SECURITY - Department of Chemical Engineering - Texas A&M ...

Business Acumen...from page 1Specifically, automation professionals must workto be recognized as business process analysts inlight of the growing divide between themselves andproduction and enterprise information technology,Boyes explained.An authority on business-to-businessmarketing with more than 25 years of experiencein sales, sales management, marketing andCONTROL Editor-in-Chief Walt Boyes delivers the symposium’s keynote address.product development in the controls andinstrumentation industry, Boyes is widelyconsidered an industry expert.Among the many changes he cited, Boyesunderscored the detrimental effects of a gradualbut steady erosion of knowledgeable professionalsfrom the field. The majority of professionals whowere adept at running process plants were laid offin the 1980s and ‘90s, Boyes noted. Those thatremained are today retiring in droves, taking theirknowledge with them.“The institutional knowledge they are takingwith them is irreplaceable,” Boyes said.Compounding the problem, the best andbrightest new employees don’t want to work inmanufacturing, many of them considering factorywork a less-than-secure career path, he added.Because of this phenomenon, processindustry companies are often unable to hire –even strategically – and, in turn, are relying onvendor companies to supply staff, services andexpertise. These vendor companies however areencountering the same problems in trying toanswer the increased demand for knowledgeablestaff.The ramifications of this are already beingfelt on an economic level, Boyes explained.Companies, he said, are changing the way theywork in terms of how they’re treating theiremployees. The transition from viewing people assimply replaceable resources to valuable assets iswell under way in the industry. “Companies arestarting to offer more benefits and perks similar towhat occurred in the 1950s, Boyes said.“There are trends that are converging in thenext decade or so that are utterly changing the wayprocess automation is done,” Boyes said. “And asautomation professionals, we need to understandthese trends. And if you do understand thesetrends, you can prosper in your career, and thecompanies you work for can prosper as well.”In addition to Boyes’ presentation, severaltechnical papers were presented throughoutthe symposium by a host of authorities fromacross the country. Their presentations covereda wide array of topics, including metering flowin utilities, compressed air and steam; usingengineering automation software to documentsafety instrumented systems; and advanced flowdiagnostics.The symposium also featured approximately50 exhibits, showcased by the leading firms inthe instrumentation and control systems field.The exhibits displayed new and educationalinstrumentation equipment that benefitsmanagers, operators and instrumentationpersonnel.Conference attendees also participatedeach day in various workshops, ranging from adiscussion of ethics to flow devices and liquidlevel/ measurement.“We hope we were able to fulfill the expectationsof all of the professionals and students whoattended this symposium, through our speakers,presentations, exhibits and workshops,” saidsymposium chairman and senior lecturer JerryBradshaw.Hall’s GTL ProcessResults in IndustryBreakthroughWith the help of a Texas A&MUniversity chemical engineeringprofessor, a Dallas-based gasto-liquids(GTL) energy firm hasdeveloped what it labels as theindustry’s first commerciallyviable process for convertingnatural gas into useable fuels.Expanding on a processconceived by Kenneth Hall, aprofessor in the university’s ArtieMcFerrin Department of ChemicalEngineering and the associatedirector of the Texas EngineeringExperiment Station, SynfuelsInternational, Inc., has patenteda method for refining natural gasthat will enable the firm to takeadvantage of existing natural gasdepositsThe breakthrough processwas developed in cooperationwith Texas A&M and the TexasEngineering Experiment Station.It began when Hall and hiscolleagues were attemptingto develop a method fordisposing of lube oil waste in anenvironmentally friendly manner.The Synfuels process focuseson efficient high-temperaturenatural gas conversion intoacetylene, which is thenconverted into ethylene atmoderate pressures andtemperatures. After the ethylenepasses through a catalytic reactor,it is converted into products suchas gasoline and jet fuel.Page 3

