COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Nov. 5, 2009 – Understanding how certain pathogenic bacteria strains such as E. coli cause infection in people begins with unraveling the complex “talk” between the trillions of cells living in the human gastrointestinal (GI) tract, says Arul Jayaraman, a Texas A&M University researcher who has developed an artificial system that mimics the unique bacteria-laden environment of the human GI tract.

The system is detailed this month in “Lab on a Chip,” a scientific journal published by the Royal Society of Chemistry – the largest organization in Europe for advancing the chemical sciences.

It represents a significant step in understanding bacterial interactions in the GI tract because it accurately simulates conditions within that area by enabling human epithelial cells to grow in balance with the naturally occurring bacteria (termed “commensal”) that reside in the GI tract.

Traditionally, growing both types of these cells simultaneously in a laboratory environment has been difficult because bacteria reproduce at a much faster rate than epithelial cells and tend to monopolize the nutrients needed by the epithelial cells, says Jayaraman, assistant professor in Texas A&M’s Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering.

“If you try to achieve this in a cell-culture dish what happens is that you have a very nutrient-rich environment that bacteria basically thrive in, dividing rapidly,” Jayaraman says. “You can start with the same number of cells, relatively in proportion, but the bacteria will keep dividing, taking up all of the nutrients. Epithelial cells then do not get what they need. They are typically more finicky than bacterial cells. The numbers then kick in, and it is an exponential process where you will soon have millions of bacteria outnumbering epithelial cells, which will soon die.”

That doesn’t happen in Jayaraman’s model, which grows the epithelial and commensal cell colonies separately before allowing them to interact as they would in the gut. Once the two types of cells are interacting in the right balance, Jayaraman can recreate the sequence of events in a GI tract infection by introducing a foreign pathogen – in this case, Enterohemorrhagic E. coli – to the cells within his model.

Previous studies have just added pathogenic bacteria into colonies of endothelial cells, but this approach does not replicate the cellular interactions and chemical signals present in the human GI tract, Jayaraman notes.

“If you really want to understand how the commensal bacteria that are in the GI tract either prevent or enhance infection, you need to have a way in which you can actually recreate the system with both components present – the commensal cells and the epithelial cells,” Jayaraman says. “To our knowledge, this is the first report describing co-culture of bacteria and epithelial cells and its application to investigate pathogen colonization and infection.”

Commensal bacteria, he explains, produce a wide range of bacterial signals, and the concentration of these signals in the GI tract is extremely high.

These signals, he adds, are given off during normal metabolic processes of the cells. While there is no evidence to suggest that they were created specifically for defensive purposes, some of these signals have evolved to act as a line of defense. Others may actually enhance a pathogen’s infectious potential, he says. For the invading pathogen, it’s a matter of “talking” to the right cells and avoiding the “wrong” ones.

It’s a game of “push and pull” that is further complicated by the fact that the strength of these signal levels varies, Jayaraman says. For example, a person may be under a lot of stress, which can cause stress hormones to be high and might in turn diminish the signals that aid in defense against a pathogen. Other times, a gastric disease might kill some of these cells that are emitting a protective signal, lowering the overall strength of the signal and making a person more susceptible to serious infection, Jayaraman notes.

So far, Jayaraman’s model has yielded some interesting findings, shedding light on the constant array of signals being emitted within the GI tract and their effects on invading pathogens. One of those findings reveals how indole, a chemical produced by commensal cells within the GI tract, acts a signal to foreign pathogens.

“Indole already has been shown as an important signal for communication between bacteria,” Jayaraman says. “We are looking at how pathogens might also be affected by indole, and we are seeing that they are indeed affected.”

Specifically, if a pathogen passes through bacteria that produce indole, the pathogen will become less infectious, Jayaraman explains. Conversely, if it passes through bacteria where there is no indole, the pathogen retains it same degree of virulence.

“In a sense, the pathogen is looking for weak points in a ‘wall’ of defense,” Jayaraman says. “We believe this can be applied to several other signals. There might be signals that increase a pathogen’s infectiousness. Does it choose a location in the wall where it can pass through without decreasing its infectious potential, or does it look for a place where its infectiousness is enhanced?”

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Contact: Arul Jayaraman at (979) 845-3306 or via email at: arulj@tamu.edu or Ryan A. Garcia at (979) 845-9237 or via email at: ryan.garcia99@tamu.edu.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Oct. 21, 2009 – Authorities on safety from throughout the world will convene in College Station next week as part of a two-day symposium aimed at making the process industry a safer place and sponsored by the Texas A&M University System Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center.

