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Seminar Announcement
by Jackson, Christa N 05 Jan '15

05 Jan '15

Purdue University School of Chemical Engineering Graduate seminar series Prof. Jeffrey McCutcheon University of Connecticut "New Membrane Designs for Forward Osmosis" January 13, 2015 9:00-10:15 a.m. FRNY G140 Reception at 8:30 a.m. in Henson Atrium Abstract: Forward osmosis (FO) is a rapidly emerging technology platform that harnesses the osmotic pressure difference between solutions of differing salinity. By harnessing osmosis in an engineered process environment, innovative technologies for desalination, water reuse, dewatering, and power production can be realized. However, a vast majority of FO development has been hindered by the lack of appropriately-designed membranes that facilitate the use of this unusual driving force and thus exhibit high water flux, superior selectivity, chemical stability and adequate mechanical strength. At the University of Connecticut, we have developed a number of new polymeric thin film composite membranes that function well in a number of FO applications. One of our developments has been a modified reverse osmosis membrane that has a demonstrated 20-fold improvement in water flux over its unmodified counterpart. Another is our cast nylon 6,6 microfiltration membrane supported thin film composite membrane which has matched productivity of a standard commercial FO membrane but is 10 times more selective. One of our most innovative flat-sheet platforms is our electrospun nanofiber supported TFC membrane. The high porosity and low tortuosity of the nanofiber nonwoven support material facilitates mass transport and thus enables excellent osmotic performance. Lastly, our newest work is on a hollow fiber TFC membrane designed for osmotic applications. Each of these membrane platforms has its own benefits and drawbacks. Each also has varying prospects for commercial development. These issues will be discussed in the context of other FO commercialization efforts occurring around the world. Bio: Jeffrey McCutcheon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and at the University of Connecticut. He received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Dayton and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Yale University. At the University of Connecticut, he serves as a Center Faculty at the Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Director the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering REU-Site, and Director of the UConn Piloting Facility. Since his appointment in Fall of 2008, he has established the Sustainable Water and Energy Laboratory (SWEL), an interdisciplinary research environment that supports 10 graduate students and 4 undergraduate researchers. His primary research efforts are focused on osmotic processes, including forward osmosis (FO) and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO). His work has resulted in 34 publications, 2 book chapters, 5 pending patents, and a number of invited seminars around the world. He is an elected Director in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Separations Division and serves on the North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Board of Directors. He is co-chair for a number of upcoming international membrane related meetings, including the ACS workshop on "Advances in Materials and Processes for Polymeric Membrane Mediated Water Purification" to be held in Pacific Grove, CA in Spring 2015, the NAMS Annual Meeting to be held in Boston, MA in Summer 2015, and the Gordon Research Conference on Membranes and Membrane Processes to be held in Summer 2016. He has received a number of awards including the 3M Nontenured Faculty Award, the Solvay Advanced Polymers Young Faculty Award, The DuPont Young Faculty Award, and the FRI/John G. Kunesh Award from the AIChE Separations Division. Sincerely, Christa N. Jackson Main office Secretary Forney Hall of Chemical Engineering, Room 1060 480 Stadium Mall Drive West Lafayette, IN 47907 765-494-4050 jacksonc(a)purdue.edu

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Congratulations to Drs Michael Harris and Linda Wang
by Varma, Arvind 22 Dec '14