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTSDepartment Recognizes Fall 2007 Graduating ClassThe Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering’s 42 fallgraduates were honored this past December with a reception andawards ceremony in which aselect group of outstandingchemical engineeringstudents was recognized.Kristen Gantt, a senior fromAnchorage, Alaska, receivedthe department’s “OutstandingGraduating Senior Fall 2007Award.” Kendra Gil, a seniorfrom Colorado Springs,Colo., received the “ChemicalKristen Gantt receives the OutstandingSenior Award.Engineering Excellence Fall2007 Senior Award.” AndKiri Kilpatrick, a senior from Carrollton, Texas, received the “2007Senior Award” from the RHO Chapter of Omega Chi Epsilon,the national honor society for chemical engineering. In addition,Anthony Skach, a senior from Angleton, Texas, received his polymerspecialization certification.Addressing the students and their families in attendance, UnocalProfessor and Department Head Michael Pishko encouraged thesoon-to-be graduates to stay in touch, reminding them of howimportant former students are to the department. “Even thoughyou’re leaving, you’re still a part of this department, and we wantto know of your triumphs,” Pishko said. Senior Lecturer and Headfor Lower Division Programs John Baldwin, who served as masterof ceremonies for the event, congratulated the group, saying, “We’regoing to miss you because all of us fall in love with all of you.You’re the reason we’re here.”Fall 2007 Plant Design Competition Brings out Best in StudentsFor the better part of a semester, Texas A&M University chemicalengineering students in John Baldwin’s senior-level plant designcourse prepared for the professional environment they would soonbe encountering by undertaking a real-world assignment. Theircharge was anything but simple: design a fully functional chemicalprocessing plant for the CelaneseCorporation, a global leader in thechemical manufacturing industry.This past December those studentsunveiled their final designs, and a selectfew received some very real-worldrecognition for their efforts, thanksin part to Celanese, the sponsor andjudge of the fall semester “plant designcompetition” - part of a capstonecourse in the university’s Artie McFerringas. It’s a task, Baldwin said, that graduates of the department arealmost certain to encounter in some form when they enter theirprofessional careers. Chemical engineers, Baldwin said, often playthe role of conceptual designers who are typically charged withdesigning entire sequences of operations associated with chemicalmanufacturing. Those operations caninclude such processes as distillation,boiling, condensation and othervarious and complex aspects of plantproduction. “That’s what it’s all about -to move our students from an academicenvironment to a professional engineeringenvironment,” Baldwin said.“Before these students come intoplant design, they are real engineers;they don’t know it. And what you seeDepartment of Chemical Engineering.here is the discovery of ‘Gee, I can doFirst-place team (left to right): Kristen Gantt, Ryan Deal, CelaneseRyan Deal, Kristen Gantt, Sean Hulseythis!’ You see the light bulbs going on.representative Nathan Powell, Jared Morgan and Sean Hulseyand Jared Morgan were members of theThis puts together the project of a typicalstudent team awarded first place by Celanese for its original designs of engineering environment here in an academic institution.” Divideda methanol-producing industrial plant.into eight teams, each consisting of four to five members, Baldwin’sWest and Associates, composed of Kyle Gentry, Galen Hauth,students first waded through a 12-page problem statement,Richard Schultheis and Brittaney West was awarded second place, extensively detailing the scenario and the requested outcomes byand S.M.O.W., composed of Jesus Mejorada, Matt Olson, Anthony the Celanese Corporation, which uses methanol as a starting pointSkach and Aaron Wilhelm, received third-place honors. Eachfor a number of its acetic acid products. The students then spentof the winning teams received a monetary prize from Celanese,the semester researching - and in some instances even visiting -and the first-place team also was recognized with a plaquesimilar existing plants. They also picked the brains of Celanesecommemorating its achievement. The competition, explainedofficials, who made themselves available throughout the project.Baldwin, a senior lecturer and head for lower division programs“The main thing they do is contribute their time and energy toin the department, required students to conceptualize thethe project,” said Baldwin, lauding the corporation’s dedicationcomprehensive organization of a process plant - in this scenario, a to the competition and its students. “The monetary awards thatmethanol-producing plant that derives its product from synthetic are given are not nearly as valuable as the time that the companyPage 6

