March 2014 - Che-student-staff-list

ChE Director of Graduate Studies
by Varma, Arvind 28 May '14

28 May '14

Dear Colleagues, After serving since January, 2009 as our School's Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), Prof. Litster recently requested relief from this service, to devote more time to his teaching and research. Reluctantly, I accepted his request. On behalf of our School's faculty, staff and graduate students, I express deep gratitude to Jim for his outstanding service in this role. Simultaneously, I am pleased to inform that, effective July 1, Prof. Mike Harris has accepted to become our School's DGS. In this capacity, he will advise the graduate students and oversee the operations of the graduate office. I am grateful that Mike has accepted this position of leadership and service. Sincerely, Arvind Varma R. Games Slayter Distinguished Professor Jay and Cynthia Ihlenfeld Head of Chemical Engineering Purdue University

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Graduate Seminar Series - Dr. Deborah E. Leckband
by Heide, Karen Kay 31 Mar '14

31 Mar '14

Purdue University School of Chemical Engineering GRADUATE SEMINAR SERIES Dr. Deborah E. Leckband Reid T Milner Professor of Chemical Sciences Department of Chemistry University of Illinois at Urbana "Thermally Responsive Polymers In Biotechnology: New Perspectives On An Old Problem" Tuesday, April 1, 2014 9:00-10:30 A.M. FRNY G140 Refreshments at 8:30 AM in Henson Atrium, FRNY Hall Abstract. The temperature-dependent solubility of poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) is exploited to reversibly switch polymer interactions with proteins and cells at the lower critical solution temperature (LCAT) near 32°C. Two notable applications are cell sheet engineering and thermally programmed protein separations. Both applications hinge on achieving reversible bioadhesion to PNIPAM coatings, but a fundamental challenge has been the identification of polymer design parameters that impact reversible bioadsorption above and below the LCST. For decades, the assumption has been that thermally triggered polymer collapse and reswelling are essential for thermally reversible bioadhesion. I will present evidence that contradicts this view, but provides an alternative model consistent with current data. Surface force measurements, neutron reflectivity, and AFM imaging characterized the brush architecture as a function of the chain density, chain molecular weight, and temperature. The latter findings were in turn compared with temperature-dependent protein (and cell) adsorption and release. Qualitative comparisons of the experimental trends with theories for polymer brushes and their interactions with proteins in good and poor solvents suggests an alternative model for thermally-switchable bioadsorption, as well as design guidelines for tailoring the performance of PNIPAM coatings in these biological applications. Bio: Deborah Leckband pioneered the use of force measurements to quantify biomaterial surface properties at the molecular scale and their impact on material performance in biotechnology and the clinic. She investigated a range of materials, including water-soluble polymers, membranes, and immobilized proteins. Findings resulted in novel insights regarding how molecular scale surface forces impact many applications including drug delivery, biofouling, biosensing, and fundamental biological issues such as cell-cell cohesion. Her studies of biomaterials, in particular, often transformed long-held views on mechanisms underlying bioadhesion and how to control them.

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Fwd: Shiva Haghighi Memorial
by Varma, Arvind 27 Mar '14

