COLLEGE STATION, Texas, August 7, 2008 – Thomas K. Wood, professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been awarded a grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his work in modifying bacteria so that they produce hydrogen that can be used as an energy source.

Wood, who is working with colleagues from the University of Central Florida and the University of Connecticut, was awarded $300,000 to continue his research into genetically modifying a strain of Escherichia coli.

His initial work with the bacteria has shown promise, resulting in a strain that produces more than 140 times the amount of hydrogen than is created in a naturally occurring process. That early success could prove to be a significant stepping stone on the path to a hydrogen-based economy that has the potential to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil in an environmentally friendly way.

Still, Wood acknowledges that there is more work to be done, and he says support by the NSF will enable his research to move into its next phase.

For more information on Wood’s research in this area, click here.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, August 6, 2008 – Perla Balbuena, professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&MUniversity, has been invited to speak at a workshop examining catalysis research at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Balbuena, an authority in the area of catalysis, will participate in the workshop “Grand Challenges in Electron Chemistry and Catalysis at Interface,” taking place Aug. 10-15. She will speak about “Challenges in the Design of Active and Durable Nanocatalysts.”

Balbuena’s research focuses on understanding and predicting thermodynamic, transport and kinetic properties of materials using state-of-the-art first principles computational chemistry and physics methods. Her work focuses on bulk and nanomaterials used as catalysts and electrolytes in power sources devices such as lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells.

The workshop aims to foster discussion among leading and new practitioners in heterogeneous catalysis and surface science about the most important challenges in designing selective and efficient catalysts. It will focus on new experimental methods, new computational approaches, new model systems and new applications of catalysis through a series of plenary and invited lectures as well as interactive sessions.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, July 21, 2008 – M. Sam Mannan, holder of the T. Michael O’Connor I Chair in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, and director of the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center, will appear on a History Channel program Tuesday, July 22.

Mannan will be featured on “Mega Disasters: Toxic Cloud,” which will air at 9 p.m. CDT. The hour-long program will examine a mega-level disaster and then restage it using state-of-the-art computer animation.

Mannan, a nationally recognized authority on disaster mitigation and process safety, was interviewed about what industry, research and academia are doing to prevent such disasters from happening again.

The History Channel is broadcast on channel 269 on DirecTV, 120 on Dish Network, and channel 44 on Suddenlink (779 HD).

Established in 1995 by T. Michael O’Connor, the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center is housed in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering. Fueled by a mission of “making safety second nature,” the center conducts nationally recognized programs and research activities – as well as offers educational activities – that enhance safety in the process industries.

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas, June 20, 2008 – Hans J. Pasman, emeritus professor of the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and a member of the Dutch ministerial Council of Hazardous Substances, has joined Texas A&M University’s Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering as a research professor for the Mary Kay O’Connor Safety Process Center.

A noted authority on chemical risk management, Pasman most recently has worked on improving explosion safety and efficiency of gas phase hydrocarbon oxidation processes as coordinator of the EU FP5 Project SAFEKINEX from 2003-2007. During that span, Pasman also served on the Dutch governmental Advisory Council on Hazardous Substances as chairman of the Committee for Knowledge Infrastructure and of the Committee for Explosive Substances and Items.

Prior to his time on those projects, Pasman served as director of marketing programs at TNO Defence, researching the broad field of defense technologies. There he introduced a new integrated project management approach to improve both effectiveness and efficiency of research and helped to establish mechanisms for broad international cooperative efforts.

In addition, Pasman has served as chairman of various organizations throughout his career, including OECD International Group on Unstable Substances, the European Study Group on Risk Analysis, the NATO AC/310 Safety and Suitability for Service of Munitions and Explosives, Sub Group I Explosives, and the Working Party on Loss Prevention and Safety Promotion in the Process Industries of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering.

A decorated scholar, Pasman has been honored with numerous distinctions for his contributions, including receiving in 1991 a Royal Honour – Officier in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau. In 2005, he was a recipient of the Dieter Behrens Medal of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering.

Pasman completed his undergraduate degree at Delft University of Technology in 1961 before earning his doctorate in the technical sciences in 1964. After serving in the military, Pasman joined TNO.

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.

Center researchers are leaders in the fields of process safety management; liquefied gas safety; ammonia and fertilizer plant safety; refinery and chemical plant safety engineering; and risk assessment for the process industries.

