Alumni news

Knut Harg (MS '76) has changed positions from Research Director in Norsk Hydro ASA, a Norwegian industrial conglomerate, to president of one of its subsidiaries, Pronova Biocare, a world leader in the field of omega-3 fatty acids. These fatty acids may provide health benefits both as nutritional supplements and as pharmaceutical products.

Roger Harrison (PhD '75), associate professor at the University of Oklahoma, is the first author of a new textbook, Bioseparations Science and Engineering, Oxford University Press, with coauthors Paul Todd, Scott Rudge, and Demetri Petrides. This text focuses on the science and engineering aspects of bioseparations and is designed for juniors, seniors, and graduate students, as well as practitioners in industry. It is expected to be available for fall semester, 2002.

Carl Horst (BS '49) has reported that he is now retired after a career in the pulp and paper, fine chemicals, and metallurgical chemical process industries. His positions included plant operations, process engineering, and project management of major international projects.

F. Xavier Malcata (PhD '91) had his mandate as director of the College of Biotechnology (Oporto, Portugal) renewed for a second three-year term. Xavier, who concurrently holds an appointment as executive administrator of AESBUC, the board of industrial trustees of the College of Biotechnology, is currently associate professor at the Portuguese Catholic University.

James Moy (MS '58), Professor of Food Engineering at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, was the 2002 recipient of the Institute of Food Technologists International Award in recognition of his efforts over a period of more than 30 years to improve the food supply, particularly in developing nations worldwide and in world trade, by promoting the use of irradiation as a preservation technology. Jim generously donated the cash award to several organizations, including our department through the Ragatz Fund.

Rangaswamy Parthasarathy (MS '73) is managing director of Thirumalai Chemicals, Ltd. (India), is chairman of their Asian manufacturing subsidiary, TCL Industries (Malaysia), and is involved in an IT startup for the company, Lapiz Digital Services. In addition, Sarathy and his wife, Bhooma, with a few friends, helped start, and now manage, a primary and high school with about 800 students in Ranipet in south India. The couple is also actively involved in the Thirumalai Charity Trust, a rural development project working in over 500 villages in south India. This is only a guess, but they probably don't spend much time watching television!

Robert Rossi (BS '93), having completed a stint with the Peace Corps in Fiji, and his PhD in chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, is now bringing his engineering perspective to chemistry students at Carleton College, or as he puts it, "I will continue to subvert young chemists here, leading them to consider why, if at all, they should care about the stuff in the textbook."

Brian Saunders (PhD, '96) is a program analyst working at the San Diego Supercomputer Center at the University of California, San Diego. Brian's group, the "Bioinformatics Laboratory," is responsible for data analysis and storage for the Alliance for Cellular Signaling. He is also part of a programming team responsible for the Biology Workbench, a web-based tool for biologists.

Friedrich Sick (MS '86) is a professor at the Fachhochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft (FHTW) Berlin, a university of applied sciences, in the field of renewable energies. Fred's major research interests include solar thermal and photovoltaic systems, solar building design, and daylighting.

Mordechai Siegel (BS '50) retired in 1990 from the Oil Refineries, Ltd. in Haifa, Israel, where he worked for close to 35 years. In his work, Markus was involved in the major technical developments of the refineries as a development engineer, head of technical services and chief energy coordinator.

Shuk Chi Toh (BS '96) moved to Singapore after graduation and is currently a lecturer in chemical engineering at Nanyang Polytechnic. Linda recently completed her MBA at the National University of Singapore and hopes to get in touch with other ChE folks (E-mail: linda.toh@pacific.net.sg).