27 Mar '14

Colleagues, I am sorry to transmit this sad news... Arvind Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Leah Jamieson <lhj(a)purdue.edu<mailto:lhj@purdue.edu>> Date: March 27, 2014 4:48:58 PM CDT To: Ahmed Hassanein <hassanein(a)purdue.edu<mailto:hassanein@purdue.edu>>, Anil Bajaj <anil.k.bajaj.1(a)purdue.edu<mailto:anil.k.bajaj.1@purdue.edu>>, "Bahr, David F" <dfbahr(a)purdue.edu<mailto:dfbahr@purdue.edu>>, Venkataramanan Balakrishnan <ragu(a)purdue.edu<mailto:ragu@purdue.edu>>, Elizabeth M Holloway <holloway(a)purdue.edu<mailto:holloway@purdue.edu>>, David Carmichael <carmicha(a)purdue.edu<mailto:carmicha@purdue.edu>>, "Melba M Crawford" <mcrawford(a)purdue.edu<mailto:mcrawford@purdue.edu>>, Dale Harris <harris(a)purdue.edu<mailto:harris@purdue.edu>>, "David Radcliffe" <dradcliffe(a)purdue.edu<mailto:dradcliffe@purdue.edu>>, Abhi Deshmukh <abhi(a)purdue.edu<mailto:abhi@purdue.edu>>, "Jason Matthew Dietz" <dietz(a)purdue.edu<mailto:dietz@purdue.edu>>, "Bernard A. Engel" <engelb(a)purdue.edu<mailto:engelb@purdue.edu>>, Audeen Fentiman <fentiman(a)purdue.edu<mailto:fentiman@purdue.edu>>, "Robert J. Frosch" <frosch(a)purdue.edu<mailto:frosch@purdue.edu>>, Rao S Govindaraju <govind(a)purdue.edu<mailto:govind@purdue.edu>>, Michael T Harris <mtharris(a)purdue.edu<mailto:mtharris@purdue.edu>>, Makarand Hastak <hastak(a)purdue.edu<mailto:hastak@purdue.edu>>, Klod Kokini <kokini(a)purdue.edu<mailto:kokini@purdue.edu>>, "Carolyn A. Percifield" <carolynp(a)purdue.edu<mailto:carolynp@purdue.edu>>, "Pinion, Tyson L" <tlpinion(a)prf.org<mailto:tlpinion@prf.org>>, David C Robledo <drobledo(a)purdue.edu<mailto:drobledo@purdue.edu>>, "Tom I-P. Shih" <tomshih(a)purdue.edu<mailto:tomshih@purdue.edu>>, John Sutherland <jwsuther(a)purdue.edu<mailto:jwsuther@purdue.edu>>, Arvind Varma <avarma(a)purdue.edu<mailto:avarma@purdue.edu>>, George Wodicka <wodicka(a)purdue.edu<mailto:wodicka@purdue.edu>>, William J Sondgerath <wsondgerath(a)purdue.edu<mailto:wsondgerath@purdue.edu>> Cc: Leah Jamieson <lhj(a)purdue.edu<mailto:lhj@purdue.edu>>, Noah Amy R. <ARNoah(a)prf.org<mailto:ARNoah@prf.org>> Subject: Fwd: Shiva Haghighi Memorial Colleagues - It is with great sadness that I share this news about the death of Kamyar Haghighi's daughter, Shiva. Many of us knew and loved Kamyar and also knew Shiva, both as his daughter and as a Purdue Engineering student. My heart goes out to Kamyar's wife/Shiva's mother, Atossa, and to Shiva's sister, Nina. The obituary is at http://hosting-5049.tributes.com/obituary/show/Shiva-Haghighi-101055007 A memorial scholarship fund at Purdue has been established in Shiva's memory. Gifts may be made either through the crowd-funding site https://shivahaghighi.crowdtilt.com or by check payable to the Purdue Foundation with a note that the gift be directed to the fund in honor of Shiva Haghighi. The checks can be sent to Amy Noah at the Dauch Alumni Center, 403 West Wood Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2007. Keith Hansen (BSBME 2012) was the student responder at the Engineering commencement ceremony in May 2012, a year after Kamyar's passing. Keith's commencement address was built around the inspiration that Kamyar had been for him. Please share the sad news. leah Begin forwarded message: From: Keith Hansen <keithshansen(a)gmail.com<mailto:keithshansen@gmail.com>> Subject: Shiva Haghighi Memorial Date: March 27, 2014 at 1:56:01 PM EDT To: Leah Jamieson <lhj(a)purdue.edu<mailto:lhj@purdue.edu>> Dean Jamieson, I hope this email finds you well. I’m not sure if you heard but Dr. Kamyar Haghighi’s daughter, Shiva, passed away last Friday from breast cancer at the age of 28. She had an undergraduate degree in Civil from Purdue and a Masters in Green/LEED design from here as well. We’ve decided to set up a memorial scholarship in Shiva's name and Amy Noah suggested I pass along the information to you to share with anyone you’d like. I’ve been using a open-source crowd funding site that doesn’t take fees to raise the money online and Amy’s setting up a fund for Shiva via the Purdue Foundation. Here’s the site with all the information: https://shivahaghighi.crowdtilt.com Best, Keith -- Keith S. Hansen Indiana University School of Medicine Cell: (765) 532-0537 | Email: kshansen(a)iupui.edu<mailto:kshansen@iupui.edu> The content of this message and/or any attachments is the private, confidential property of the sender. The use, disclosure, copying, dissemination, or distribution of the message and/or attachments content by anyone other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient of this message please notify the sender by reply e-mail and immediately delete the message.

