In late November this year, it was announced that three members of the UConn Faculty have been elected to the rank of Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. C. Barry Carter was elected from the Section on Engineering. The other two honorees this year are Douglas L. Oliver, UConn Health Center and the AAAS Section on Biological Sciences, and Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Dipak K. Dey of the AAAS Section on Statistics. The three will each receive a certificate and a blue and gold rosette at the Fellows Forum during the February 2012 meeting in Vancouver. There were no honorees from UConn in 2010 and just 2 in 2009 when Dr. Sanguthevar (Raj) Rajasekaran of CSE and Dr. Leo Lefrancois, of the UConn Health Center are from the Section on Information, Computing, and Communication and the Section on Medical Sciences, respectively.  AAAS is active internationally and plays a critical role in promoting excellence in all aspects of science in the USA.  It is particularly well known as the publisher of the influential magazine Science (www.sciencemag.org). Dr. Carter was elected to be a Fellow of the Materials Research Society (MRS) in 2009 and of the Microscopy Society of America in the same year. He was made a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society in 1995. Dr. Carter was honored by AAAS for his distinguished contributions to engineering through his textbooks on ceramic materials and transmission electron microscopy, his editing of the Journal of Materials Science, and his study of crystal defects. The two textbooks have been concurrently listed on Springer’s 15 most downloaded books on Chemistry and Materials Science. The Journal of Materials Science has one of the most improved impact factors of any journal over the past 4 years; Dr. Carter is the Editor in Chief, working with 16 other Editors, including UConn Professors Dr. Mark Aindow (one of Dr. Carter’s two Deputies), Dr. Pamir Alpay and Dr. Chris Cornelius. Dr. Carter has published more than 700 articles on a wide range of crystal defects, in materials ranging from sapphire to gallium nitride to stainless steel; nearly 300 of his publications are in archival journals.

UConn was well represented at the 2011 AIChE National Conference, held in Minneapolis, MN. Five UConn chemical engineering students won awards in their respective disciplines at the student poster competition, and over ten presented their work in either posters or oral presentations.
Congratulations to all.

Pictured, from left to right: Andrea Kadilak (2nd place), Hollin Abraham, Daniel Anastasio, Jessica Bogart, Erik Johnson, Breanne Muratori (3rd place), Ethan Butler (2nd place), Lela Villegas, (1st place), Daniel Manuzzi, Anthony La (3rd place), and Honorio Valdés.

• Republished with permission of emagination, a School of Engineering electronic publication

Five engineering doctoral students who aspire to careers in an academic setting have been selected to receive Koerner Family Fellowships, which confer $10,000 to each. The Koerner Family Fellowships are made possible thanks to the generosity of Professor Robert and Mrs. Paula Koerner and their children – Dr. Michael Koerner, Dr. George Koerner and Ms. Pauline Koerner.
The 2011-12 recipients were nominated by their departments and chosen by a School committee.  They are:

• Lance Fiondella, Computer Science & Engineering (advisor: Swapna Gokhale). Research interests: software reliability and performance, homeland security studies, and computer programming literacy.
• Kathryn Gosselin, Mechanical Engineering (advisor:  Michael Renfro).  Research interests:  ignition limits at atmospheric and low pressures, with applications in the operation of afterburners in military jet engines and other types of combustion engines.
• Chad Johnston, Civil & Environmental Engineering (advisor: Marisa Chrysochoou).  Research interests: contaminant mobility in soil and groundwater systems, for the development of remediation strategies and evaluating public health risks. Particular interest in chromate, a toxic metal and potential carcinogen.
• Vincent Palumbo, Chemical, Materials & Biomolecular Engineering (advisor: Bryan Huey).  Research interests:  methods of enhancing the blast and fire resistance of the nation’s infrastructure, including bridges, buildings, tunnels, and the like.
• Ernesto Suarez, Electrical & Computer Engineering (advisor: Faquir Jain). Research interests:  tunnel insulators for three-state logic field effect transistors (FETs) and nonvolatile memory devices, with a focus on radiation hardened devices.

Dean of Engineering Mun Y. Choi, said “Professor and Mrs. Koerner have been stalwart supporters of higher education for more than four decades.  Through their generous gift, a group of highly-talented Ph.D. students will pursue advanced studies in trans-disciplinary topics in engineering.”
Dr. Koerner is the H.L. Bowman Professor Emeritus of Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering at Drexel University and the Director of the Geosynthetic Research Institute.  Throughout his over 40-year career, Dr. Koerner has established a sterling reputation as a technological innovator, educator and engineering practitioner.  He has authored hundreds of journal papers and books on topics spanning soil deformation, waste containment facility construction, and the use of geosynthetics in erosion, filtration and drainage control.  In recognition of his accomplishments in the design and use of geosynthetic materials in the constructed environment, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 1998.