22 Dec '14

Dear Colleagues, I am very pleased to inform that at their meeting today, the Board of Trustees ratified the appointment of Dr. Michael Harris as the Reilly Professor of Chemical Engineering and of Dr. Linda Wang as the Maxine Spencer Nichols Professor of Chemical Engineering. Dr. Harris received his PhD degree from the University of Tennessee in 1992. After service at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in positions of increasing technical and supervisory responsibilities during 1981-95, and at the University of Maryland during 1996-2002, he joined the Purdue faculty in 2002 as an Associate Professor and was promoted to Professor rank in 2006. He has distinguished himself with outstanding research, teaching and service. His main areas of research are nanoparticle technology and colloid and interfacial phenomena, where he specializes in the synthesis, characterization and use of nanoscale particles. His research includes both experimental and modeling-computational studies. He is well-known for his use of SAXS, dynamic light scattering and NMR methods to quantitatively understand the nucleation and formation of nanoscale particles. He has authored more than 90 archival journal publications and has 10 issued patents. He has presented 25 invited academic seminars and 138 talks at professional society meetings. He has graduated 21 PhD students and 8 MS thesis students, and is currently advising or co-advising 4 PhD students. In addition, he has advised an impressive 131 undergraduates in research. During his career at Purdue, Dr. Harris has served as PI or co- PI of research grants with total budget $13.8 million. His grants are from highly competitive sponsors such as NSF, DOE and NIST; he is an active participant in the NSF ERC on Structured Organic Particulate Solids (SOPS). In professional recognition, Dr. Harris received the NSF CAREER Award (1997), and the CoE Mentoring Excellence (2006) and Research Team Excellence awards (2010). He was designated a Purdue University Faculty Scholar (2003-2007). From the AIChE Minority Affairs Committee, he received the Grimes Award (2005), Black Achievers Award (2008) and the Distinguished Service Award (2009). He was elected Fellow of AIChE (2009) and serves as Associate Editor for two journals, Chemical Engineering Letters and Journal of Nanomaterials. He also served as a Director of AIChE's Materials Engineering and Science Division (2003-2005). Finally, he has provided exemplary service to the School, College and the University, most notably as Chair of the Junior Faculty Council (2002-2006) and as Associate Dean of Engineering for Undergraduate Education (2006-present); as Chair of the School's Graduate Recruiting Committee (2002-2006) and Director of Graduate Studies (2012-2014). Dr. Wang received her PhD degree from the University of Minnesota in 1978. She joined the Purdue faculty in 1980, was promoted to Associate Professor rank in 1985 and Professor rank in 1992. She has distinguished herself with outstanding research, teaching and service. Her area of research is separation science and technology, where she specializes in adsorption and multicomponent chromatography. Her research includes both experimental and modeling-computational studies. She is well-known for her pioneering research in simulated moving bed (SMB) chromatography, and has successfully applied it to investigate important and difficult separations such as insulin purification, recovery of polycarbonates and flame retardants from electronic wastes, and high-purity rare earth elements. She has authored 109 archival journal publications and 6 book chapters. She also has 2 awarded patents and 4 provisional patent applications. She has presented 32 invited academic seminars and 58 invited talks at industrial and national laboratories. She has graduated 23 PhD students and 25 MS thesis students, and is currently advising or co-advising 3 PhD students. During her career at Purdue, Dr. Wang has served as PI or co-PI of research grants with total budget $7.9 million. Her grants are from highly competitive sponsors such as NSF and DOE, and also from industrial sources such as Dow, Abbott, Lilly and Sabic. In professional recognition, Dr. Wang received the NSF Faculty Award for Women Scientists and Engineers (1991) and the Violet Haas Award (2008) from Purdue. She has been elected Fellow of AIMBE (2000) and AIChE (2011). She chaired the Gordon Research Conference on Reactive Polymers (1989) and served on the editorial board of the Journal of Reactive Polymers (1989-95). She has also served professional societies in leadership roles, including as a Director of the International Adsorption Society (2001-2007) and many leadership roles in the AIChE Separations Division, most recently serving as Division Chair (2013). Finally, she has provided excellent service to the School and College, particularly as Chair of the School's Undergraduate Committee (1996-2001) and of the PhD Qualifying Exam Committee (2005-2007); at the College level, among others, she served as Chair of the WFEC Head Candidate Interviews several times and as a member of the Dean's Advisory Committee (2005-2008). The procedure to select the two named professors was as follows. Last year, all Professors in our School were requested to submit CVs for named professorship consideration and several did. Following University guidelines, a School level committee was established to consider candidates - it included all the School's Distinguished and Named professors. The committee voted to award the Shreve Professorship to Dr. Ribeiro last year and all candidates were informed of the selection soon thereafter. The same committee considered the remaining candidates for named professorship designation earlier this year and voted enthusiastically to award the Reilly Professorship to Dr. Harris and the Nichols Professorship to Dr. Wang. Pl join me in congratulating Drs. Harris and Wang for their most well-deserved recognitions! With best wishes, Arvind Arvind Varma R. Games Slayter Distinguished Professor Jay and Cynthia Ihlenfeld Head of Chemical Engineering Purdue University Tel: 765-494-4075; Fax: 765-494-0805; Email: avarma(a)purdue.edu<mailto:avarma@purdue.edu> https://engineering.purdue.edu/ChE/People/ptProfile?id=11068

