CHMBE E-Bulletin

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CURRENT NEWS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL AND BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

Fall 2013

E Bulletin

USF Chapter Recipient of AIChE Outstanding Student Chapter Award TAMPA, Fla (7 October 2013) – The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Student Chapter at USF is the recipient of the AICHE 2013 Outstanding Student Chapter Award for the second consecutive year.

Presented annually to those Student Chapters that show an exceptional level of participation, enthusiasm, program quality, professionalism, and involvement in the university and community. Selection criteria includes membership, Cheryl McCane-president of USF AICHE student chapter 2013-2014

outstanding participation by member students and faculty, number of meetings and events, variety of activities, including career guidance, community outreach, departmental activities, social events, plant trips, and participation

in local, regional and national AIChE programs and Engineers Week participation.

In addition to this esteemed honor for the USF Chapter, Cheryl McCane, the 2013-2014 Student President, has won the Donald F. & Mildred Topp Othmer National Scholarship. Each year, the Donald F. & Mildred Topp Othmer National Scholarship recognizes fifteen national AIChE student members.

Awards are presented on the basis of academic achievement and involvement in student chapter activities. Ms. McCane is the second consecutive student at USF to receive this prestigious award.

Both awards will be presented at the AIChE Annual Meeting and National Student Conference in San Francisco, 1-4 November 2013. The USF Chapter will be sending over 50 students to this conference, as well as the Chem E Car Team to competition after placing in the top five teams at the regional

USF chapter members at 2012 AICHE national student conference

Fall ChBME Seminar Series has Started

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Biomedical Engineering Students Received NIH Graduate Student Grants TAMPA, Fla (Sept 26th, 2013) – Tanika Wiiliamson and Jeanine Mansour, two Biomedical Engineering graduate students of ChBME department were awarded National Institutes of Health Graduate Student Grants this year.

Tanika, graduated from Florida State University in Biomedical Engineering, and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at USF under the advising of Dr. Robert Frisina, Professor and Director of BME Program.

Jeanine Mansour earned her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt University in 2009 as well as completed her M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from University of South Florida in 2012. She is currently in her third-year as a doctoral student under the tutelage of both Drs. Robert Frisina and Joseph Walton.

Both Tanika and Jeanine will work on different elements of a continuing project. The team

Tanika Williamson

has previously discovered that older women who take hormone replacement therapy (HRT) have accelerated age-related hearing loss. They confirmed this finding in one of our key animal models, aging female mice, using subcutaneous, time-release HRT pellets. The award receivers will work on answering several major questions in this area such as: If women (or aging female mice) stop taking HRT, will their hearing return to normal or at least stop becoming worse (or continue to worsen)?

The award is competitive, multi-year Ph.D. grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). National Institute on Aging is one of the 27 Institutes and Centers of NIH. It leads a broad scientific effort to understand the nature of aging and to extend the healthy, active years of life.

Jeanine Mansour

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Chemical Engineering Students Excel at Central Florida AIChE Conference TAMPA, Fla (June 11, 2013) – Several students in the Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Department won in the poster session of the Central Florida Chapter American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) 37th International Phosphate Fertilizer & Sulfuric Acid Technology Conference held June 7-8 in at Clearwater Beach. The winners are: GRADUATE CATEGORY: Outstanding Poster - Syed Ali Zeeshan Gardezi, Fischer Tropsch Synthesis via Biomass Derived Synthesis Gas Second Place - Adib Amini, Phosphorus Recovery from Anaerobically Digested Swine Waste Third Place - Joseph Fernandez, Numerical Modeling of Cathodic Protection of Nuclear Containment Steel Liners UNDERGRADUATE CATEGORY: Outstanding Poster - Cheryl McCane, The Effect of InVO4 Coupling on the Photocatalytic Activity of Anatase and Mixed Phase TiO2 for Organic Decomposition Outstanding Poster - Ryan Kent, Effect of Partial A-Site Substitution on Carbon Dioxide Reduction

by Oxygen Absorption on Lanthanum Cobalt Perovskite-oxide Structures

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Goswami Honored with ASME Medal and ASHRAE Award The distinguished university professor is being recognized for influencing the development of solar energy around the world.

TAMPA, Fla (May 14, 2013) – D. Yogi Goswami, PE, distinguished university professor in the Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Department, and director of the Clean Energy Research Center (CERC) is the recipient of the 2013 Technical Comunities Globalization Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

In November, Professor Goswami will be honored at the ASME President’s Luncheon in San Diego.