The symposium “Beyond Regulatory Compliance, Making Safety Second Nature” is scheduled for Oct. 27-28 at the Hilton Conference Center and will feature wide variety of safety-related lectures and presentations, including process safety challenges in a hydrogen economy; effective process safety auditing techniques; technical analysis of the Buncefield explosion; and various topics pertaining to liquefied natural gas.

In addition, the symposium will feature exhibits from companies looking to demonstrate products, technology and software related to process safety.

“This symposium serves as the crossroads for process safety where industry, academia, government agencies and other stakeholders come together to discuss critical issues of research in process safety,” said M. Sam Mannan, director of the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center. “I firmly believe that we are making major strides towards our goal of making safety second nature,” added Mannan, who also holds the title of Regents Professor in Texas A&M’s Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering.

Andrew Hopkins, professor of sociology at the Australian National University, headlines a distinguished list of presenters speaking throughout the two-day span and will deliver the annual Frank P. Lees Memorial Lecture. Hopkins is scheduled to present “Why BP Failed to Learn the Lessons: The Texas City Refinery Explosion” at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Hopkins, who served as an expert witness at the Royal Commission, which investigated the causes of the fire at Esso’s gas plant at Longford in Victoria in 1998, has written several books focusing on the organizational and cultural causes of major accidents.

In 2001 he was the expert member of the board of inquiry into the exposure of Air Force maintenance workers to toxic chemicals. He has been involved in various government occupational health and safety reviews and has consulted with major companies in the resources sector.

In addition, Hopkins served as a consultant to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board in its investigation of the Texas City accident and has published a book on that accident, “Failure to Learn: the BP Texas City Refinery Disaster.”

Hopkins has a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the Australian National University, a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut and is a Fellow of the Safety Institute of Australia.

Established in 1995, the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center is dedicated to enhancing safety in the chemical process industry. The center conducts various educational endeavors aimed at “making safety second nature” to everyone in the industry. In addition, center researchers work to develop safer processes, equipment, procedures and management strategies to minimize losses.

For more information about the symposium, including a full schedule, visit http://psc.tamu.edu/ and click on “2009 Symposium,” or contact Donna Startz at (979) 845-5981 or via email: donnas@tamu.edu.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, August 11, 2009 – Utilizing fractal patterns similar to those created by lightning strikes, Victor Ugaz, associate professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, has created a network of microchannels that could advance the field of tissue engineering by serving as a three-dimensional vasculature for the support of larger tissue constructs, such as organs.

Ugaz’s work, which was undertaken with colleague Arul Jayaraman and appears in the July online version of “Advanced Materials,” is funded by the National Institutes of Health.

The findings detail the construction of an elaborate network of fractal channels that mimic the naturally occurring vasculatures found in trees as well as in the human body. The controlled manufacturing of these networks, which are capable of supporting transport of fluid, is the first step in translating this work to a tissue engineering application where it potentially stands to make a significant impact, Ugaz says.

“I think we’ve learned how to make these 3-D channels, and we can make them in the kinds of materials that people would use for tissue-engineering applications, in biomaterials,” says Ugaz. “We’ve also looked at characteristics of the network, and we’ve shown that there are similarities to natural-occurring vasculature.”

Providing man-made replacement parts to people in need of organ transplants (and bypassing the need for suitable donors) has been a chief aim of tissue engineering, but so far the field’s biggest successes have been the production of skin and cartilage. This is largely due to the fact that tissue engineers have yet to effectively produce a three-dimensional vasculature that can serve as a network of artificial arteries, veins and capillaries. This network of channels is needed to support larger structures such as kidneys, Jayaraman explains.

“Developing scaffolds for tissue engineering with built-in vasculature is a high priority area in tissue engineering as the ability to provide nutrients to all depths of growing tissue is extremely critical,” says, Jayaraman, assistant professor in the department. “Typically, as the tissue grows, the inner regions tend to be nutrient-limited, which affects the overall viability of the tissue-engineered product. The development of 3-D vascular networks in bio-compatible materials addresses this specific need in the tissue engineering community.”

Without such a network in place, the tissue created by engineers is dependent upon diffusion for the transport of nutrients and waste products. Diffusion, however, is a slow process, taking about 17 minutes to traverse a span of 200 microns, or about twice the thickness of a human hair. Increase that distance to an inch, and it takes close to four months for diffusion to occur. That length of time won’t support cell growth, Ugaz notes.

