COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Aug. 12, 2008 – Intelligent and effective design of industrial facilities can be just as critical to extinguishing a serious industrial fire as timely emergency response, says a Texas A&M University authority on disaster mitigation.

M. Sam Mannan, director of the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center in the university’s Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, says that because industrial fires are complex phenomena, facilities must be designed in an optimum manner that allows for these blazes to be controlled, contained and extinguished with relative ease.

With this in mind, the chemical engineering department and the process safety center are partnering with the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) Brayton Fire School to offer engineering students the opportunity to enroll in a new fire protection course at Texas A&M.

“It’s natural to assume that putting out fires is a simple phenomenon, but that’s only for simple fires,” Mannan said. “In industry, you don’t have simple fires. You have fires with hydrocarbons, fires with hydrogen, which is completely invisible to the naked eye, and you have fires with other compounds. And if you fight these fires with just water, you will aggravate the fire.

“Engineering is a very big part of effectively dealing with these fires.”

And that’s where the new fire protection course comes in.

Offered this fall and instructed by Thomas Sturtevant, who has more than 30 years of experience in fire protection, the course (SENG 422) will be open to engineering students from all disciplines.

“I believe SENG 422 is an excellent course for engineering students, as it provides a basic understanding of risks related to fires and explosions for a wide cross section of industrial facilities to include chemical, petrochemical and hydrocarbon processing installations,” Sturtevant said.

Through the course, students will gain an appreciation of their role and responsibilities for safety and fire protection within an industrial setting, Sturtevant says. Highlights of the course include students extinguishing a small fire at the Brayton Firefield and tours and reviews of fire protection features at various industrial facilities.

Operated by TEEX, the Brayton Fire School is the largest, live-fueled fire fighter training facility in the world. More than 81,000 emergency responders from all 50 states and more than 45 countries train at the TEEX facility each year.

“With the TEEX Brayton Fire School, I think it’s safe to say that we have the world’s best firefighting capability,” Mannan said.

The fire protection course is part of Texas A&M’s Safety Engineering (SENG) program, which is administered by the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center and the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering.

Through the program, students are able to earn a safety engineering certificate or pursue a master’s degree in safety engineering.

While enrolled in the program, students are exposed to relevant principles and case histories, which are part of a curriculum that emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of safety, health and environmental engineering. The program aims to develop in its students the knowledge and skills not only needed by those who specialize in safety engineering but by any engineer, Mannan said.

“As our safety engineering program continues to expand, this is a natural outgrowth, and it’s natural that we partner with the fire school in addressing this important area of fire protection engineering,” Mannan said. “Such a combination of knowledge and resources is unparalleled anywhere else.”

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For more information, contact M. Sam Mannan at Contact: M. Sam Mannan at (979) 820-0036 or via email: mannan@tamu.edu or Thomas B. Sturtevant at (979) 458-1821 or via email: thomas.sturtevant@teexmail.tamu.edu .

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Aug. 8, 2008 – Brian Liu, an undergraduate student from The Johns Hopkins University who is participating in a summer research program at Texas A&M University, has received top honors for his research presentation on metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for enhanced hydrogen production.

Participating in Texas A&M’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates/ Undergraduate Summer Research Grant (REU/USRG) program, Liu received first place in a poster session designed to allow undergraduates to present their research to faculty members from throughout the Dwight Look College of Engineering.

The hour-and-a-half poster session was the culmination of a 10-week research experience and requires student participants to both verbally and visually explain all aspects of their research.

Through the REU/USRG program, Liu, a biomedical engineering major, was able to work with Thomas K. Wood, professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering. Assisting in Wood’s research, Liu was responsible for screening mutant bacteria in order to identify and sequence the DNA of specific samples that were yielding greater amounts of hydrogen.

Directed by Associate Dean for Graduate Programs N.K. Anand, the REU/USRG program involves undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing graduate studies in a summer research program at Texas A&M. Through the program, these students contribute to ongoing faculty research while gaining an appreciation for a research-oriented career.

The program consists of undergraduate students from Texas A&M as well as students from other colleges and universities. As part of the program, students work closely with faculty members and graduate students on current research projects, attend presentation skills workshops, make a formal poster presentation of their research experience at the end of the program, and submit a written final report describing the results of their research.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas July 31, 2008 – Students in the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M University who are pursuing a safety engineering certificate as part of their undergraduate education are now eligible for a new scholarship offered through the Safety Engineering Certificate Program.