epresentatives contribute to our students.”And that investment can pay off for both student and sponsor,Baldwin said, noting that in some instances student proposals areincorporated by the sponsor into its future plant designs. “You’veheard the saying about thinking outside of the box - these studentsdon’t know where the box is, so they’re always thinking outside of thebox,” Baldwin said. “And so frequently they’re coming up with ideasand suggestions that working engineers might not come up with.”Chemical Engineering Students Recognized at‘Chem-E-Car’ CompetitionAggie ingenuity was on display this past March at the 2008American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Regional StudentConference, where two student teams from Texas A&M Universityreceived recognition for their designs of a chemical-powered vehicle.Participating in the conference’s annual “Chem-E-Car” competition,one Aggie team received top honors in the poster portion of the event,and another team placed second. That same team also placed second inthe car performance portion of the competition.The first-place poster competition team was composed ofstudents Carla Beutlich, Patrick Breckon, Mark Deimund, IanaIacob, Felipe Rendon and Sahiba Singh. As part of their entry, theywere required to describe the chemical process that powered theirvehicle. That process was based on generating the necessary voltageand current by using solar panels to enhance the reaction found inglowsticks that results in their chemiluminescence.“It drew interest because it was a different approach to theproject,” said Victor Ugaz, assistant professor in the Artie McFerrinDepartment of Chemical Engineering. Ugaz serves as an adviser tothe students participating in the competition.The second-place poster andperformance team consisted ofteam members Daniel Arnold,Michael Landoll, Derek Nelson,Stephen Pope and NeilRodrigues. In the performanceportion, students were requiredto submit a small team-designedvehicle that utilized a chemicalreaction to travel adesignated distanceand stop, allwhile carryinga specifiedcargo.Teamswereinformed of the specific distance and payload shortly before the startof the competition, forcing them to make the correct calculations andadjustments only moments before the event began.Rodrigues, a junior chemical engineering major from Goa,India, estimated he and his team spent the better part of a monthdesigning their entry. Their vehicle, he explained, utilized a pressurevessel concept in which a chemical reaction produces gas thatbuilds pressure in a tank. That pressure serves to turn the motor,powering the vehicle.His team’s second-place finish in the performance portion ofthe event guaranteed it the right to advance to this fall’s nationalcompetition, held at the 2008 AIChE Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.“I enjoy it; it gives me a chance to apply principles from classin a creative way,” said Rodrigues, who has participated in thecompetition multiple times. “It definitely challenges you, creatively.“The team component helps lead you in the right directionwhen you start competing in this event, and then it carries forward.Now, as a junior, I am helping lead the less experienced memberson our team.”Last year, Lale Yurttas, senior lecturer, and Ugaz established aone-hour course in the department to formalize the work of thestudent participants. Prior to that, preparation for the competitionwas entirely extracurricular and undertaken as part of the university’sAIChE student chapter. Now Yurttas and Ugaz oversee the course andserve as advisers to the student teams. The course aims to introducestudents to all phases of engineering design early in their academiccareers and is open to all students, freshmen to seniors. Studentsuse project management tools, learn issues of safety, reliability andenvironment, and recognize the importance of working in teams.“For the past two years, the Chem-E-Car competitions havegiven students a sense of excitement and accomplishment, afeeling shared by both Dr. Ugaz and myself,” Yurttas said.Ugaz agreed, underscoring the quality of the students’ work.“Even knowing the quality of our students, it’s stillsurprising to see these teams develop such originalideas and then apply the skills they’re learning inclass to a complex project like this,” Ugaz said.