“That’s just a fundamental limit of this diffusion mechanism – the timescale,” Ugaz says. “If your aim is to manufacture artificial organs, you’ll need a network that has the ability to supply all of the cells in a three-dimensional volume with nutrients while moving waste products out and keeping these processes going in a certain timescale.

“The way this is all accomplished [in nature] is with a type of branched network, similar to how a tree is naturally structured. There is a trunk, and distribution occurs throughout a large volume by branches of various lengths and thicknesses that emanate from that trunk. This allows transport to penetrate inside a large volume, until the distance between branches and stems is minimized. It’s all really an issue of transport.”

Framing the challenge in those terms, Ugaz began contemplating how such a complex architecture could be artificially mimicked. He was well aware of a phenomenon known as the Lichtenberg effect. Named after German physicist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, the effect is responsible for the creation a fractal pattern as a stored electrical charge is released. This branching pattern occurs on the surface or interior of insulating materials during an electric discharge.

The patterns are similar to the branching patterns seen in a lightning strike. They also can be seen on the skin of lightning-strike victims or on the ground at the point where a lightning strike occurred. A more common example of this effect can be seen in crystal blocks that are often sold as decorative pieces.

Observing these patterns, Ugaz saw the similarities to the artificial network he envisioned creating and wondered if liquid could be transported through these branching pathways, similar to the way nutrients are transported through a tree’s vasculature.

He went to work, teaming with Texas A&M’s National Center for Electron Beam Research to implant a high level of electric charge inside of an acrylic block using electron beam irradiation. When a point of release for the charge was created, Ugaz was left with the expected fractal patterns.

In his laboratory, he and his research group continue to account for such variables as size, range of size, angles, average area ratios, and diameters as well as how all of this relates to the intensity and frequency of charge. Together with Jayaraman, Ugaz is working to translate these microchannels into a biomedical application.

Their work appears promising. So far, the team has found that these fractal pathways can indeed serve as an elaborate vasculature that is capable of sustaining transport in manner suited for tissue engineering purposes. What’s more, by adjusting certain variables, Ugaz can reliably reproduce these architectures not only in acrylic blocks but in biodegradable porous materials that allow for cell cultures to be embedded in the area surrounding the vasculature. He’s even begun widening the vascular channels to facilitate flow through them and interconnecting separate networks to form larger vasculatures.

And unlike other methods of creating artificial vasculatures, Ugaz’s method enables large, complex, three-dimensional networks to be instantaneously constructed in way that enables them to be mass-produced.

Ugaz emphasizes that his findings thus far are simply the first step in a lengthy process of applying his work to tissue engineering applications. There’s still much work to be done, including developing a means of lining his microchannels with cells that would help preserve the network while directing the surrounding material to break down.

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Contact: Victor Ugaz at (979) 458-1002 or via email: ugaz@tamu.edu or Arul Jayaraman at (979) 845-3306 or via email: arulj@tamu.edu or Ryan A. Garcia at (979) 845-9237 or via email: ryan.garcia99@tamu.edu.

COLLEGE STATION, July 31, 2009 – More environmentally friendly and cost-efficient methods for producing everything from petrochemicals to pharmaceuticals could be on the way thanks to a significant advancement in the way certain molecular filters are manufactured, says a Texas A&M University researcher who has helped develop the new method.

Working with colleagues from the University of Minnesota, Hae-Kwon Jeong, assistant professor in Texas A&M’s Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, has developed what the team believes to be a commercially viable membrane that achieves separation of molecules with a precision and efficiency never before realized.

Their findings, which are published in the July edition of “Science,” detail the team’s success in enhancing the performance of a particular type of molecular sieve. As their name implies, molecular sieves are basically very small filters that help to separate molecules needed for important processes from other unnecessary and even sometimes detrimental molecules.

Molecular sieves are used in a variety of applications, ranging from petroleum refining where they help transform crude oil into gasoline to the pharmaceuticals industry in which they play an important role in the manufacturing of drugs.

Jeong’s research involved enhancing the application of molecular sieves by making molecular sieve membranes from zeolites.

Zeolites are inorganic aluminosilicate structures containing numerous uniform pores, each less than a nanometer in diameter. When fabricated as thin films such as membranes, molecules pass through these minute pores as they are separated. Zeolites’ resistance to high temperatures and chemical solvents makes them ideal filters for industrial and scientific uses, but their inherent structure has posed a challenge to scientists looking to utilize them to their fullest potential, Jeong says.