The new $2,500 scholarship award is divided into installments of $500 for courses taken that qualify toward earning the certificate. To be eligible for the scholarship students must maintain an overall minimum GPR of 3.0. In addition, students must earn at least a B in each qualifying course for the scholarship to continue.

Students interested in applying for the scholarship for the 2009 academic year are required to submit their completed applications, which can be downloaded here. Applications may be submitted to Mary Cass at (mary-cass@tamu.edu), or they can be dropped off at the receptionist’s desk of the Mary Kay O’Connor Safety Process Center, room 244 in the Jack E. Brown Engineering Building.

The Safety Engineering Certificate Program is administered by the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering.

Through the program, students are exposed to principles and case histories from a wide variety of engineering disciplines. The curriculum emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of safety, health and environmental engineering. It also emphasizes the knowledge and skills most likely to be needed by any engineer as well as those who specialize in safety engineering.

The safety engineering certificate requires 15 hours of coursework, which are applicable to the hours necessary for graduation and not an additional load. Nine hours are dedicated to basic topics and are required for everyone in the program. An additional six hours address more specific or advanced topics. These advanced topics are cross-listed with numerous departments and developed in cooperation with various TEES research centers and TTI. A three-hour, discipline-specific capstone course that includes a safety component can complete the 15-hour Safety Certificate requirement. After completion of the program, the certificate is recorded on a student’s permanent university transcript.

For more information, including a list of required courses, visit: http://essap.tamu.edu/safety.htm. Additional questions may be directed to Mary Cass, program coordinator in the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center, via email or at (979) 458-1863.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, July 8, 2008 – When Jennifer Carvajal, a graduate student in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, isn’t figuring out how to push around molecules, she’s leading the push for expanding chemical engineering education for undergraduates.

Specifically, Carvajal, whose area of study is molecular modeling and simulation, is working to ensure chemical engineering undergraduates are exposed to the relatively new and dynamic field of molecular modeling. It’s a field she believes stands to make an impact in a number of areas and one that needs to be incorporated into undergraduate curriculum.

Carvajal made her case recently at the 2008 American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference & Exposition in Pittsburgh where she presented a paper titled “A Web-based Resource for Teaching Molecular Modeling and Simulation Methods in Chemical Engineering.”

The ASEE conference, which is dedicated to all disciplines of engineering and technology education, provided a three-day forum for more than 3,500 leaders in the field – including professors, deans, instructors and students – to present their research and interact with colleagues and industry counterparts.

Carvajal’s paper was part of a larger session at the conference that focused on integrating new courses and methods into the chemical engineering classroom. She was joined in the presentation by three members of the Texas A&M’s chemical engineering department: Professor Tahir Cagin, Senior Lecturer and Assistant Head for Upper Division Programs Lale Yurttas and Curriculum Renewal Specialist Larissa Pchenitchnaia.

The idea, Carvajal said, is to incorporate molecular modeling and simulation into chemical engineering curriculum at the undergraduate level. Molecular modeling refers to the methods and techniques employed in modeling or mimicking the behavior of molecules.

The techniques are used in the fields of computational chemistry, computational biology and materials science for studying molecular systems ranging from small chemical systems to large biological molecules and material assemblies.

With the potential to impact such vital and rapidly advancing areas as nanotechnology and biomedical science, molecular modeling should be a significant aspect of the chemical engineering undergraduate experience, Carvajal said.

Currently, that’s not the case, Carvajal explained – and not only at Texas A&M. At the majority of colleges and universities throughout the nation, molecular modeling is a subject generally reserved for graduate students, likely due to its highly technical nature. But Carvajal believes that undergraduates have something to offer and should be exposed to this burgeoning and dynamic field of study in hopes of attracting them to advanced studies in the discipline.

As part of her presentation, Carvajal advocated the use of Interlinked Curriculum Components (ICCs), which form the basis of the National Science Foundation’s Curriculum Renewal Project, being undertaken at Texas A&M. ICCs are Web-based resources that aid in teaching certain concepts. Some ICCs focus on specific application areas or skills while others focus on common concepts that span courses and application areas.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, May 28, 2008 – Srinivas Pullela, a graduate student working with Assistant Professor Zhengdong Cheng in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been invited to discuss his research at the 2008 SoftMatt symposium at North Carolina State University.

