COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Dec. 19, 2007 – Rayford G. Anthony, professor of chemical engineering in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering and former head of the department from 1995-2002, has been accorded the rank of professor emeritus by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.

Anthony joined Texas A&M in 1966 as an assistant professor of chemical engineering and ascended to the rank of associate professor in 1969. In 1974, he was named professor of chemical engineering, and in 1994 he was appointed to the C. D. Holland Professorship. Currently, Anthony is a senior fellow at the Texas Engineering Experiment Station, a position that he has held since 1984.

With more than 100 presentations, 130 publications and five patents to his credit, Anthony is the co-author of three textbooks with Fundamentals of Chemical Reaction Engineering in its second edition. He also has received the university’s most prestigious award, the Faculty Distinguished Achievement Award for Research as well as most of the faculty teaching and research awards presented by the Dwight Look College of Engineering.

Anthony has extensive experience in developing catalysts and modeling catalytic reactors, having worked on dehydrogenation of butenes to butadiene, oxidation of isobutylene to methacrolein, catalytic cracking of methanol to produce olefins, hydrocracking of alkanes and long chain alcohols, direct hydrogenation of coal to produce liquids, gasification of biomass, synthesis of methanol, hydrogenation of CO and CO2, and mathematical modeling of multi-phase reactors.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Dec. 14, 2007 – The Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University Friday honored its 42 fall graduates with a reception and awards ceremony in which a select group of outstanding chemical engineering students was recognized.

Kristen Gantt, a senior from Anchorage, Alaska, received the department’s “Outstanding Graduating Senior Fall 2007 Award.” Kendra Gil, a senior from Colorado Springs, Colo., received the “Chemical Engineering Excellence Fall 2007 Senior Award.” And Kiri Kilpatrick, a senior from Carrollton, Texas, received the “2007 Senior Award” from the RHO Chapter of Omega Chi Epsilon, the national honor society for chemical engineering.

In addition, Anthony Skach, a senior from Angleton, Texas, received his polymer specialization certification.

Addressing the students and their families in attendance, Unocal Professor and Department Head Michael Pishko encouraged the soon-to-be graduates to stay in touch, reminding them of how important former students are to the department.

“Even though you’re leaving, you’re still a part of this department, and we want to know of your triumphs,” Pishko said.

Senior Lecturer and Head for Lower Division Programs John Baldwin, who served as master of ceremonies for the event, congratulated the group, saying, “We’re going to miss you because all of us fall in love with all of you. You’re the reason we’re here.”

As part of the event, winners of the department’s Fall 2007 Plant Design Competition, held last week, received their prizes. The competition, which was part of a senior-level course aimed at preparing students for the types of assignments they’re likely to see in a professional environment, tasked student groups with designing a fully functional chemical processing plant.

In recognition of their achievements, each of the top three teams received honorariums from the Celanese Corporation, the competition’s sponsor. The first-place team, comprised of Gantt, Ryan Deal, Sean Hulsey and Jared Morgan, also was recognized with a plaque commemorating its achievement.

West and Associates, comprised of Kyle Gentry, Galen Hauth, Richard Schultheis and Brittaney West was awarded second place, and S.M.O.W., comprised of Jesus Mejorada, Matt Olson, Skach and Aaron Wilhelm, received third-place honors.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Dec. 13, 2007 – Two faculty members and three staff members from the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering Thursday received years of service pins for their exemplary dedication to the State of Texas and Texas A&M University as part of the Texas A&M Engineering Holiday Reception.

Professors Charles J. Glover and M. Sam Mannan along with Program Coordinator Mary A. Cass, Scientific Instrument Maker II Randy A. Marek and Computer Systems Manager Jeffrey J. Polasek each received years of service pins from Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Dwight Look College of Engineering G. Kemble Bennett.

Glover’s 30 state years of service were the most among the five honorees from the department, followed by Marek’s 25 years. Cass and Polasek each received pins for 20 state years of service, and Mannnan received a pin for 10 years of service.

Addressing the faculty and staff members in attendance from throughout the Dwight Look College of Engineering, Bennett lauded the accomplishments of those individuals receiving achievement awards and years of service pins.

