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Chemical & Biological Engineering:
New department name reflects increased scope
Freeze drying could improve supply of stem cells and platelets
New catalyst/process dramatically improve fuel-cell-grade hydrogen production
Tales of two chemical and biological engineers
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Faculty news
James A. Dumesic |
Jim Dumesic won the 2003 Herman Pines Award in Catalysis sponsored by UOP and the Catalysis Club of Chicago. The award recognized Jim's work on the microkinetics of heterogeneous catalytic reactions and on microcalorimetric measurements of surface chemical bond strengths. In conjunction with the award, Jim presented the plenary speech at the club's spring symposium titled, "Hydrogen Generation by Aqueous-phase Reforming of Oxygenated Hydrocarbons" (see sidebar). In addition, Jim recently received support for his work on hydrogen generation from Daimler Chrysler Corporation and Virent Energy Systems.
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Charlie Hill has received continued funding through the UW Sea Grant Institute for his research evaluating the technical and economic feasibility of using omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil to produce structured triglycerides that can be used to make nutraceuticals — foods or food additives that confer nutritional, therapeutic or preventive medical benefits to individuals at risk for cardiovascular disease, certain forms of cancer and diabetes, hypertension and other health problems.
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General Motors Corporation has continued its support for Dan Klingenberg's studies of magnetorheological (MR) fluids and MR devices that are currently under development. MR fluids, composed of particles suspended in a liquid, display rheological properties that are dramatically, rapidly, and reversibly altered by the application of external magnetic fields. MR devices, however, typically display time dependent responses that can negatively affect device behavior. Dan plans to study the phenomena that produce these transient responses, and to develop predictive models for the transient behavior.
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Dave Lynn has received a three-year, $240,000 Young Investigator Award from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation to explore the use of nanostructured thin films for programmed gene delivery. Dave is working to incorporate layers of DNA into nanothin, hydrolytically degradable polymer films that would degrade in response to specific physiological conditions and release therapeutic DNA to cells. A $35,000 award from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund will support related work on rational design of polymers for gene delivery. Dave has also received funding from Performance Indicator, LLC to identify and evaluate chemical color change indicators that function in hydrated polymeric materials.
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Manos Mavrikakis is quoted in a news story in the March 14 issue of Science that presents several proposed mechanisms to explain why gold, ordinarily the least reactive of all metals, behaves as a powerful catalyst when shrunk to nanoparticle size. Manos proposes that the secret lies in the geometry of gold nanoparticles. While bulk gold presents an inert flat plane on almost every surface, gold nanoparticles have several jagged "step edges" with one layer of atoms jutting out from beneath the next. Manos has performed density functional calculations showing that atoms in these step edges, with fewer gold neighbors, are stickier than atoms on a smooth surface. Manos explains that the same argument would apply to metals other than gold, but in that case, binding of molecules at the edges of the particles would be extremely strong, making small particles of these metals less than ideal catalysts. With gold, however, the binding of a variety of reactants at the edges of nanoparticles has the "golden-mean" strength characterizing very active catalysts for a number of catalytic reactions. The article can be found at www.tinyurl.com/8cnx.
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The National Science Foundation recently awarded Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) to Chemical Engineering Assistant Professors Sean Palecek and Eric Shusta. Each $400,000, five-year award is granted on the basis of creative career-development plans that integrate research and education effectively. Sean's project will use genomic tools to measure the kinetics and dose-dependence of gene transcription during DNA damage in yeast. This information will be used to design cells that report the type and amount of DNA damage they experience. These cells will have applications in screening environmental samples and new chemical compounds for mutagenic activity. Eric will use his award to develop a novel technological platform for optimization of protein production. His approach will combine yeast genetics with yeast surface display technology to engineer cells for increased production of a model therapeutic protein. See www.engr.wisc.edu/news/headlines/2003/Mar24.html for more information. Eric also has received a three-year, $237,500 grant from the Whitaker Foundation to support his efforts at discovery and analysis of novel transport systems for non-invasive drug delivery to the brain.
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Harmon Ray has received a second honorary doctorate, this one from the University of Waterloo where Harmon began his faculty career in 1966. He was recognized for his contributions in many areas of chemical engineering, especially polymerization reaction engineering, process control and optimization, and mathematical modeling of chemical processes. Harmon received an honorary degree from the University of Minnesota in 2001.