For more information on the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center, visit http://psc.tamu.edu/.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, June 5, 2008 – Lauding his efforts in developing sustainable technologies that benefit and enhance the human condition, the Bryan Rotary Club Wednesday presented Texas A&M University Professor Mark T. Holtzapple with the 2008 Research Valley Commercialization Rising Star Award.

Holtzapple, a professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, is a distinguished scholar and inventor who with colleagues at Texas A&M has developed several pioneering technologies. Among them are the StarRotor engine, which has the potential to be three times more efficient than the conventional internal combustion engine, and the MixAlco process, a method of converting biomass into fuel.

Introduced in 2007, the Bryan Rotary Club/Research Valley Commercialization Rising Star Award recognizes an individual for demonstrating business innovation and involvement in technology commercialization. The Research Valley Partnership is the underwriter for the award, which was presented to Holtzapple at the annual Bryan Rotary Newman 10 Business Performance Awards luncheon.

“Through his ties with Terrabon, StarRotor Corporation and the Texas A&M University System, Dr. Holtzapple is allowing the Research Valley to become a focal point for the development of sustainable technologies that provide economic growth for our state, nation and the world,” stated a news release by the Research Valley Partnership that announced Holtzapple’s selection.

Holtzapple joined Texas A&M in 1986. He completed his undergraduate work at Cornell University before earning his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania. Throughout his career, he has authored nearly 100 technical articles and reports as well as a widely used engineering textbook.

His research interests include bio-based fuels and chemicals, food and feed processing, water desalination, air conditioning, high-efficiency engines, jet engines, and vertical-lift aircraft. Holtzapple’s work has resulted in more than 80 U.S. and foreign patents, and he has developed a wide variety of technologies, including production of alcohol fuels from biodegradable wastes, protein processing, and sugar recovery from energy cane.

A former captain in the U.S. Army, Holtzapple has consistently and successfully melded his academic research at Texas A&M with entrepreneurial endeavors that include co-founding the StarRotor Corporation as well as licensing several of his technologies to Terrabon.

For his work, Holtzapple has received numerous national awards, including the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, the McGraw-Hill Environmental Champion Award and the Walston Chubb Award for Innovation.

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas, May 22, 2008 - Texas A&M University System Vice Chancellor and Dean of Engineering G. Kemble Bennett has appointed Michael Pishko holder of the Charles D. Holland ‘53 Professorship in Chemical Engineering.

Pishko is head of the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering and also heads the Chemical Engineering Division of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station, the engineering research agency of the State of Texas and a member of The Texas A&M University System.

Pishko, a former faculty member at Texas A&M, returned to Texas A&M last year after serving at Pennsylvania State University for six years. At Penn State, he was a distinguished professor of chemical engineering, with joint appointments in the department of chemistry and the department of materials science and engineering.

“Dr. Pishko is a distinguished scholar and accomplished leader and we are pleased to have him returning to our program and Texas A&M,” Bennett said. “His significant strengths will be critically important to advancing our chemical engineering program, both here and in Qatar” - where Texas A&M offers degree programs in chemical, electrical, mechanical and petroleum engineering.

Throughout the past 15 years, Pishko has co-authored more than 90 peer-reviewed research publications and developed 19 U.S. patents. Pishko’s research interests include microfabricated biosensors, neovascularization of implanted biomaterials and “smart” drug delivery systems. His research with the Materials Research Institute (MRI) at Penn State centered on the integration of biological sensing tools in medical, pharmaceutical, defense and food safety fields. An implanted glucose sensor developed by Pishko is undergoing FDA trials for approval in the management of diabetes.

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 also has received the Mary Jane Kugel award from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International and the Outstanding Young Scientist award from the Houston Society for Engineering in Medicine and Biology. Since 2003, Pishko has served as an associate editor and a member of the editorial board for the IEEE Sensors Journal. Pishko has previously served on the editorial boards for Sensor Letters and Applied Biochemistry & Biotechnology.

Pishko holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

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Story by Lauren E. Kern, Engineering Communications

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, May 12, 2008 – Vice Chancellor and Dean of Engineering G. Kemble Bennett has appointed Victor M. Ugaz holder of the Kenneth R. Hall Professorship in Chemical Engineering. Ugaz is assistant professor and associate head for undergraduate programs in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University.

Established in 2002 by the Gas Processors Suppliers Association, the professorship is named in honor of Hall, professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering and associate director of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station. From 2002-2006 Hall served as head of the chemical engineering department.

Ugaz joined the Texas A&M Engineering faculty in January 2003. His research focuses on harnessing the unique characteristics of transport and flow at the microscale to enable development of advanced miniaturized chemical and biochemical analysis technologies. Ugaz earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University.