Ethan Butler (’12) was awarded the Portz Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship prize. This is a nationally recognized award and Ethan’s proposal was evaluated amongst several very strong proposals and deemed the most promising.  Ethan, who is the president of Engineers Without Borders at UCONN, has built a team of 6 undergraduate students to work on his project entitled “A Response to the Water Crisis: Evaluating and Improving a Novel, Zero-Energy Water Filtration System for Use in Ethiopia.” The review committee felt that his proposal was well conceived and exceptionally well presented. Ethan, who is advised by Professor Jeffrey McCutcheon, will receive $5,000 to support his project.

Join us as we set out to modernize the Chemical Engineering Senior Lab!
Do you remember working in the senior laboratory? Would it surprise you that many of the same experiments and equipment are still there? Help us change that! We need to update the lab with new experiments and renovate existing ones to better prepare the next generation of UConn Chemical Engineers. Do you have suggestions for experiments, or equipment that your company wants to donate? This is your chance to impact the future of the lab for decades to come!
Some improvements we need:

• A new computer control system for our pilot-scale distillation column.
• Revamping the double-effect evaporator for desalination experiments, tying in with faculty research on clean energy and water initiatives.
• New Plug Flow Reactor (PFR) and Continuous Stirred-Tank Reactor (CSTR) suites to tie in with our kinetics course.
• A bio-fermentation experiment.
• Computer control and data logging for all experiments.

We have 1100 ft² of renovated laboratory space in the United Technologies building that’s waiting to be filled! We’ve added new experiments representing the cutting edge of faculty research and new directions for chemical engineering, but we need YOUR help to continue.
To Our Business Friends: Do you want to help educate the next generation of chemical engineers you’ll hire? Are there skills you feel are important for graduates to have? If so, we’re eager to hear from you! We’re interested in partnering with companies to involve our students in real-world challenges relevant to you. Whether through financial support, equipment donation, or mentoring students, we want to talk to you about your ideas.
To donate today, please click here:
Have questions? Want to talk? Here’s how to reach us:
Daniel D. Burkey
Assistant Department Head and
Assistant Professor-in-Residence
Chemical, Materials, and
Biomolecular Engineering
860-486-3604
daniel@engr.uconn.edu
Donald Swinton
Development Officer
UConn School of Engineering
860-486-8923
dswinton@foundation.uconn.edu

• Republished with permission of emagination, a School of Engineering electronic publication

Dr. Jeffrey McCutcheon has been awarded two grants in support of his research program, which involves the use of forward osmosis and membrane filters to remove contaminants from water.  The Environmental Protection Agency, through its “Science to Achieve Results” (EPA STAR) Early Career program, which focuses on research aimed at advancing public health through improved water infrastructure, awarded him $300,000.  He received the second grant from 3M Corporation, which presented him a 3M Non-tenured Faculty Grant.

Dr. McCutcheon, an assistant professor with dual appointments in the Chemical, Materials & Biomolecular Engineering department and the Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering (CESE), joined UConn in 2008. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 2007 and has conducted extensive research on forward osmosis (FO) processes, most notably for desalination, with his thesis advisor, Dr. Menachem Elimelech.

Dr. McCutcheon described forward osmosis as an osmotically driven membrane separation process based on the natural tendency of water to flow from a solution of low solute concentration to one of higher concentration.  In this process, a relatively dilute feed water – such as seawater, brackish water or wastewater – flows along one side of a membrane, while a more concentrated ‘draw’ solution or osmotic agent flows on the opposite side of the membrane.  Clean water permeates through the membrane from the feed water to the draw solution, leaving behind salts, contaminants and other feed solutes as a concentrated brine stream.

In contrast with reverse osmosis, the wastewater treatment standard, Dr. McCutcheon noted, the FO separation process requires no energy.  The draw solution can then be used or removed, recovered and recycled.  Some researchers estimate that in certain applications, this method could result in a 50% cost savings over reverse osmosis, while dramatically reducing the carbon footprint.  In previous research, Dr. McCutcheon has identified several viable draw solutions, so his focus now is on the design of a suitable membrane; this, he said, is the single largest obstacle to adoption of the FO separation technology.

For the EPA STAR project, “We will evaluate how well different membranes remove the contaminants found in wastewater in forward osmosis,” he said.  Municipal wastewater is commonly contaminated with bacteria, viruses and other microbes; toxins such as arsenic, chromium and lead; emergent contaminants from pharmaceutical drugs (such as hormones) and pesticides, which disrupt endocrine function in humans and other creatures; salts, and other contaminants.

A second facet, he explained, “will focus on examining fouling of the membrane, which can result from the accumulation and interaction of the contaminants on the wastewater side of the filter. These include fats, oils and other lipids that can create a film over the membrane, slowing the flow of water.”  Dr. McCutcheon will evaluate this emerging technology for the first time for the removal of these specific compounds.

This work will result in the evaluation of a new technology that may lead to more energy efficient, cost effective wastewater treatment.  According to EPA reports, energy costs can account for 30 percent of the total operation and maintenance costs of wastewater treatment plants, and nationwide, these facilities account for approximately three percent of the total electric load. These factors make wastewater treatment facilities attractive focal points for reducing energy consumption while improving the production of clean water. Dr. McCutcheon’s project represents an important step toward the development of more sustainable water purification processes world-wide, according to Dr. McCutcheon.