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Most Recent Work Environment Survey Results for our School
by Farmus, Cristina D 19 Dec '14

19 Dec '14

Dear ChE Faculty, Staff and Graduate Students, Since 2010 we have been conducting an annual survey to assess and improve the overall quality of the work environment in the School of Chemical Engineering. The most recent survey was conducted in November 2013 and captured information for the 2012-13 year. Results of the survey were analyzed in early 2014; several groups reviewed sections of the survey relevant to them and worked on solutions to address various issues. Many action items have been implemented throughout the year. Attached is a presentation summarizing the results and the action items taken to improve the work environment. A survey to assess the quality of the work environment for the most recent 12 months will be sent out shortly. Please take the time to read the most current results and to take the new survey. Let me know if you have any comments or concerns. Regards, Cristina Cristina Farmus Managing Director Chemical Engineering Purdue University 765 494 0027 cfarmus(a)purdue.edu<mailto:cfarmus@purdue.edu>

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School of Chemical Engineering - Strategic Plan, 2015-19
by Varma, Arvind 16 Dec '14

16 Dec '14

Dear Colleagues, As you are aware, a committee composed of the School's faculty, staff, students, alumni and IAC members, has worked diligently since March this year to prepare the School's Strategic Plan (2015-19). The committee members are: Faculty: Bryan Boudouris, Jeffrey Greeley, Sangtae Kim, Zoltan Nagy, Arvind Varma (Head) Staff: Cristina Farmus, Chris Murray, Gabriela Nagy, Karissa Raderstorf, David Williams Students: Frank DeVilbiss, Nicole Devlin (Presidents, Graduate Student Organization) Daniel Custer (BSChE 2014), Katie Phillips (Presidents, ChE Student Advisory Council) Alumni: Jennifer Curtis (BSChE '83), Russell Nix (BSChE 2008), Jamey Young (PhD 2005) Industrial Advisory Council members: Billy Bardin (IAC Chair), Richard Narta (BSChE '80) Apart from the committee, input was sought and received on preliminary drafts along the way from all the School's faculty, staff, students and IAC members. The final document is attached, in two versions - the one "with targets" is for internal School distribution only, while the other will be posted on our School's website for wider dissemination. An expectation for the document was to be brief and crisp, less than 4 pages long (aside from the cover pages) for the version without targets, easy to understand, measure and implement. It was also our wish from the start to complete and distribute it by December 15. Along with the committee, I believe that we have fulfilled all these objectives. I sincerely thank all those who participated in preparing this document. As noted in the Introduction, it will serve as a guide for our School during the next five years. With best wishes for the holiday season and the New Year! Arvind Arvind Varma R. Games Slayter Distinguished Professor Jay and Cynthia Ihlenfeld Head of Chemical Engineering Purdue University

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Air quality and temperature control - opportunity for feedback
by Farmus, Cristina D 12 Dec '14