Pullela, whose abstract was selected by a committee of five judges for oral presentation at the symposium, will be one of only five graduate students presenting research June 19 at the national conference. For his selection, he will receive a monetary prize from the symposium organizers.

At the symposium, Pullela will speak about “Nonlinear Chemical Dynamics of the Intelligent Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Colloids.

“Srinivas is a student with drive and ambition,” Cheng said. “This invitation recognizes the novelty and competitiveness of his research.”

This is the second distinction in as many months for Pullela, who this past April was one of two graduate students in the chemical engineering department to receive an “Outstanding Accomplishments in Interdisciplinary Research” award. That honor was bestowed upon Pullela for his significant academic and practical contributions in more than one field of study and came during Texas A&M’s 11th Annual Student Research Week.

SoftMatt 2008, which is organized in conjunction with the 82nd American Chemical Society Colloid & Surface Science Symposium, offers graduate and undergraduate students involved in soft material research at universities a forum in which to share their results and meet their peers.

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas, May 9, 2008 – Four graduating seniors from the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University have been recognized as distinguished members of their Spring 2008 graduating class.

At a reception honoring the department’s spring graduates, Christopher Ciesielski, a senior from Allen, Texas, and James Kress, a senior from Willis, Texas, each were named recipients of the department’s “Outstanding Graduating Senior Spring 2008 Award.”

In addition, Laura Barrera, a senior from Brownsville, Texas received the “Chemical Engineering Excellence Spring 2008 Senior Award.” And Joseph Zerr, a senior from D’Hanis, Texas, received the “2008 Senior Award” from the RHO Chapter of Omega Chi Epsilon, the national honor society for chemical engineering. Earlier this semester, Zerr received the prestigious Thomas S. Gathright Scholar Academic Excellence Award.

Addressing the students and their families in attendance, Assistant Professor and Associate Head for Undergraduate Programs Victor Ugaz recounted his journey from graduate to academician, reminding the graduates to embrace the many twists and turns they encounter as they enter a new period in their lives.

“Be open for changes and on the lookout for new opportunities along the way,” Ugaz said. “You have the skills and the talent to solve the bigger problems out there, so take time to think about the bigger things.”

As part of the event, winners of the department’s Spring 2008 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 refinery water process plant. In recognition of their achievements, each of the top three teams received honorariums from the Fluor Corporation, the competition’s sponsor for this semester.

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas, May 9, 2008 – Three groups of students from Texas A&M University’s Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering have been recognized by the Fluor Corporation for their designs of a refinery water process plant.

Kristen Atherton, Milton Chaves, Derek Moser and Justin Phillips are members of the team awarded first place by Fluor for its original design of a hypothetical but potentially fully functional water process plant that operates per Flour’s specifications.

Deborah Bell, Laura Barrera, Francisco Bolado and Sarah Owen were awarded second place, and the team composed of Temilola Awosipe, Wesley Carter, Carolyn Pearce and Bryan Wagner received third-place honors.

Each of the winning teams received a monetary prize from Fluor, this semester’s sponsor of the plant design competition, and the first-place team also was recognized with a plaque commemorating its achievement.

The students’ designs are the results of an intense senior-level capstone chemical engineering course taught by John Baldwin, senior lecturer and head for lower division programs in the department.

The competition, said Baldwin, requires students to conceptualize the comprehensive organization of a process plant. It’s a task, he said, that his soon-to-be graduates are almost certain to encounter in some form as they enter their professional careers.

This semester, students were tasked with developing the optimum design for an oil refinery in Mexico looking to process its water streams to meet ocean disposal standards and/or drinking water standards, Baldwin explained. Students designs had to achieve maximum profit while maintaining a competitive price for the client, he said.

In addition, the students were required to operate under certain limitations. Each student team was told that its company was a small start-up without adequate funds to self-finance and therefore needed to attract a venture capitalist. Because of that important caveat, all designs were to utilize proven purification and separation processes that had been successfully employed in at least two similar commercial applications.

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 1, 2008 – Joseph Zerr, a senior chemical engineering major in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been named a recipient of the 2008 Thomas S. Gathright Scholar Academic Excellence Award.

The award, presented by The Association of Former Students in conjunction with Texas A&M’s Student Government Association, individually recognizes sophomores, juniors and seniors with the highest grade-point ratio within their respective academic colleges. To qualify for this award, a senior must have at least 95 credit hours at Texas A&M.

Zerr’s 4.0 grade point average was tops among all seniors in the Dwight Look College of Engineering.