“This college is so good, and it’s the people here that make it run,” he said.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Dec. 4, 2007 – For the better part of a semester, Texas A&M University chemical engineering students in John Baldwin’s senior-level plant design course have been preparing for the professional environment they’re soon to encounter by undertaking a real-world assignment.

Their charge: design a fully functional chemical processing plant for the Celanese Corporation, a global leader in the chemical manufacturing industry.

This week, those students unveiled their final designs, and a select few received some very real-world recognition for their efforts, thanks in part to Celanese, the sponsor and judge of this semester’s “plant design competition” – part of a capstone course in the university’s Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering.

Ryan Deal, Kristen Gantt, Sean Hulsey and Jared Morgan are members of DHMG Engineering, the student team awarded first place by Celanese for its original designs of a methanol-producing industrial plant.

West and Associates, comprised of Kyle Gentry, Galen Hauth, Richard Schultheis and Brittaney West was awarded second place, and S.M.O.W., comprised of Jesus Mejorada, Matt Olson, Anthony Skach and Aaron Wilhelm, received third-place honors.

Each of the winning teams received a monetary prize from Celanese, and the first-place team also was recognized with a plaque commemorating its achievement.

The competition, explained Baldwin, a senior lecturer and head for lower division programs in the department, required students to conceptualize the comprehensive organization of a process plant – in this scenario, a methanol-producing plant that derives its product from synthetic gas.

It’s a task, Baldwin said, that his soon-to-be graduates are almost certain to encounter in some form as they enter their professional careers.

Chemical engineers, Baldwin said, often play the role of conceptual designers who are typically charged with designing entire sequences of operations associated with chemical manufacturing. Those operations can include such processes as distillation, boiling, condensation and other various and complex aspects of plant production.

“That’s what it’s all about – to move our students from an academic environment to a professional engineering environment,” Baldwin said.

“Before these students come into plant design, they are real engineers; they don’t know it. And what you see here is the discovery of ‘Gee, I can do this!’ You see the light bulbs going on. This puts together the project of a typical engineering environment here in an academic institution.”

Divided into eight teams, each consisting of four to five members, Baldwin’ students first waded through a 12-page problem statement, extensively detailing the scenario and the requested outcomes by the Celanese Corporation, which uses methanol as a starting point for a number of its acetic acid products.

The students then spent the semester researching – and in some instances even visiting – similar existing plants. They also picked the brains of Celanese officials, who made themselves available throughout the project.

“The main thing they do is contribute their time and energy to the project,” said Baldwin, lauding the corporation’s dedication to the competition and its students. “The monetary awards that are given are not nearly as valuable as the time that the company representatives contribute to our students.”

And that investment can pay off for both student and sponsor, Baldwin said, noting that in some instances student proposals are incorporated by the sponsor into its future plant designs.

“You’ve heard the saying about thinking outside of the box – these students don’t know where the box is, so they’re always thinking outside of the box,” Baldwin said. “And so frequently they’re coming up with ideas and suggestions that working engineers might not come up with.”

And students weren’t the only ones recognized by Celanese for their outstanding accomplishments.

As part of the event, Victor Ugaz, assistant professor and associate head for undergraduate programs, received the 2007 Celanese Teaching Excellence Award for his dedication and outstanding contributions to the education and professional development of chemical engineering students at Texas A&M.

“It’s an honor to receive this award because it’s chosen by the students; that’s what’s important to me,” Ugaz said.

“With teaching you have something that you can go to every day, and it is always rewarding,” he added. “The young people have a lot of energy, and you can really draw from that.”

Last semester, the current plant design competition sponsor began recognizing an outstanding faculty member in the department. The initial recipient of the award, presented that time by the Fluor Corporation, was Baldwin.

Celanese Corporation, which is based in Dallas and employs approximately 8,900 employees worldwide, is a global leader in the chemicals industry. The company manufactures acetyl products, including acetic acid, vinyl acetate monomer and polyacetal products. Celanese also is a world leader in the production of high-performance engineered polymers used in consumer and industrial products.