FACULTY NEWSCagin Delivers Keynote Address at InternationalConference in HawaiiTahir Cagin, professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering discussed his research inMarch at the International Conference on Computational and Experimental Engineering and Sciences in Honolulu,Hawaii. Cagin’s address, “Modeling and Design of Polymeric Architectures for Chemical Sensing,” was a featuredpresentation at the week-long conference, which was aimed at bringing together researchers from the world’sacademia, industry and governments to discuss the recent advances in computational and experimental engineeringand sciences and to facilitate collaborative research efforts.Seminario Chosen to Participate inARO Formulation MeetingJorge Seminario, professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, was one of twoprofessors from Texas A&M University’s Dwight Look College of Engineering recently selected to participatein a special meeting of the U.S. Army Research Office (ARO). The “Program Formulation Meeting for Bio-Molecular Electronics” was conducted by the ARO’s Division of Electronics. Also attending the meeting withSeminario was Laszlo Kish, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Seminarioand Kish are members of a cadre of technical experts who will provide guidance and suggestions to theDivision of Electronics as it works to develop a new program in bio-molecular electronics. Members of thegroup were selected by the ARO based on their expertise in the highly technical field.Shantz Appointed to Neely FellowshipDaniel Shantz, associate professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of ChemicalEngineering, has been appointed holder of the William and Ruth Neely Faculty Fellowshipin Chemical Engineering. The appointment is for a three-year period, effective March 1. Shantzjoined Texas A&M University in 2001. He serves as the associate head for graduate programs inthe department. His research focuses on materials development for emerging areas in energy.Since joining Texas A&M, Shantz has received more than $2 million in funding, which includessix National Science Foundation (NSF) grants.Hahn Appointed External Examiner byU.K. UniversityJuergen Hahn, assistant professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering,has been appointed external examiner at Queens University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. As anexternal examiner, Hahn will travel to the United Kingdom to review the work of a Ph.D. candidate,enrolled at Queens University, who has prepared a dissertation related to Hahn’s field of expertise.Contrary to the U.S. higher education system in which a Ph.D. review committee typically consistsof only faculty members from the candidate’s university, the U.K. system relies on an externalexaminer to make the final determination of a student’s progress and competency before conferringdegrees. The purpose of the system is to ensure that standards are kept the same across universities and to provide an assuranceof fair play, given that internal examiners might be biased for or against a candidate.Page 8

American Chemical Society Recognizes M. Hahnas ‘Rising Star’Mariah Hahn, assistant professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, has receivedthe American Chemical Society’s PROGRESS/Dreyfus Lectureship Award in recognition of her researchcontributions in the areas of soft tissue engineering. The award, which is bestowed upon an individual identifiedas a “rising star” by the American Chemical Society, goes directly to a female faculty member in the chemical sciencesand engineering fields. As part of the award, Hahn will receive a grant that supports travel to one or moreCarnegie Research Universities of her choosing, enabling her to give a technical presentation to the facultyand students at the selected institutions. The award is funded by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus FoundationSpecial Grant Program in the Chemical Sciences and is designed to promote the full participation andadvancement of top women chemists and chemical engineers.Ugaz Honored for Outstanding TeachingVictor Ugaz, assistant professor and associate head for undergraduate programs, has been recognizedwith the 2007 Celanese Teaching Excellence Award for his dedication and outstanding contributions to theeducation and professional development of chemical engineering students at Texas A&M. “It’s an honor toreceive this award because it’s chosen by the students; that’s what’s important to me,” Ugaz said. “Withteaching you have something that you can go to every day, and it is always rewarding,” he added.