Because zeolite membranes are made up of many small crystals rather than existing as one solid structure, some unwanted molecules are able to slip through the space between these crystals, Jeong explains. Think of the way leaves comes together to form a shrub. Although the shrub itself is one structure, there is space between the many leaves that make up the shrub. These spaces in zeolite membranes are known as “grain boundaries,” and when it comes to filtering molecules, these extra spaces pose performance problems, Jeong says.

“Researchers have been working throughout the last two decades on the development of these membranes, and they have recognized the importance of controlling the grain boundary, but they didn’t know how to remove them,” Jeong says. “They accepted them as something with which they had to live.”

Jeong’s work is poised to change that notion.

Using a technique called “lamp-based rapid thermal processing (RTP),” Jeong and his fellow researchers were able to essentially eliminate grain boundaries, or at least minimize them to the degree that they no longer compromised molecular separation. In their model system, the researchers successfully separated paraxylene molecules from metaxylene molecules using their technique. The size difference between these two similar molecules is very small, making separation a challenge, Jeong says.

“We have demonstrated the capabilities of this approach as a novel means for rapid microstructure development, dramatic reduction of grain boundary defects, and significant improvements in membrane separation performance – all features that should establish the viability and relevance of zeolite membranes for separations and high-value niche applications,” Jeong says.

Prior to Jeong’s work, success in minimizing the effects of grain boundaries has been mixed. Some improved membranes have been developed, but they have been expensive to produce and not easily scalable, Jeong says. Other methods for achieving separation of molecules, such as the utilization of distillation towers, are extremely energy intensive, he adds.

Key to Jeong’s work is the use of a membrane – or sieve – that can be readily and affordably manufactured at different sizes – an aspect that potentially makes it a commercially viable product. In addition to being more cost efficient than other separation methods, Jeong says the enhanced zeolite membrane should achieve separation in a much more energy-conscious manner because of its refined selectivity.

“What we have done is take a commercially scalable membrane and applied an additional step to essentially eliminate the grain boundary structure,” Jeong explains. “In essence, a polycrystalline membrane has been transformed in a single crystal membrane, which has no grain boundary. No selectivity is lost. This is a significant breakthrough in zeolite membranes.”

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Contact: Hae-Kwon Jeong at (979) 862-7137 or via email: jeong@chemail.tamu.edu or Ryan A. Garcia at (979) 845-9237 or via email: ryan.garcia99@tamu.edu.

Editor’s note: The following article appears in the Spring 2009 department magazine, available for download here.

Faculty Profile
Dr. Mariah Hahn
Engineering a Healthier Future

As much as Mariah Hahn would like to hearken back to that one magical childhood moment during which she decided to embark on a career in science, the assistant professor in Texas A&M University’s Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering confesses she didn’t have one. In fact, she candidly admits that she wasn’t even very inquisitive as a child.

“I was never one of those kids who asked why the sky was blue; I was just happy knowing it was blue,” Hahn joked.

Oh, how things have changed.

These days Hahn spends her time in a world of questions, asking and attempting to answer some very complex ones.

A bright, young chemical engineer whose focus is on biological processes, specifically cell-material interactions, Hahn is one of the up-and-coming minds in the rapidly advancing field of tissue engineering. She’s recently been named a “Texas Engineering Experiment Station Select Young Faculty” member. And last year Hahn was recognized as a “rising star” by the American Chemical Society, receiving the organization’s “PROGRESS/Dreyfus Lectureship Award” in recognition of her research contributions in the areas of soft tissue engineering.

It’s a field that at one time seemed the stuff of science fiction with its focus on regeneration and growth of man-made, living replacement parts for the human body. Advances in science and medicine throughout the last few decades however have resulted in serious progress in the field, making what once seemed unimaginable now chock-full of potential.

In addition to reducing the number of lives lost due to shortages of transplantable organs, tissue engineering may lead to more effective treatments for burn victims as well as those suffering from injuries and even degenerative or congenital defects.

Hahn focuses on studying regeneration of organs for which mechanical functionality is vital. She’s particularly interested in blood vessels, bone and vocal cords.

Her work with vocal folds began when she was a graduate student at MIT under the guidance of Robert S. Langer, a distinguished and highly regarded researcher in the field.

Prior to that, Hahn had earned her master’s degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University and attended the University of Texas at Austin as an undergraduate where she received her bachelor’s in chemical engineering. The plan back then, said Hahn, was to utilize her electrical engineering background and work with medical imaging technology, such as that used in MRI scans.

