chbenewsletterspr17

volume 1, number 1
Chemical Engineering Student
Benjamin Siu Wins Prestigious
2017 Goldwater Scholarship
This past March, the department of chemical and
biomolecular engineering proudly announced
Benjamin Siu, a junior chemical engineering major,
as the recipient of the highly prestigious Goldwater
Scholarship. Ben is the only USA student this year
to be a Goldwater awardee, one of only 240 for the
academic year, of which only 51 are engineering
majors. As an undergraduate research assistant,
Siu studies under mentor Dr. Kevin West, associate
professor in the department. Siu’s research focuses
on the thermodynamics and processes of ionic liquids
for usages in industry, and specifically examines high
temperature reaction solvents and heat transfer fluids.
As a freshman, while working with Dr. Jim Davis in
chemistry, Siu was a co-author on a journal article,
“Multi-ion ionic liquids and a direct, reproducible,
diversity- oriented way to make them.” Recently,
Ben was 1st author on a second publication entitled
“Thermally robust: triarylsulfonium ionic liquids
stable in air for 90 days at 300°C”, which is focused
on his current research. Siu modestly admits that he’s
anticipating three more publications by the end of his
undergraduate career.
When he’s not in the lab, Siu is involved on campus as
a member of the USA honors program, and Tau Beta
Pi and Omega Chi Epsilon engineering societies. Siu
also serves as the current vice president and future
president of AIChE, the university’s chapter of the
American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Last
summer, Siu worked as a process engineer intern for
Phillips 66, a multinational Fortune 500 company
responsible for the processing and distribution of oil
and gas across the world.
After his 2018 graduation, Siu hopes to pursue a
doctorate in chemical engineering at the Georgia
Institute of Technology. Upon earning his Ph.D.,
Siu plans to go into research and development in
chemical engineering. Specifically, he wants to work
on environmental and sustainability projects for
renewable energy.
Founded in 1986, the Barry Goldwater Scholarship
was created by the U.S. Congress to award sophomore
and junior undergraduate students who have
completed academic research in the natural sciences,
mathematics and engineering. The University of
South Alabama experienced a record-breaking year
for the award with three out of the four university
nominees selected as recipients.
Dr. Michael Doran, director of the honors program,
stated, “USA has enjoyed a streak of several years
now [with] multiple winners and Honorable Mentions
for the Goldwater Scholarship yearly.” Many of these
students have been from Chemical & Biomolecular
Engineering. In addition to Ben, deparment alumni
Robert Mines (2015)
and Arslan Ashad (2014)
have also been Goldwater
scholars.
In addition, this year
Phiwat Klomkaew, a
current junior in ChBE,
was awarded Goldwater
Honorable Mention,
as was current senior,
Mikayla Walters, in 2015.

New Special Topics Course
Prepares Students for their
First Job
In the fall semester of 2016, the Chemical Engineering
Department offered a new special topics course,
Industrial Chemical Process Engineering (ChE
490/590). This course, taught by Robert D’Alessandro
integrates process safety into the curriculum and
exposes students to the type of projects they may
encounter in their first job. It is offered to senior
undergraduate and graduate students studying
chemical engineering.
D’Alessandro uses his experiences at Evonik Industries
as a basis for instruction. In the course he introduces
the complete conceptual engineering design of an
entire process, including process flow diagrams. The
students then use this information and subsequent
lectures to complete a detailed engineering design for
a processing plant over a several month period. The
main work product is an industrial document called
the Piping & Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID).
In addition, the students become familiar with
equipment specifications, process hazard analysis,
and emergency relief system evaluation.
“The primary intention of ChE 490 is to teach
students to use chemical engineering principles and
fundamentals on industry applications and problems.
The course focuses on the practical issues facing
chemical process engineers working in a plant or in
an engineering office. The course also emphasizes
the integration of process safety and process design,”
according to D’Alessandro.
In most university classes the problems are black and
white with definite solutions that student can find
in, or arrive at, using their textbook. In Industrial
Chemical Process Engineering there are many
solutions that could work, but some are better than
others.
D’Alessandro worked at Evonik for 23 years and is
proud of his career. He loves that Evonik feels they
have a responsibility to the community and that they
work hard to keep their site and the environment
clean and safe.
He also teaches two courses for the American Institute
of Chemical Engineers on Inherently Safe Process
Design. These courses are for experienced engineers
seeking knowledge on advanced topics. These courses
are held around the country and last three days.
D’Alessandro is from the Bronx, New York and
graduated with a B.S. in engineering from Fordham
University in the Bronx and a B.S in chemical
engineering from Columbia University in Manhattan.
He received a M.S. in chemical engineering from
Manhattan College.
Teaching is not a job for D’Alessandro; it is a
pleasure. If he could give chemical engineering
students any advice it would be, “While at university,
don’t underestimate the value that your chemical
engineering fundamentals will have once you are a
practicing engineer.”
D’Alessandro says teaching this course is not very
different from his time at Evonik where he mentored
newly graduated engineers. Teaching is just another
way to continue doing what he loves.
D’Alessandro is retired from Evonik Industries in
Theodore, Alabama where he held the position of
Director of Process Technology.

Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Brooks Rabideau
Dr. Brooks Rabideau recently joined the department
of chemical and biomolecular engineering at
the University of South Alabama as an Assistant
Professor. His research area involves molecular
dynamic simulations of complex systems, with an
emphasis on ionic liquids. In the fall he taught the
junior level Transport Phenomena I (fluids) course,
and this spring he is teaching graduate transport.
USA is one of the leading institutions in the United
States in ionic liquids research. Rabideau will work
with fellow researchers to characterize the properties
and behavior of novel ionic liquid system. His current
research studies molecular simulation to understand
how modifications in chemical structure can influence
properties of ionic liquids with application to biomass
dissolution and separations.
He previously participated in the Tailor-Made
Fuels from Biomass program, which is an initiative
by the German Federal Government to develop a
complete process for converting waste biomass into
combustible biofuels. He used molecular simulations
to understand how ionic liquids, or molten salts,
dissolved biomass and how modifications to their
chemical structure could lead to improvements in the
overall process.
curiosity of his students. He enjoys testing his
students’ physical intuition before revealing the main
concepts, noting that their intuition is usually correct.
He said the most difficult part of teaching is when the
semester ends.
“You form a lot of connections with the students
through the class that you teach and want to see them
continue to grow,” Rabideau said. “Hopefully, I’ll see
some of these students again in later semesters.”
Rabideau’s advice to incoming freshmen is, “Find out
where your interests lie. College is a great opportunity
to learn about new fields and explore new ideas. Be
sure to take advantage of those elective classes.”
Rabideau earned his B.S. in chemical engineering
from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois,
and his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.
Before coming to USA, he completed two postdoctoral
research fellowships at the RWTH Aachen
University and Université Paris-Est, Institut Navier.
Rabideau said he is very excited to provide additional
understanding of ionic liquids. He also enjoys
teaching as well as research, and values the natural

2016 - 2017 Scholarships
Alabama Power Scholarship – Landon Heavner
Hargrove Scholarship - Arianjel Hernandez
Raburn Scholarship – Albaraa Mando
Mitsubishi Scholarship – Jennifer Arrington
Parish Scholarship – Jimmie McGehee
Chevron Scholarship – Jeremy Hurst
Goldwater Scholarship - Benjamin Siu
Tau Beta Pi Fellowship - Mikayla Walters
Reece/Rose Miller Scholarship – Gerald Duck
Keith Harrison Scholarship – Caleb Barlow
Laura Prine Scholarship – Ashley Koichi
Stallworth Scholarship – Johnathan Anderson
Stallworth Scholarship – Lauren Bassler
Huddleston Scholarship – Troy Orwin
Dhawan Scholarship – Amanda Brown
Dhawan Scholarship – Christopher Jordan
Dhawan Scholarship – Katherine Frangos
Dhawan Scholarship – Kevin Cooper
Dhawan Scholarship – Mattie McGill
Congratulations Scholars!
“Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.”
Albert Einstein
In memory...
William Crews Askew Sr.
Professor of Engineering 1940 - 2017
Harold Vernon Rodriguez
Professor of Engineering 1932 - 2016
The University of South Alabama
Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
150 Jaguar Drive, Shelby Hall 4134
Mobile, AL 36688
Ph: (251) 460-6160
southalabama.edu/colleges/engineering/chbe/
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