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Dr. Thomas K. Wood, professor and holder of the T.Michael O’Connor II Chair in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, has been appointed to the inaugural editorial board of the new journal Microbial Biotechnology. The first two articles of the new journal are by Wood and his researchers Toshinari Maeda, Akihiro Ueda, Can Attila and Viviana Sanchez-Torres and cover the efforts of the Bioremediation and Applied Biotechnology Laboratory in identifying new disease-causing genes of a bacterium using a novel plant-based system (instead of using lab animals) as well as converting glucose into hydrogen. Wood recently converted the gut-bacterium E. coli into the best hydrogen-producing strain by using a technique known as metabolic engineering and it increased hydrogen production 150-fold. In this way, Wood and his group are finding new sources of bioenergy. The American Institute of Chemical Engineering, recognizing Wood’s work, has chosen him as the plenary speaker at its national meeting in Salt Lake City this fall.For more information, contact:

Dr. Thomas K . Wood
thomas.wood@chemail.tamu.edu

Reporter: Timothy C. Schnettler
tschnettler@tamu.edu
(979) 458-2277

News Story 1575, September 28, 2007
http://engineeringnews.tamu.edu/news/1575

August 8, 2007, marks the first day for Michael Pishko as the Unocal Professor and Department Head of the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University! From 2001 to 2007, he held the rank of Distinguished Professor at Penn State University. He received his B.S. and M.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia and his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He also has received postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Pishko’s research group investigates the synthesis, microfabrication, and clinical application of biosensors and biomaterials. For his research, he has received an NSF CAREER award, was named an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow, and was elected to the College of Fellows, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. He currently serves as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Sensors Journal.

The Spring 2007 plant design Contest was held on Thursday, May 3, 2007, and the winning teams for this competition are as follows:

First Place: Fleissig
The members (left to right) with James Turner of Fluor are:
Tracie Book, Onyinye Okorafo, James Turner (Fluor), Jared Peacock, Betsy Hicks

Second Place: Galiophobia
The members (left to right) with Virginia Brown of Fluor are:
Nathan Proske, Brad Mozisek, Virginia Brown (Fluor), Daniel Fregia, Eric Markeloff

Third Place: CBC
The members (left to right) with Virginia Brown of Fluor are:
Christine Juge, Virginia Brown (Fluor), Brad Lambeth, Caron Blankenhorn

We would like to thank the following participants for their participation in the Texas A&M Chemical Engineering Department plant design presentations and exit interviews throughout the day.

Ms. Kathryn Hanneman, Shell Oil Products
Dr. Lavon Anderson
Mr. Perry Schwierzke
Mr. Craig Spears, Bryan Research & Engineering
Mr. Myron Goforth, Dew Point Control
Mr. Steve Wanderman, Dew Point Control
Ms Virginia Brown, Fluor Corporation
Mr. Clint Manley, Fluor Corporation
Mr. James Turner, Fluor Corporation

The event was an unqualified success with the presentations and exit interviews running very smoothly!

As reported on the Aggie Hotline (http://www.tamu.edu/tamunews/hotline.html), Interim President Ed Davis will present on May 2, the President’s Award for Academic Advising to five individuals who exemplify the qualities and practices of exceptional academic advising.  The recipients of the President’s Award for Academic Advising will each receive a cash award and a plaque at the University Advisors and Counselors Spring Awards Breakfast. Congratulations to Dr. Lale Yurttas–well deserved recognition for years of dedication to our students!

Dr. Victor Ugaz has been selected as a George Armistead, Jr.’23 Faculty Fellow for 2007-2008. This Faculty Fellows program was established 12 years ago to recognize the recipients’ overall contribution to the Engineering Program, which also includes classroom instruction, scholarly activities and professional service. The award will be presented to Dr. Ugaz at the Engineering Spring meeting on May 3, 2007.

Congratulations to Dr. Michael Bevan! In March 2007, the Board of
Regents has authorized the granting of tenure and promotion to Associate
Professor to be effective September 1, 2007.

For more information about Dr. Bevan and his research, please refer to:
http://che.tamu.edu/bevan