Earlier this month, Ugaz was named one of only two chemical engineering professors in the nation to receive the prestigious Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award.

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas, May 8, 2008 - Victor M. Ugaz, assistant professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, has received a grant from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation for his DNA analysis work.

Ugaz received $44,000 from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Special Grant Program in the Chemical Sciences for the project, “DNA to Go: Do-it-Yourself PCR Thermocyclers.”

Ugaz joined the Texas A&M Engineering faculty in January 2003. His research focuses on harnessing the unique characteristics of transport and flow at the microscale to enable development of advanced miniaturized chemical and biochemical analysis technologies.

Areas of investigation include manipulating electrophoretic migration of DNA and proteins in microchannels; using convective flow fields to execute thermally driven biochemical reactions such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in a faster an more efficient manner; designing novel geometries to mix chemical species in microchannels by exploiting secondary flow phenomena; developing new methods that help manipulate and tailor the bulk properties of hydrogels by controlling their nanoporous morphology; and exploring new polymer materials and processes to enable rapid and inexpensive construction of microfluidic devices.

Ugaz earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University.

The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Special Grant Program in the Chemical Sciences supports proposed projects that aim to advance the chemical sciences in a variety of ways. They typically originate from scientific societies, educational institutions and organizations that promote science to the public. Since its inception in 1946, the program has provided over $45,000,000 in funding.

The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation is a leading non-profit organization devoted to the advancement of the chemical sciences. It was established in 1946 by chemist, inventor and businessman Camille Dreyfus. He directed that the foundation’s purpose be “to advance the science of chemistry, chemical engineering and related sciences as a means of improving human relations and circumstances.”

For more information about the program and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, see http://www.dreyfus.org.

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Story by Lesley Kriewald

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, May 5, 2008 – Mahmoud El-Halwagi, professor and holder of the McFerrin Professorship in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been named this year’s recipient of the Fluor Distinguished Teaching Award.

The award recognizes El-Halwagi for his dedication and outstanding contributions to the education and professional development of chemical engineering students at Texas A&M.

El-Halwagi, who is widely known for his pioneering contributions in the field of process integration, joined Texas A&M in 2002 after a spending 12 years at Auburn University where he was honored with numerous distinctions.

At Texas A&M, El-Halwagi teaches senior-level undergraduate and graduate classes, covering the areas of process design, simulation, economics, integration and optimization. He also oversees a graduate research group of 14 students.

Earlier this semester El-Halwagi received another teaching-related award – a college-level Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching from The Association of Former Students.

Fluor Corporation is the spring 2008 sponsor of the department’s plant design competition, a capstone chemical engineering course in which seniors are tasked with conceiving a fully functional chemical processing plant that operates per Flour’s specifications. In conjunction with Fluor’s annual plant design sponsorship, the company also presents a teaching award to an outstanding faculty member within the chemical engineering department.

Employing a global workforce of more than 46,000 people, Fluor is one of the world’s largest, publicly owned engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance services companies. A FORTUNE 500 company that is ranked first in FORTUNE magazine’s “Engineering, Construction” category of America’s largest corporations, Fluor maintains a network of offices in more than 25 countries across six continents.

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas, May 2, 2008 – Victor M. Ugaz, assistant professor and associate head for undergraduate programs in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been named a recipient of the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award. He is one of only two chemical engineers in the nation to receive this distinction.

The award supports the research and teaching careers of talented young faculty in the chemical sciences, providing discretionary funding to faculty members at an early stage in their careers. As part of the award, Ugaz will receive an unrestricted research grant of $75,000.

“The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation is enthusiastic about providing support for faculty at this stage in their academic career,” said foundation Executive Director Mark J. Cardillo in a letter announcing Ugaz’s selection. “The competition for the teacher-scholar award was strong. Our congratulations to Dr. Ugaz and Texas A&M University.”

Criteria for award recipients include an independent body of scholarship attained within the first five years of their appointment as independent researchers and a demonstrated commitment to education, which foundation officials say signals the promise of continuing outstanding contributions to both research and teaching. Institutions may make only one nomination annually for the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program.

In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Ugaz conducts research focusing on harnessing the unique characteristics of transport and flow at the microscale to enable development of advanced DNA analysis technologies.

The purpose of the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc. is to advance the science of chemistry, chemical engineering and related sciences as a means of improving human relations and circumstances. Throughout its history the foundation has sought to take the lead in identifying and addressing needs and opportunities in the chemical sciences.

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