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Graduate Seminar Series - Dr. Deborah E. Leckband, University of Illinois at Urbana
by Heide, Karen Kay 26 Mar '14

26 Mar '14

Purdue University School of Chemical Engineering GRADUATE SEMINAR SERIES Dr. Deborah E. Leckband Reid T Milner Professor of Chemical Sciences Department of Chemistry University of Illinois at Urbana "Thermally Responsive Polymers In Biotechnology: New Perspectives On An Old Problem" Tuesday, April 1, 2014 9:00-10:30 a.m. FRNY G140 Abstract. The temperature-dependent solubility of poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) is exploited to reversibly switch polymer interactions with proteins and cells at the lower critical solution temperature (LCAT) near 32°C. Two notable applications are cell sheet engineering and thermally programmed protein separations. Both applications hinge on achieving reversible bioadhesion to PNIPAM coatings, but a fundamental challenge has been the identification of polymer design parameters that impact reversible bioadsorption above and below the LCST. For decades, the assumption has been that thermally triggered polymer collapse and reswelling are essential for thermally reversible bioadhesion. I will present evidence that contradicts this view, but provides an alternative model consistent with current data. Surface force measurements, neutron reflectivity, and AFM imaging characterized the brush architecture as a function of the chain density, chain molecular weight, and temperature. The latter findings were in turn compared with temperature-dependent protein (and cell) adsorption and release. Qualitative comparisons of the experimental trends with theories for polymer brushes and their interactions with proteins in good and poor solvents suggests an alternative model for thermally-switchable bioadsorption, as well as design guidelines for tailoring the performance of PNIPAM coatings in these biological applications. Bio: Deborah Leckband pioneered the use of force measurements to quantify biomaterial surface properties at the molecular scale and their impact on material performance in biotechnology and the clinic. She investigated a range of materials, including water-soluble polymers, membranes, and immobilized proteins. Findings resulted in novel insights regarding how molecular scale surface forces impact many applications including drug delivery, biofouling, biosensing, and fundamental biological issues such as cell-cell cohesion. Her studies of biomaterials, in particular, often transformed long-held views on mechanisms underlying bioadhesion and how to control them.

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John Austin's Dissertation Defense Friday, March 28th, at 1 p.m. in FRNY 3062B
by Field, Catherine A 26 Mar '14

26 Mar '14

This e-mail is to announce that John Austin will be defending his dissertation, Investigation into the Use of Microwave Resonance Sensors to Monitor Particulate Manufacturing Processes, on Friday, March 28th, at 1:00 in FRNY 3062B. The dissertation is being directed by Dr. Harris, and the abstract is below. All are welcome to attend. Knowledge of a material's properties in-line during manufacture is of critical importance to many industries, including the pharmaceutical industry, and can be used for either process or quality control. Different microwave sensor configurations were tested to determine both the moisture content and the bulk density in pharmaceutical powders during processing on-line. Although these parameters can significantly affect a material's flowability, compressibility, and cohesivity, in the presence of blends, the picture is incomplete. Due to the ease with which particulate blends tend to segregate, blend uniformity and chemical composition are two critical parameters in nearly all solids manufacturing industries. The prevailing wisdom has been that microwave sensors are not capable of or sensitive enough to measure the relative concentrations of components in a blend. Consequently, it is common to turn to near infrared sensing to determine material composition on-line. In this study, a novel microwave sensor was designed and utilized to determine, separately, the concentrations of different components in a blend of pharmaceutical powders. This custom microwave sensor was shown to have comparable accuracy to the state-of-the-art for both chemical composition and moisture content determination. Catherine Field, Ph.D. Graduate Program Administrator/Counselor School of Chemical Engineering Forney Hall of Chemical Engineering, Room 1051 480 Stadium Mall Drive West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2100 Phone: 765-494-4057 Fax: 765-494-0805 Email: field2(a)purdue.edu<mailto:field2@purdue.edu> Website: www.engineering.purdue.edu/ChE<http://www.engineering.purdue.edu/ChE>

