The College inducted nine graduates into the Hall of Fame, 29 graduates into the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni, and 14 graduates into the Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni.
Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni
The School of Chemical Engineering is proud to announce that six alumni were honored for their professional achievements and were present to receive their recognition.
Ms. Elizabeth B. Moore, ChE 1974: Vice Pres., Parsons Corporation • For a sustained career as a process engineer on a variety of high profile and complex projects, and for mentoring and advising young women in her community.
Hall of Fame Mr. J. Kelley Williams, ChE 1956: Chairman and CEO, Chemfirst Corporation • For leadership and vision in guiding the growth of ChemFirst and other businesses, and for his efforts on behalf of the School of Chemical Engineering.
Mr. Ray W. Miller, ChE 1972: 3GT Technology Director, E.I. DuPont de Nemours • For his leadership and significant contributions in research and the development of polymer products, bioprocessing, and nylon.
Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni Mr. Charles T. Dickson, ChE 1984: Logistics and Business Development Manager, ExxonMobil Corporation
Pictured left to right, top row: Steven K. Hall, J. Kelley Williams, Ray W. Miller, School Chair Ronald Rousseau; bottom row: Barbara L. Knutson, Elizabeth B. Moore and Charles T. Dickson.
• For significant contributions in research and the development of a new technology for purifying linear paraffins. Mr. Steven K. Hall, ChE 1988: Vice Pres., Goldman Sachs, Co. • For sustained success in the financial services industry and for service to Georgia Tech.
Dr. Barbara L. Knutson: University of Kentucky, ChE B.S. 1989, Ph.D. 1994 • For outstanding research on supercritical fluid technology, guidance of students, and contributions as a professor of chemical engineering.
Outstanding ChE Students Receive Recognition The end of the spring semester offered an opportunity to honor the School’s outstanding students at the annual Student Awards Banquet, which was held on April 24 in the Gordy Room of the Wardlaw Center. In addition to the 37 undergraduate students who received recognition for Exemplary Academic Achievement, the following honors were also acknowledged: Leadership Sid Kossowsky, AIChE Student Chapter President Justin Koushyar, Omega Chi Epsilon Student Chapter President Pamela Reid & Matthew Spuller, 2002 Symposium Chairs James Broering, Alexis
Hillock, Rebecca Jones, Hensley Sejour, Christopher Timmons, 2002 Teamwork Awards Overall Accomplishments Andrew Lebsack, Eastman Chemical Engineering Scholar Joel Keene, 2001 AIChE/ Donald Othmer Outstanding Sophomore Melanie Glotzbach, Albemarle Corporation/Dixie Goins Outstanding Sophomore Stephen Baisch, Dow Outstanding Junior Jennifer Schwerman, AIChE/Kimberly-Clark Outstanding Senior & the Helen Grenga Award Lisa Hofler, BASF Outstanding Junior
Research Accomplishments Brian Timberlake, 2002 Ziegler Best Paper Award James Broering, National Science Foundation Fellow Karen Polizzi, National Science Foundation Fellow Teaching Gary Gray, 2002 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Professor Prof. Jay Lee, 2002 Ziegler Outstanding Faculty Sustained and Exemplary Academic Achievement David Desrocher, Jie Diao, Satyanarayana Myneni, Christopher Timmons
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The 14th Annual Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Symposium was held on April 11-12 with 23 industry representatives from 19 companies in attendance. Pamela Reid and Matthew Spuller served as cochairs for this year’s successful event. Shawn Davis received honors in both the poster session and the oral presentations, taking first place for his presentation on “The Mechanics of Microneedles” and second place for his poster on the same topic. Joseph Nguyen received first place for his poster on “SilicaCoated Core/Shell Magnetic Nanoparticle Catalysts” and Dan Euhus received second place for his presentation on “Sodium Salt Fouling In Falling-Film Evaporators: A Pilot Study.”
We Welcome Your Questions, Comments or News: ChE Newsletter: Josie Giles (404) 385-2299 Email: josie.giles@che.gatech.edu ChE Alumni News: Jenny Daley (404) 894-0987 Email: jenny.daley@che.gatech.edu
ChE Program Information: ChE Main Office (404) 894-2867
Correspondence May Be Mailed to this Address:
ChE Development: Jenny Daley (404) 894-0987 Email: jenny.daley@che.gatech.edu
School of Chemical Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 30332-0100 www.che.gatech.edu
YEARS cont. from page 9
math, mechanics, and science classes. The Unit Operations lab was added in 1936. The department continued to expand, and the Emerson addition was built onto Lyman Hall. Then in 1947, another 5,000 square feet became available with a temporary addition built with WWII surplus materials. The year 1950 marked the first full-time class to graduate from the department since WWII. It was the largest class at the time, and for a while after. The first Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering was awarded in 1950, a turning point as a school already known
CHEM
for its very strong undergraduate program began to develop graduate studies. LOOKING BACK and THINKING AHEAD: What are your memories of ChE at Tech? What do you see happening in the next 100 years in chemical engineering? Please share your thoughts and help us celebrate “The Next ChEntury” with your views of the past and visions for the future. We will collect responses for upcoming issues of ChE News. E-mail to
jenny.daley@che.gatech.edu or send via mail to Jenny Daley; Director of Development; School of Chemical Engineering; Georgia Tech; Atlanta, GA 30332-0100.
“Basic human needs don’t change—food, shelter, clothing—but chemical engineering will be part of all coming improvements.” Paul H. Williams, 1960
“What do you see in the next 100 years of chemical engineering?”
“Adjustments in and the gradual decline of the traditional petrochemical business.” Ray Dunleavy, 1973
“Increase in the importance of environmental considerations in traditional chemical businesses and a continuing move toward using mathematical applications in coursework.” Henderson Ward, 1948
NEWS
“Improvements in chemical engineering applications for food and water sources: current desalination processes are too energy intensive to continue.” Charlie Harbin, 1974
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