But events at MIT took a somewhat fortuitous turn.

In 2001, Langer’s research group was seeking two graduate students to assist in a new vocal cord regeneration project – one who would focus on designing the biomaterials needed for regeneration and another who would focus on developing measures for evaluating biomaterial success, including the use of imaging technology. Ultimately, only one student was hired – Hahn. She was selected however with the expectation that she focus on biomaterials research rather than imaging. She accepted the challenge and began tackling a serious and compelling problem.

Vocal cord disorders have affected millions of people. Damage to the cords can be attributed to scarring from surgical procedures, including intubation, or to lesions caused by excessive talking, yelling, coughing, smoking, and even throat clearing. In worst-case scenarios, vocal cord damage can result in permanent voice dysfunction or loss.

Hahn’s role in the research initiative focused on developing materials that would allow cells in the vocal fold to begin repairing the damage. It is work she continues to expand on as an assistant professor at Texas A&M.

“We want cells to reproduce what is native for that organ,” Hahn explained. “For example, if we are trying to restore damaged bone, we want the material to instruct the cells to produce normal bone. This means that cells should deposit what we call an ‘extracellular matrix,’ and the proteins composing this extracellular matrix should be present in the same amount and organization as in normal bone. It’s not enough just to have the proper ingredients; you also must mix it together properly. Think of making a cake. It’s the amount and how it’s organized spatially.”

Towards that goal of identifying a material that would allow cells to produce vocal cord extracellular matrix, Hahn developed a composite “hydrogel” made of collagen, the major structural protein of the human body, and alginate, a sugar-like substance found in the cell walls of algae. A hydrogel, explains Hahn, is a water-absorbent gel, much like Jell-O, that allows cells to conduct normal physiological processes.

Hahn’s hydrogel maintains its original shape and mass significantly longer than most materials currently used for vocal cord repair while simultaneously allowing cells to synthesize new extracellular matrix. This is significant, since it could potentially avert the need for multiple surgical procedures.

As with lip augmentation, multiple injections are required in vocal cord repair if the injected material does not maintain its original volume for a long enough time. But for the vocal cords, multiple procedures carry a high risk of causing further injury and should be avoided. An additional benefit of Hahn’s material is that its mechanical properties can be readily tailored to the individual patient.

These features potentially mean Hahn’s hydrogel may be an important tool in restoring the normal shape and physiology of the vocal cords over time.

In addition to her continued work with vocal cord restoration, Hahn also is focusing on vascular tissue engineering – trying to effectively recreate small-diameter blood vessels such as coronary arteries. It’s a complex process with progress measured in inches rather than miles, but it’s one for which there is a pressing need.

“A lot of people have coronary artery bypass procedures, and right now there are no good replacements for coronary arteries other than taking tissue from another part of your body,” Hahn said. “About 20 percent of bypass patients have no such suitable tissue. Tissue engineering has the potential to fill this clinical need.

“We understand cells so imperfectly. There is so much to discover about them. How can we get cells to do what we want them to do? Even after 30 years of research into tissue engineering we still can’t replace or regenerate certain aspects of skin, for example. We can’t yet engineer capillary beds.

“There are so many questions, and they’re questions I’m interested in; they’re questions I get excited about.”

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, June 1, 2009 – Call it advanced warfare on the most elemental of levels.

Researchers at Texas A&M University’s Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering have discovered how certain types of bacteria integrate the DNA that they have captured from invading enemies into their own genetic makeup to increase their chances of survival.

To be more accurate, the genetic material isn’t really captured as much as it is simply utilized after it’s injected into the bacteria by an invading virus, says Professor Thomas K. Wood who along with colleagues Xiaoxue Wang and Younghoon Kim has published the findings in Nature’s 2009 International Society for Microbial Ecology Journal.

Wood’s findings shed light on a millions-year-old battle between bacteria and bacteria-eating viruses known as “phages.” Locked in an epic struggle, the two life forms, Woods explains, are constantly developing new ways to win the war. One such approach undertaken by a phage is to attach to a bacterial cell and, using a syringe-like tail apparatus, inject its genetic material into the bacterial cell. Once inside, the phage’s plan is to replicate itself and eventually exit the cell to find new bacteria to infect.

But as is the case with men, the best laid plans of phages can also go astray.