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Graduate Seminar - Dr. Benny D. Freeman - March 25, 2014
by Heide, Karen Kay 20 Mar '14

20 Mar '14

Purdue University School of Chemical Engineering Graduate seminar SERIES Dr. Benny D. Freeman Department of Chemical Engineering University of Texas at Austin "Materials Science Opportunities in Polymer Membranes for Water Purification" Tuesday, March 25, 2014 9:00-10:30 a.m. FRNY G140 Abstract. Polymer membranes are critically important to address urgent global needs in the 21st century for reliable, sustainable, and efficient access to clean energy and clean water. Such membranes have emerged as a leading technology to desalinate water (e.g., reverse osmosis and nanofiltration) and remove particulates (e.g., ultrafiltration and microfiltration), and they are being explored for energy generation in applications such as reverse electrodialysis and pressure retarded osmosis. This presentation focuses on two topics of interest for membranes used in water purification: (1) the fundamentals of ion and water transport in polymers and (2) fouling-resistant coatings for polymer membranes. For the first topic, structure/property correlations are shown for a variety of polymers, including uncharged and charged materials. The solution/diffusion model is described for water and ion transport. The role of free volume in governing diffusion of solutes through hydrated polymers is demonstrated. The existence of a water/salt permeability/selectivity tradeoff relation is shown for polymers being considered for such applications. Comparisons are made to similar physics governing gas transport in polymers. For the second topic, the ability of surface modification to reduce membrane fouling in ultra/microfiltration membranes used, for example, in treating flowback water from hydraulic fracturing is discussed. Membrane surface coating using dopamine solution, which undergoes polymerization under alkaline, aerobic conditions to form polydopamine, can improve membrane fouling resistance to oil/water emulsions. Results from initial studies demonstrating proof of principle through scaleup and deployment of membranes based on this concept will be presented. Recent studies on the structure of polydopamine will also be described as well as the impact of membrane testing protocols on fouling results. Bio: Benny Freeman is the Richard B. Curran Centennial Chair in Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. He is a professor of Chemical Engineering and has been a faculty member for 25 years. He completed graduate training in Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, earning a Ph.D. in 1988. In 1988 and 1989, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Ecole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris (ESPCI), Laboratoire Physico-Chimie Structurale et Macromoléculaire in Paris, France. Dr. Freeman's research is in polymer science and engineering and, more specifically, in mass transport of small molecules in solid polymers. He currently directs 15 Ph.D. students and 2 postdoctoral fellows performing fundamental research in gas and liquid separations using polymer membranes and barrier packaging. His research group focuses on structure/property correlation development for desalination and gas separation membrane materials, such as new materials for water/ion separation, hydrogen separation, natural gas purification, and carbon capture. His group also studies reactive barrier packaging materials and new materials for improving fouling resistance and permeation performance of liquid separation membranes. His research is described in 350 publications and 18 patents/patent applications. He has co-edited 5 books on these topics. He has won a number of awards, including the Joe J. King Professional Engineering Achievement Award from The University of Texas (2013), AIChE Clarence (Larry) G. Gerhold Award (2013), Society of Plastics Engineers International Award (2013), Roy W. Tess Award in Coatings from the PMSE Division of ACS (2012), the ACS Award in Applied Polymer Science (2009), AIChE Institute Award for Excellence in Industrial Gases Technology (2008), and the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program Project of the Year (2001). He is a Fellow of the AAAS, AIChE, ACS, and the PMSE and IECR Divisions of ACS. He has served as chair of the PMSE Division of the ACS, chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Membranes: Materials and Processes, President of the North American Membrane Society, chair of the Membranes Area of the Separations Division of the AIChE, and as Chair of the Separations Division of AIChE. He is a co-founder of Advanced Hydro, Inc. (http://www.advancedhydro.net/) Mrs. Karen Heide Forney Hall of Chemical Engineering Purdue University 480 Stadium Mall Drive West Lafayette IN 47907-2100 Phone: 765-494-4050 Fax: 765-494-0805 [http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~snpha/purdue_train3.gif]