“The young people have a lot of energy, and you can really draw from that.”In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Ugaz conducts research focusing on harnessingthe unique characteristics of transport and flow at the microscale to enable development ofadvanced DNA analysis technologies. Celanese Corporation, which is based in Dallas andemploys approximately 8,900 employees worldwide, is a global leader in the chemicals industry. The company, whichhas a history of supporting chemical engineering education at Texas A&M, manufactures acetyl products, including aceticacid, vinyl acetate monomer and polyacetal products and is a world leader in the production of high-performanceengineered polymers used in consumer and industrial products.Laird Lends Knowledge to Anti-Terror EffortCarl Laird, assistant professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering,recently participated in an effort aimed at identifying key research areas that could improve thenation’s capabilities for countering terrorist attacks that utilize improvised explosive devices(IEDs). Laird was one of a select group of experts brought together at a National Academiesworkshop held in Washington, D.C. and sponsored by the Office of Naval Research and the NationalResearch Council. The workshop assembled leading thinkers from a variety of areas, includinggraph theory, criminology, statistics, data fusion, pattern recognition, law enforcement and discretemathematics.IEDs are destructive devices that can be assembled relatively easily and are difficult to detector prohibit. However, because there are generally many individuals and activities associated with the deployment of thesedevices, prediction of IED-related activities from intelligence data, including visual, electronic, transactional, narratives andother data forms has been identified as a key element in countering the IED threat. Laird’s research focuses on large-scalenonlinear optimization, parameter estimation, and parallel computing. As part of his past research, Laird has worked ondeveloping algorithms as part of an early warning contaminant detection system in municipal drinking water networks. Inaddition, he is involved in the modeling and optimization of infectious diseases, working to determine the fundamentaldriving forces affecting the spread of infectious disease in both time and space.Page 9

Spotlighton GivingIn this issue we recognize donors of endowedchairs and professorships within the department.Mike O’Connor Chair I in Chemical EngineeringT. Michael O’Connor, Communities Foundation of Texas, Inc.Mike O’Connor Chair II in Chemical EngineeringT. Michael O’Connor, Communities Foundation of Texas, Inc.Ray B. Nesbitt Endowment for Faculty Excellence in Chemical EngineeringRay B. Nesbitt ‘55Charles D. Holland ‘53 Professorship in Chemical EngineeringFriends and Former StudentsGas Processors Suppliers Association Professorship in Chemical EngineeringGas Processors Suppliers Association of Tulsa, OklahomaMcFerrin Professorship in Chemical EngineeringArthur R. McFerrin Jr. ‘65 and Jeffrey L. McFerrin ‘92Lanatter and Herbert Fox Professorship in Chemical EngineeringLanatter and Herb A. Fox ‘56Dow Chemical Company Professorship in Chemical EngineeringDow Chemical CompanyKenneth R. Hall Professorship in Chemical EngineeringGas Processors Suppliers Association of Tulsa, OklahomaJoe M. Nesbitt Professorship in Chemical EngineeringRay B. Nesbitt ‘55William and Ruth Neely Faculty Fellowship in Chemical EngineeringRuth M. and William J. Neely ‘52Giving Fact: The Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering was namedin honor of Arthur “Artie” McFerrin, Jr., a 1965 graduate of the department whoin 2005 committed $10 million to establish an endowed fund to support chemicalengineering at Texas A&M.Page 10

Corporate Support for AcademicYear 2006-2007Acutech Consulting GroupAir Products and Chemicals, IncorporatedAker Kvaerner Inc.Ammons Law Firm LLP, theApplied MaterialsBP Foundation, IncorporatedChevron Phillips Chemical CompanyChevronTexacoCitgo Petroleum CorporationCommunities Foundation of Texas, Inc.ConocoPhillipsDow Chemical FoundationEarly Consulting LCEmerson Technical Analysis LLCExxon Mobil CorporationThe Gas Processors Association of HoustonIomosaic CorporationMarathon Oil CompanyPerry & Hass LLPPhilip Morris USA Inc.RMT, Inc.Shell International Exploration and Production Incorporated Deepwater ServicesSis-Tech Solutions LPUOP LLCIndividual Gifts to the Department for 2007Mr. James W. Alexander ’47Dr. and Mrs. Rayford AnthonyDr. Dragomir BukurMr. Paul F. Deisler, Jr.Mr. and Mrs. Rudy T. Dismuke ’78Mr. and Mrs. Victor H. EdwardsMr. Nicholas E. Gallopoulos ’57Mr. Jeff D. Gamble ’94Mr. Kerry L. Giese ’76Mrs. Kathy D. GieseMr. Russell A. HallDr. and Mrs. Jack R. Hopper ’59Mr. and Mrs. Nir KerenMr. Trevor Asher KletzDr. and Mrs. James F. Mathis ’46Dr. and Mrs. Michael L. McGuire ’60Mr. and Mrs. MelhemMr. and Mrs. Kendall A. Miller ’88Mr. and Mrs. Nancy M. and Brock D. Nelson ’90Mr. Thomas N. Novosad, III ’96Mr. and Mrs. Jack O. PhilleyDr. Sanjeev R. SarajDr. and Mrs. Norman J. Tetlow ’66Ms. Geneva C. Whitney ’04Page 11

Texas A&M University3122 TAMUCollege Station, TX 77843-3122NONPROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGEPAIDCOLLEGE STATION,TEXAS 77843PERMIT NO.215GIFT INFORMATIONArtie McFerrin Department of Chemical EngineeringChemical Engineering Endowed FundDONOR INFORMATION (Please Print)NameTexas A&M Class Yr(if applicable)AddressEmailPhone:PAYMENT INFORMATIONEnclosedContribution$Please make checks payable to TEXAS A&M FOUNDATION.On the check memo line, indicate Chemical Engineering Endowed Fund.Return to:Texas A&M Foundation401 George Bush DriveCollege Station, TX 77840-2811