“As a professor, I am always excited to see a student pursue academic excellence, but it is even more important to pursue extraordinary goals; Joseph does both,” said Assistant Professor Carl Laird, who instructed Zerr during his senior year. “He is an exceptional student with a humble attitude and a pleasure to teach.”

Zerr, who is from D’Hanis, Texas, credits his academic success to “a lot of hard work” and an ability to prioritize. Appropriately, Zerr revealed that he was studying for a quiz when he received the phone call notifying him of his award.

Upon graduating, Zerr said he intends to enroll in medical school, stating he believes his chemical engineering education will provide a foundation for his continued success in that field.

Established in 1973 and presented annually, the award is named in honor of the first president of the then “A&M College of Texas,” Thomas S. Gathright.

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas, April 14, 2008 – Four graduate students in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&MUniversity were recently honored for their research during the university’s 11th Annual Student Research Week.

Jennifer A. Carvajal, Pussana Hirunsit, Eid M. Al-Mutairi and Srinivas Pullela all received recognition during the week-long event in which students from throughout Texas A&M detailed their research through posters and oral presentations.

Carvajal, a graduate student in Professor Tahir Cagin’s lab, and Pullela, a graduate student working under Assistant Professor Zhengdong Cheng, both participated in oral presentations and received “Outstanding Accomplishments in Interdisciplinary Research” awards for their work in the area of materials science. The designation recognizes research with outcomes that make significant academic or practical contributions in more than one field of study.

Eid M. Al-Mutairi, a graduate student who is working with Professor Mahmoud M. El-Halwagi, was the recipient of an “Environmental Health and Safety Recognition Award” for his work in industrial engineering. Al-Mutairi’s award recognizes research efforts that contribute to and/or value the role and importance of safety at Texas A&M. In addition, Al-Mutairi also received the top score in his respective research session and was designated session winner. His research presentation received second place in his taxonomy grouping.

Pussana Hirunsit, a graduate student working under Professor Perla Balbuena, placed third in the poster competition portion of Student Research Week for her work in the field of nanoscience. Posters were required to thoroughly detail all aspects of a student’s research, and students were required to be present their work to judges during an hour-long session. Hirunsit was also designated session winner for her respective research session.

One of the largest university-wide, student-led research week programs in the nation, Texas A&M’s Student Research Week aims to highlight the excellence and broad range of student research taking place. Student Research Week programs are planned and funded primarily by the Texas A&M Graduate Student Council, and its awards are sponsored by university departments.

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas, April 2, 2008 – Abdullah Bin Mahfouz, a graduate student in Texas A&M University’s Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, has been selected as a King Abdullah Scholar by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia.

The King Abdullah Scholar Award is conferred upon outstanding doctoral students to support their continued research efforts. It includes annual funding of up to $50,000 for tuition, living stipend and educational expenses and up to $10,000 to be used for the continuation of research activities for up to four years. Upon completion of their doctoral degrees, KAUST may offer King Abdullah Scholars research and post-doctoral opportunities on the KAUST campus.

Bin Mahfouz, who is from Saudi Arabia, is conducting research at Texas A&M in the area of process integration with special emphasis on optimizing industrial cooling systems using seawater. He is pursuing his Ph.D. under the supervision of Professor Mahmoud El-Halwagi.

“Abdullah has developed a novel approach to the design of seawater cooling systems and performing energy integration while optimizing biocide usage and discharge,” El-Halwagi said. “This is state-of-the-art process integrations research, which involves innovative optimization formulations that reconcile the economic, energy and environmental objectives of the system.”

Recipients of the scholarship award, said a KAUST representative, represent a new age of visionary researchers that will have a major impact on the future of science, engineering and IT and will be a driving force for global innovation.

As a King Abdullah scholar, Bin Mahfouz will serve as an ambassador at global research and technical conferences and workshops. In addition, he will be invited to participate in joint research projects on the KAUST campus and to take an active role mentoring KAUST Discovery Scholarship recipients at joint enrichment workshops focused on leadership and academic excellence.

Bin Mahfouz will travel to Washington, D.C. April 5 for a recognition ceremony during which he will meet with KAUST officials and present his research to fellow King Abdullah Scholars and the KAUST management team.

KAUST is as an international, graduate-level research university dedicated to inspiring a new age of scientific achievement that will benefit the region and the world. It is the realization of a decades-long vision of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

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