12 Dec '14

Dear Occupants of Forney Hall, I am writing to inform you of two major developments related to the quality of the air in Forney Hall. Feedback can be sent by replying to this email. * Effective this week, the air handler that supplies air to the classrooms, all offices, conference rooms, and the public areas in the basement, ground, 1st, and second floors in the new building (addition) will be shut off from 10.00 pm until 6.00 am during the week, and from 5.00 pm to 6.00 am during the weekends. Research labs will not be affected, they run on a separate air handler. This was done in collaboration with the Energy and Construction department at Purdue in an effort to help with energy conservation. We agreed to try this program for a couple of months, during which we'll monitor the impact on our building occupants. Depending on the feedback we receive we have three alternatives: continue with the new schedule with no change; strategically implement occupancy sensors to activate the air handler as needed; reverse to the old program of 24/7 supply. * Yesterday, a change was automatically implemented by the Energy Management Group to lower the temperatures to the standard 70-74F in all offices, common areas, classrooms, hallways and conference rooms in the entire building. ChE was not consulted about this change, and we consider it undue, since we worked hard to make people comfortable and had the temperature adjusted in many areas based on the results from the Work Environment Survey for the past few years. I am inviting you to submit your feedback to both of these changes by replying to this email. Any requests for temperature adjustments should also be sent to me. Regards, Cristina Cristina Farmus Managing Director Chemical Engineering Purdue University 765 494 0027 cfarmus(a)purdue.edu<mailto:cfarmus@purdue.edu>

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Security and Crime Prevention
by Murray, Chris L 12 Dec '14

12 Dec '14

From: elist39-bounces(a)lists.purdue.edu [mailto:elist39-bounces@lists.purdue.edu] On Behalf Of List 39 Administrator Sent: Friday, December 12, 2014 8:56 AM To: elist39(a)purdue.edu; elist39d(a)purdue.edu Subject: [Elist39] Security and Crime Prevention [Purdue University] To: Executive Vice Presidents, Chancellors, Vice Presidents, Vice Chancellors, Vice Provosts, Deans, Directors and Heads of Schools, Divisions, Departments and Offices From: Deba Dutta, Provost and Bill Sullivan, Treasurer Re: Security and Crime Prevention Date: December 12, 2014 As we near the end of the 2014-2015 fall semester, we request that you refresh and redouble your level of vigilance on the safety and security of campus facilities. With classes ending, and with students and faculty leaving the campus, it is important to increase your attention to security and report any suspicious behavior to the Purdue Police department. Department heads are asked to ensure this letter reaches faculty, staff and all graduate assistants in their departments. If you see something say something! All Purdue faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to report suspicious activity or situations immediately to the Purdue Police at the non-emergency number: 494-8221. Examples of these situations include broken doors or windows, unusual activities in buildings at unusual hours, vehicles parked in odd locations, and abandoned backpacks or packages. Secure laboratories and offices! Many crimes, such as theft or vandalism, are crimes of “opportunity”. While we foster the concept of an open and collaborative environment, it is important that we secure our facilities to prevent the theft of or damage to valuable university and personal property. The most common targets are computers, cell phones and purses, and each of you know best what equipment or research materials, such as chemical or biological agents, might be considered targets. Report all incidents! It is the responsibility of all Purdue community members to report thefts, vandalism, or other crimes, as well as threats of crimes, as soon as they are discovered. Although the incident may be minor, patterns may be observed by law enforcement personnel to more readily identify and apprehend individuals involved. Timeliness in reporting is of the essence. For further information please contact the Purdue University Police at (765) 494-8221. As always, in an emergency, please dial 911 from any phone.

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Chem Engr Appreciation Reception Dec 11
by Ewing, Virginia G 08 Dec '14

08 Dec '14

[Faculty, Staff, and Grad. Student Appreciation Reception Where: Henson Atrium / FRNY When: Thursday, December 11, 2014 Time: 3:30-4:30 pm .][CHEMICAL ENGINEERING][cid:image015.png@01D012D4.CC5C4470][You're Invited][cid:image003.jpg@01CFE6D3.E0328950] Virginia Ewing 480 Stadium Mall Drive School of Chemical Engineering/FRNY Purdue University West Lafayette, IN 47907-2100 Phone 765-494-4365 Email: vewing(a)purdue.edu<mailto:vewing@purdue.edu>

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AIChE Food Drive
by Hendryx, Sandra K 08 Dec '14

08 Dec '14

Hey everyone! Help the Lafayette community this holiday season by donating food to the AIChE Food Drive held Monday, December 8th until Friday, December 19th. All food collected will be donated to Food Finders in Lafayette. There will be a box labeled "Faculty" and a box labeled "Students" in the Forney Atrium. This will be a faculty vs. students competition, so make sure you drop off food in the box that applies to you! Most needed items: 100% fruit juices, baking items, beans, boxed rice and potatoes, cereal, peanut butter, and canned fish, meats, fruits, vegetables, or soups. Toiletries, cleaning products, and pet food. Please no opened or homemade food Thank you!