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Second ChESS Seminar Announcement
by Farmus, Cristina D 19 Mar '14

19 Mar '14

Attached you will find information about the second ChESS Seminar. If you have any questions, please contact Erik Sheets Graduate Research Assistant SEIGERT Fellow School of Chemical Engineering Purdue University sheetse(a)purdue.edu<mailto:sheetse@purdue.edu> Regards, Cristina

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Re: [Che-student-staff-list] ChE Staff Excellence Awards - 2014 nomination window open - reminder
by Farmus, Cristina D 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

The deadline is only 9 business days away ... From: Farmus, Cristina D Sent: Friday, February 28, 2014 3:24 PM To: 'chmegrads(a)ecn.purdue.edu'; 'chme(a)ecn.purdue.edu' Subject: ChE Staff Excellence Awards - 2014 nomination window open Good Afternoon, The School of Chemical Engineering Staff Awards Committee is happy to invite nominations for the 2014 ChE Staff Excellence Award. The criteria, nomination form and details are attached. Nomination Process: Any ChE faculty member, staff or student can nominate any ChE staff member. A nominator or contributor with a letter of support can endorse only one candidate. Nominations should be submitted to Cristina Farmus at cfarmus(a)purdue.edu<mailto:cfarmus@purdue.edu> by March 31, 2014. Nominations should not exceed 2 pages. Two letters of support are required, of which at least one must be from someone in our School. Due Date for nominations: March 31 2014, with the award to be presented at the May appreciation reception. Selection: The selection will be made by the ChE Staff Awards Committee and communicated to all School employees and students. Previous recipients: 2010 - Jeff Valley 2012 - Sandy Hendryx 2013 - Teresa Cadwallader Sincerely, Cristina Farmus Managing Director Chemical Engineering Purdue University 765 494 0027 cfarmus(a)purdue.edu<mailto:cfarmus@purdue.edu>

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Re: [Che-student-staff-list] Application Status - (chme@ecn.purdue.edu).
by Purdue University 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

Application Status You can check on the status of your application by signing up. What documentation is received by the Purdue University. Application display status Purdue University.

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USNWR rankings
by Varma, Arvind 15 Mar '14

15 Mar '14

Dear Colleagues, As you are aware, the USNWR graduate rankings were released a few days ago - attached are the ChE rankings for this year, and also for comparison those issued last year. We are at rank 14, and tied with CMU, Northwestern and UC-Boulder. Last year, we tied at rank 13, with CMU and UIUC (tied at rank 12 this year). Our score remains unchanged at 3.8 - pl recall that program rankings are based only on peer evaluations, without any data provided to ChE Heads who do the ranking. In general, the rankings for the top ChE programs are essentially unchanged from last year. Special mention should be made of Northwestern (#17 last year) and UC-Boulder (#18 last year) - these programs showed good improvement and tied at #14 with CMU and us this year. I would like to make one observation re the rankings. Some of the programs ranked just ahead of us have a much larger number of PhD graduates in academia and some of them are now Heads, who are naturally inclined to vote higher for their alma mater. As I have also mentioned previously, we need to place more PhD graduates in academia - this picture is changing for us, but only slowly. Congratulations to all for their creative and hard work. With the outstanding faculty recruiting we have been doing, we will definitely improve rank in future years - it has been great teamwork and the best is yet to come! 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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