Dr. McCutcheon’s 3M Nontenured Faculty Grant, which awards him $15,000/year for up to three years, will support his work on two types of electrospun nanofiber membranes for water filtration applications.  He was nominated for the award by Thomas J. Hamlin, Senior Vice President of R&D at 3M Purification in Meriden, CT.  Dr. McCutcheon explained that membranes made from electrospun nanofibers are especially attractive thanks to their high surface area for capturing contaminants.  This funding will support Dr. McCutcheon’s research efforts on polymeric nanofiber mediated water filtration. Polymer nanofibers are a new type of material with applications to water filtration.  Dr. McCutcheon’s work aims to optimize the nanofiber strength, size, and morphology.  The 3M grant will allow Dr. McCutcheon and his team to design, fabricate and test polymeric nanofiber material as novel filtration media.

• By John Giardina, republished with permission of emagination, a School of Engineering electronic publication

On February 24, about 30 people gathered at the Student Union to recognize and celebrate the important work performed in the last year by the UConn chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB).  Members of EWB presented their current projects and described the ways in which they are attempting to change the lives of people in some of the most impoverished communities in the world.  The speakers included the president of EWB-UConn, Ethan Butler (CHEG ’12), and EWB members Aaron Aguirre-Castillo (CE ’11), Dana Boyer (ENVE ’12), Jorge Simbaqueba (CE Graduate Student), and Scott Cipoletti (CE ’12).  Each highlighted the impressive work accomplished by the group over the past year.

EWB resides in a special class of college service groups.  They are not only serving those who are less fortunate, but also practicing their professional craft at thesame time.  Their mission is to apply their relatively rare skills toward solving engineering problems, all the while adhering to the political, social and cultural boundaries of the societies they are serving.  Mr. Butler emphasized this point, saying, “We focus on the implementation of sustainable engineering projects.  There are many ways in which you can help a community, but we aim to utilize our engineering expertise in order to support their development.  We want to insure that, even if our community partnership comes to a close, the projects we implement can continue to work.”

Target: Nicaragua

EWB’s first project, focusing on a small, impoverished Nicaraguan village called La Prusia, is led by Ms. Boyer and Mr. Cipoletti.  The people of La Prusia are all but cut off from the nearby city of Granada, with the single connecting road almost entirely unusable.  This is because the road sustains chronic, destructive flooding during the rainy season, which then destroys the path and makes it impassible during the dry season.  The lack of a usable road inhibits the citizens of La Prusia from getting jobs, selling goods, receiving better health care, and obtaining higher education.  The lack of opportunities for bettering their circumstances stifles the citizens of La Prusia, keeping them in a continuous state of poverty.  EWB members plan to repair the road connecting La Prusia and Granada, opening up a lifeline that can bring vitality to the people along the road.  Read more about the team’s activities in La Prusia here.

EWB members want to return to La Prusia for further inspection in hopes that, soon, they may be able to begin work on the roadway.

Target: Ethiopia

Chapter members are pursuing a second project, involving construction of water purification systems in Ethiopia.  Water sources in Ethiopia are ravaged by both surface and ground water contamination by toxic metals and other impurities.  UConn EWB members hope to find a way to place sustainable filtration systems in villages throughout Ethiopia.  They are investigating alternative water purification systems and are particularly interested in a novel system employing forward osmosis, which is currently being researched in the laboratory of Dr. Jeffrey McCutcheon.  They also intend to conduct on-the-ground assessment surveys to better understand the needs of the people they will be serving while also gathering certain health metrics.  In the long-term, the team hopes to create purification systems using easily obtainable, local materials, to directly serve the needs of the people.

Honoring Service

During the evening, the UConn EWB team also acknowledged the important contributions made by students, faculty and private-sector mentors.  Among those honored were advisor-mentors Domenico Carusone (’12 ME), Bob Benzinger, a UConn alumnus from The Hartford, and Gerry Hardisty of CES, Inc.  UConn faculty who have advised the group were also lauded, including Dr. Maria Chrysochoou (Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering – CEE), Dr. McCutcheon, and Dr. Amvrossios Bagtzoglou (Department Head, CEE).  Student Dana Boyer and Scott Cipoletti were singled out for special recognition.  In addition, the group expressed thanks to Dean of Engineering Mun Choi, Assistant Dean Marty Wood, and GEI Consultants for their generous support and funding of EWB.

Donations & Volunteers Needed

Through its projects, EWB-UConn is becoming a model for student service.  They cannot perform their work, however, without their dedicated volunteers and generous donors.  The cost of the La Prusia project alone will cost about $30,000 per year, for five years.  They are, accordingly, always open to new volunteers and donations.  Mr. Butler describes EWB as creating the next generation of leaders.  “EWB helps students develop the sort of expertise required for the future issues faced by our society and engineers: global warming, pollution control, water availability, and more,” he says.  “EWB creates engineers who are socially minded and dedicated to solving these global problems.”  After seeing the tasks EWB engineers have already accomplished, one can expect to see them solving problems at the forefront of their fields for years to come.  More information about EWB-UConn and its work can be found here.  Donations can be submitted online here.