Examining E. coli bacteria, Wood found that the bacteria developed a means of not allowing the phage to replicate and leave the cell of its own volition. Once the phage was effectively “captured,” the bacteria incorporated the phage’s DNA material into its own chromosomes. This new diverse blend of genetic material, Wood says, has helped the bacteria not only overcome the phage but also flourish at a greater rate than similar bacteria that have not incorporated the phage DNA.

“The bacteria are alive and doing well, and in fact the bacteria are doing better because it captured its enemy,” Wood said. “Our research shows that if these bacteria didn’t have this particular set of 25 genes that belonged to the old phage it wouldn’t be able to grow as fast. If you removed the phage remnant, the bacteria grows five times slower on some carbon sources.”

This distinct advantage is helping scientists understand why bacteria carry about 10-20 percent of genes that aren’t their own. Simply put, carrying the virus DNA allows bacteria to increase their chances of survival by producing diverse progeny – something Wood says is extremely important when the bacteria choose to move to a new environment through a process known as dispersal.

Dispersal occurs, Woods says, when the bacterium can no longer glean the nutrients it needs from its surroundings or when other environmental conditions, such as temperature, have become unfavorable. Wood found that through an elaborate regulation method, the bacteria are able to retain the virus DNA or expel it. It’s an interesting trade off, as retaining the virus DNA helps the bacteria grow faster but reduces its motility, which is needed when seeking out new environments, Wood explains.

Further exploring this dynamic, Wood and his research group were able to link this regulation process to the formation of bacterial communities called biofilms.

A biofilm, Wood says, is a protective, adhesive slime created by bacteria that have joined together to form a community and reap the benefits of a “strength-in-numbers” approach. Biofilms can grow on a variety of living and nonliving surfaces, including submerged rocks, food, teeth (as plaque) and biomedical implants such as knee and hip replacements.

The National Institutes of Health estimate that about 90 percent of infections in humans are caused by biofilms, and the Centers for Disease Control estimate biofilm to be present in 65 percent of hospital-acquired (nosocomial) infections. Biofilms typically are the cause for the fatal infections that develop post surgery. More commonly, they are the source of persistent ear infections common among children.

In addition to finding that biofilm formation relies heavily on virus genes present within the bacteria, Wood’s research has shown the mechanism for how this takes place. A protein within the bacterium called Hha has the ability to control whether virus genes are kept within the bacterium or jettisoned. When Hha is basically “turned on,” the bacteria expel the virus genes, opting for motility over the ability to form biofilms. Likewise, when hha is not expressed, the bacteria move slower but grow biofilms at a much faster rate, Wood explains.

It’s a finding that could impact everything from healthcare to research into alternative fuel production.

“If we can understand how biofilms are formed, we can begin to manipulate forming them where we want and getting them to not form where we don’t want them,” Wood says. “We have found a regulator – this Hha – that controls the genes related to biofilm formation. Now we can begin to envision ways to turn on that hha gene if we want to get rid of biofilms, and that is what we are working on. That’s the long-term goal – as engineers to make biofilms where we want them.

“For example, if we want to remediate soil, we’d form a biofilm on the roots of plants, plant the tree, and wherever the tree root goes we clean the soil. That’s a beneficial biofilm. If I want to make hydrogen with E. coli, I’ll probably want to do it in a biofilm, so I would want to promote the growth of the biofilm.

“We’re one of the first labs in the world that has begun to not only try to understand how biofilms form but to control them.”

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Contact: Thomas Wood at (979) 862-1588 or via email: thomas.wood@che.tamu.edu or Ryan A. Garcia at (979) 845–9237 or via email: ryan.garcia99@tamu.edu

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, April 20, 2009 – Engineering faculty members, researchers and safety representatives interested in learning more about pressure relief systems will have the opportunity to attend a two-day course on the subject provided free of charge by the Texas A&M University’s Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center.

The center, headquartered in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, is offering the course, which reviews the essentials of pressure relief and disposal system design. It is scheduled to be held May 19-20 at the Texas Transportation Institute in Houston, and the registration deadline for the course is May 14.

As part of the course, instructors will outline the optimal practices for these systems with an emphasis being placed on overpressure scenario identification, required load calculation methodologies, relief device capacity calculations, global scenario identification, and disposal system design.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers code requirements as well as American Petroleum Institute recommended practices will be presented.

Classroom exercises will include analysis of common processes to determine relief requirements; actual relief sizing application problems; and sizing relief valves using both manual calculations and commercial computer sizing programs. An introductory level review of quantitative risk analysis of disposal system headers via automated header analysis software also will be provided.