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Graduate Seminar Series- Prof Michael Tsapatsis- Dec 2
by Ewing, Virginia G 01 Dec '14

01 Dec '14

[blackwelder] School of Chemical Engineering Graduate seminar series Prof. Michael Tsapatsis Dept. of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science University of Minnesota "Two-Dimensional Zeolites for Catalysis and Membrane Separations" December 2, 2014 9:00-10:15 a.m. FRNY G140 Reception at 10:15-10:45 a.m. in Henson Atrium Abstract: It is only recently that single-unit-cell thick zeolite nanosheets (2-dimansional zeolites; AIChE Journal 60(7), 2374-2381 (2014) ) with intact crystal and micropore structure were shown to be possible. The structural integrity and unprecedented purity and uniformity of these microporous nanosheets, open exciting possibilities for technological breakthroughs in molecular sieve membrane fabrication, synthesis of hierarchical catalysts and polymer-zeolite nanocomposites. Moreover, zeolite nanosheets enable for the first time zeolite pore mouth adsorption and catalysis to be studied by traditional uptake methods as well as surface science techniques. However, along with the exciting possibilities, challenges abound. For example, the in-plane dimensions of the existing nanosheets are in the sub-micrometer range limiting potential applications and processability as thin films. Moreover, the two exfoliated zeolites currently available are only a small fraction of zeolite topologies one would like to have available for a representative set. Earlier attempts to exfoliate other layered zeolites, including certain layered silicates and aluminophosphates with microporous layers, did not preserve the crystallographic order of the layers. Synthesis of high aspect ratio zeolite and other crystalline nanoporous nanosheets, methods to characterize their structure and properties, along with their processing and assembly to create membranes and catalysts will be the focus of this talk. Bio: Michael Tsapatsis joined the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Minnesota in September 2003 as a professor and he currently holds the Amundson Chair. He received an Engineering Diploma (1988) from The University of Patras, Greece, and MS (1991) and Ph.D. (1994) degrees from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) working with G.R. Gavalas. He was a post-doctoral fellow with M.E. Davis at Caltech (1993/94). Before joining the University of Minnesota he was a faculty member in the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (1994-2003). Recently, his research group developed hierarchical mesoporous zeolite catalysts and molecular sieve films based on 2-dimensional zeolites. This work has been recognized with the 2013 Alpha Chi Sigma Award for Chemical Engineering Research from AIChE and the 2013 Breck Award from the International Zeolite Association (co-awarded with Professor Caro).

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2015-19 Purdue ChE Strategic Plan Draft - Feedback Requested by December 5
by Farmus, Cristina D 26 Nov '14

26 Nov '14

Dear Purdue ChE Faculty, Staff and Students, Attached is the 2015-19 Purdue ChE Strategic Plan draft. This document was developed by the Purdue ChE Strategic Plan committee (comprised of 16 faculty, staff, students, alumni and corporate representatives) and incorporates feedback from all faculty and the Industrial Advisory Council. This plan has specific targets for each metric and is intended to be a reflection of the cumulative efforts of our faculty, students and staff. The public version of the plan will not list the targets, but will include only the metrics used to evaluate our progress. Please take the time to review this document and send comments to me by December 7, 2015. Graduate students may submit their feedback through the GSO President, Nicole Devlin, if they prefer so. The final plan will be issued on December 12. Regards, Cristina Cristina Farmus Managing Director Chemical Engineering Purdue University 765 494 0027 cfarmus(a)purdue.edu<mailto:cfarmus@purdue.edu>

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