Dr. Goswami has been selected for “uniquely influencing the development and use of solar energy around the world through education, policy advice to various governments, the organization of international conferences, service as editor in chief of solar energy journals, and through the keynote and plenary lectures on global energy topics at major international conferences.”

Goswami’s nomination was based on his pioneering contributions in education, research, and technology development in solar energy. His inventions in photocatalytic detoxification and disinfection are commercialized and available worldwide. Products based on his inventions are helping allergy and asthma sufferers globally. His research on thermodynamic cycles has

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included, Supercritical Organic Rankine Cycles, Mixed Working Fluids for thermodynamic cycles. He also developed a combined Power and Cooling Cycle, now known as the Goswami Cycle, resulting in a new class of Combined Cycles.

His other research is on various aspects of solar thermal energy utilization, thermal energy storage and nano-scale antennae for energy conversion. His textbook, Principles of Solar Engineering (2nd edition) based on his classroom teaching of solar energy, is being used worldwide.

Within the field of energy he has published as author/editor 16 books, 320 papers, and holds 18 patents. He has made significant and transformative contributions to the field of solar energy (thermodynamic power cycles, and solar detoxification and disinfection of air and water).

Goswami is the editor-in-chief of the Solar Energy journal and has developed successful industrial ventures based on his inventions and other innovations. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Solar Energy Society, and ASME.

Construction of Solar Thermal Power Plant Model at USF-Tampa campus

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ChBME Graduate Students Received School Fellowships

Debosruti Dutta

Mandek Richardson

Tamina Johnson

TAMPA, Fla (May 10, 2013) - Debosruti Dutta, Mandek Richardson, and Tamina Johnson, doctoral students in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering have been awarded fellowships by the USF Graduate School for the 2013-2014 academic year.

Debosruti, a doctoral candidate in chemical engineering, received the Dissertation Completion Fellowship. The award will provide a stipend of $15,000, full tuition/fees, and health insurance for one academic year. Debosruti’s research interests include computational catalysis with applications to chiral-selective growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) and InAs nanowires, design of enzyme inspired catalysts, plasmonics and biosensing. He uses computational tools based on theory such as density functional theory (DFT), finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) methods, Monte Carlo (MC) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations.

His faculty advisor is Venkat Bhethanabotla, professor and chair in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering.

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Mandek, a doctoral candidate in biomedical engineering, will receive the Genshaft Family Doctoral Fellowship. The award includes a stipend of $10,000 and tuition waivers. He is designing a surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensing platform to detect cancer biomarkers for use in point-of-care testing (POCT). The advantage of POCT is that relatively immediate feedback can be given on site which allows for faster and cheaper diagnosis, and increased testing of underserved populations. Mandek’s faculty advisor is Venkat Bhethanabotla, professor and chair in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering.

Tamina, an engineering science doctoral student, will receive a Graduate Student Success (GSS) Fellowship. The fellowship will provide a $12,000 stipend and tuition waivers.

Her research is studying novel therapies for traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and spinal cord injuries, a signature USF research initiative. She is investigating recombinant functional biomaterials for neuronal regeneration and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

Tamina’s advisor is Piyush Koria, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering.

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Kahn, ChBME Graduate Student, USF Leadership Legacy Recipient TAMPA, Fla (April 23, 2013) – Julie Kahn, a graduate student in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering was selected to receive the Leadership Legacy award by the USF Office of Student Affairs for the 2012 – 2013 academic year.

Julie, who earned her bachelor’s degree at USF in Chemical Engineering, recently earned her Master of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering in August of this year. Besides her coursework, Julie held an internship position at the VA Research Center where she completed her thesis work.

Julie was involved in the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) throughout her undergraduate years serving various officer Julie Kahn positions and also served as the organization’s president from 2012 – 2013. She organized the first Student Government funded trip for the organization to the BMES annual conference held in Atlanta back in October 2012. Being a student leader, she advanced the student organization at USF to become a student chapter under the national BMES organization (Student Chapter 74 – University of South Florida, Tampa).

Many highly qualified leaders from USF’s 600+ student organizations competed for this award.

The Leadership Legacy Award recognizes a student leader whose long-term dedication and commitment has made a positive impact on sustaining the visibility of a student organization.

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2013 Celebration of Leadership Awards - Leadership Legacy, Julie Kahn at the USF Marshall Student Center.

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Department of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering University of South Florida 4202 E Fowler Avenue, ENB 118 Tampa, FL 33620 Email: chbme@usf.edu Telephone: 813-974-3997 Location: ENC 3400