Typically, registration for the course is $495.00, but that fee is being waived by the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center to enable interested parties to attend. Participants are responsible for their travel and accommodations.

Established in 1995, the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center conducts programs and research activities that enhance safety in the chemical process industries. The center’s educational activities promote safety as second nature to everyone in the industry. In addition, the center develops safer processes, equipment, procedures and management strategies to minimize losses within the processing industry.

To register for the course or for more information, contact the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center at (979)845-3489 or visit the center Web site at http://psc.tamu.edu.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The memory of a safety engineering education pioneer has been preserved with an endowed engineering scholarship at Texas A&M University by lead donor Michael (Mike) Sawyer.

The Dr. Ralph J. Vernon ’51 Scholarship rewards engineering students who earn a 3.0 grade point ratio, pursue a process safety specialty and demonstrate financial need. Contributions can still be made to the permanent scholarship, funded through an initial $25,000 endowment in 2006 at the Texas A&M Foundation.

“Process safety is now an integral part of chemical engineering education, and the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at A&M is widely recognized as a world-leader in chemical process safety research and education,” said Michael V. Pishko, department head and holder of the Charles D. Holland ’53 Professorship. “Through the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center, our department produces highly sought students in process safety, and this scholarship ensures we retain the best and brightest in safety engineering.”

“Dr. Vernon’s impact did not stop upon my graduation. He maintained contact and continued nurturing my career for many years after A&M, and I, as well as many former students, owe my success largely to him,” said Sawyer, who provided the lead gift. A Class of 1983 safety engineering graduate of Texas A&M, he is president of Apex Safety Consultants, ASC Inc., a speciality process safety consulting firm.

Born in Greenville, S.C., Vernon earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial education from Clemson University and then served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He obtained a master’s degree in education from Texas A&M and completed his Ph.D. in preventive medicine and environmental health at Iowa State University.

Vernon began his career as a safety engineer for Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. in 1953. He joined the Texas A&M faculty in 1966 and pioneered safety engineering and industrial hygiene degrees within the engineering college. He became a full professor in 1971 and retired as professor emeritus of industrial engineering in 1986.

Vernon’s teaching awards included the General Dynamics Award for Excellence in Engineering Teaching from Texas A&M, Educator of the Year Award from the International Safety Society and the Service Award from the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. He was a member of Sigma Xi, an international honor society for scientific and engineering research.

He was a leader in his field, serving as president of the Board of Certified Safety Professionals and the American Academy of Industrial Hygiene.
Upon retiring from teaching, Vernon served as president and chief executive officer of Biotechnics Inc. until 1990.

He resided in College Station and attended First Baptist Church until his death in 2000.

Contributions to the Dr. Ralph J. Vernon ’51 Scholarship in Engineering can be mailed to the Texas A&M Foundation, Engineering Development Office, 3126 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-3126 with the words “Vernon Scholarship” on the notation line.

Story by Emily L. Whitmoyer, Engineering Development Office

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, April 13, 2009 – Donna and Gene Tromblee have parlayed retirement savings into a three-way benefit for chemical engineering students at Texas A&M University.

The Seabrook couple used savings from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) to create a $30,000 endowment at the Texas A&M Foundation for the Donna and Gene Tromblee ’70 Scholarship in the C.D. Holland Scholars Program.

The Tromblees contributed another $10,000 to support needs of the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, including funds for a general excellence fund and study abroad participants.

“Fulfilling our mission would be much more difficult without the generous support of Aggies such as the Tromblees; Donna and Gene have the thanks of our faculty and our students, both current and future,” said Michael Pishko, department head and holder of the Charles D. Holland Professorship.

The first recipient of the Tromblee scholarship will be named for fall 2009.

The C.D. Holland Scholars program honors Charles D. Holland, who served as Texas A&M’s second chemical engineering department head from 1964 to 1987.

The Tromblees’ gift will help fund the cost for two chemical engineering students to participate in the summer 2009 Texas A&M Engineering Study Abroad Program, which will offer courses in Mexico, Panama/Costa Rica and Spain. While most programs focus heavily on the cultural aspects, the engineering summer curriculum puts more emphasis on the technical and professional experiences.

“We chose to give a gift for others to enjoy and from which to benefit as much as we have from my education at Texas A&M,” said Gene Tromblee.

A native of Minnesota, he graduated from high school in Huron, Ohio. He received his B.S. degree in chemical engineering in 1956 from Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio, and a master’s in chemical engineering from Texas A&M in 1970.

He began his career with Monsanto as a technical service engineer at its Texas City plant. After several moves culminating in a return to Texas City as plant manager, Tromblee became involved in the leveraged buyout of the plant by the Sterling Group in 1986. He retired as vice president of operations of Sterling Chemicals in 1991, and is active in several volunteer organizations in the Houston area.

At Texas A&M Tromblee serves on the chemical engineering department’s advisory council. He is one of only four representatives accorded the title of “permanent member” in recognition of significant and frequent contributions to the department over an extended time.

Donna Tromblee, formerly Donna Pauli from Coon Rapids, Iowa, graduated in 1955 from Mercy Hospital school of nursing in Des Moines, Iowa. She moved to Galveston where she met her future husband and continued to work in the nursing profession a few years after their marriage. She maintains an interest in the profession and volunteers at a local hospital in the Houston area.

The Tromblees are members of the Texas A&M Legacy Society, which recognizes planned gifts and cumulative current giving of $100,000 or more to the university.

They previously endowed three scholarships for high-achieving chemical engineering undergraduates in the department’s Lindsay Scholars Program. The Gene L. Tromblee ’70 Graduate Study Area in the Jack E. Brown Building honors the couple’s $100,000 gift to help fund the building’s construction.

“The Tromblees are loyal and committed to Texas A&M, and their support of many programs proves that,” said Andy Acker, director of development for engineering with the Texas A&M Foundation. “This latest gift will help future Aggies become great former students and leaders in the field of chemical engineering. What a wonderful legacy the Tromblees are leaving.”

Story by Betsy Ellison, Engineering Development Office

COLLEGE STATION, Texas April 9, 2009 – It is rare when an individual devotes 50 years of his or her life to one university, much less to one department within a university. That, however, is exactly what Charles D. Holland, former head of the department of chemical engineering at Texas A&M University did.

Holland, who began his association with the department as a graduate student in 1948, passed away Sunday, March 29. Holland, a professor emeritus within the department, was 87.

“Charlie Holland was one of the giants of chemical engineering,” said Kenneth R. Hall, senior associate dean of engineering, deputy director of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station and former head of the chemical engineering department. “He was an outstanding teacher and researcher, and his students all loved him deeply. For the last course he taught in the chemical engineering department he still received the top student evaluation in the department. He was a warm and happy person whom I shall miss deeply.”

Holland was born on October 9, 1921 in Statesville, North Carolina and was raised in the Appalachian foothills of the rural, western part of the state. He graduated from North Carolina State University in 1943 with a bachelor’s of science degree in chemical engineering.
Upon graduating from North Carolina State, Holland enlisted in the Navy as an ensign. He would go on to serve as a naval officer on a destroyer in the Pacific during the remainder of World War II.

In 1948 he resumed his education, enrolling in the chemical engineering department at Texas A&M for his graduate work. His enrollment began his 40-year association with the department, earning his master’s degree in 1949 and his Ph.D. in 1953.

Holland began as an instructor in the department in 1952 and quickly rose through the academic ranks, becoming a full professor in 1959. In 1964, upon the retirement of J.D. Lindsay, Holland became head of the chemical engineering department. He held the position for 24 years, until his retirement in 1987.

Holland was awarded the inaugural “Engineering Program Lifetime Achievement Award” in 2000 by the Dwight Look College of Engineering, and the chemical engineering department’s C.D. Holland Scholars Program is named for him.

In 2004, Holland endowed a chemical engineering scholarship to honor his wife’s memory. The Eleanore Holland Scholarship is part of the C.D. Holland Scholars Program that targets high-achieving undergraduates in chemical engineering.

An endowed professorship in the chemical engineering department bears Holland’s name. Michael Pishko, the current head of the chemical engineering department, holds the Charles D. Holland ‘53 Professorship.

As one of the world’s leading authorities on distillation, Holland authored eight books on chemical issues, seven textbooks and more than 100 technical papers. He delivered more than 400 talks on chemicals, cancer, workplace safety, chlorine and the chemical industry.

In 1986, Holland formed the Institute for Advancement of Chemical Technology (TIACT), serving as its president. He was named “Fellow” of the American Institute of Chemists in 1975, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in 1977, and “Council of Fellows” of Texas and Academic Authors.

The South Texas Section of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers presented the “Career Academic Achievement Award” to Holland in 2004 for his lifetime contributions in modeling distillation processes.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to the C.D. Holland Scholarship Fund in care of the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, MS 3122, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77845, or a charity of choice.

Story by Tim Schnettler, Engineering Communications