News Archives
News 2007

October 2007

The department would like to congratulate Darla Dao, as Ms. Dao, who is an Administrative Specialist, is the recipient of a 2007 Outstanding Administrative Support Staff Award from the College of Engineering. Ms. Dao has been with the chemical engineering department for 20 years and has worked in various capacities within the office. She is currently responsible for all budgetary and personal matters. Her service with the department is highly appreciated and we are delighted she has been selected for this award. She is most deserving of the honor.

The department would like to congratulate Michael Benton, and Martin Hjortsø. Professors Benton and Hjortsø received a College of Engineering grant from the Fund for Innovation in Engineering Research for their proposal entitled, "Stochastic Models of the Eukaryotic Cell Cycle.” Normally cell cycle models are deterministic and unable to fully explain complex processes such as carcinogenesis. Benton and Hjortsø are going to use reporter genes to gather expression data for select cell cycle proteins. These data will then be incorporated into a complex stochastic model developed by Hjortsø, marking a major advance in the way the cell cycle is studied. The grant will provide seed money to begin research, thereby allowing faculty to use their preliminary data to apply for national grants. The grant is funded by a generous donation by the family of Harry J. Longwell, through the Longwell Family Foundation.

Jasleen Kaur, a third year student in the chemical engineering undergraduate program, was one of three recipients of a $2,000 scholarship from the Air & Waste Management Association. Each year the Air & Waste Management Association offers its Scholarship Award Program at the collegiate level to promote air and waste management practices by encouraging academic excellence in these area. The winners are chosen by a selection committee based on their interest statements, resumes, GPA and interviews which demonstrate their dedication to environmental issues. Jasleen currently holds a cumulative GPA of 3.916. The department congratulates her on this stellar academic achievement.

Brookshire Endows First Distinguished Fellowship
(by Brenda Tate, Engineering Development Office)

Dr. William A. Brookshire has made a donation of $500,000 to the LSU Foundation to establish the first endowed distinguished fellowship to benefit the LSU College of Engineering’s Cain Department of Chemical Engineering. Dr. Brookshire worked for Shell Research and attended the University of Houston at night while he was an undergraduate. Ninety percent of the professionals in his work group had PhDs, so there was both a social and a financial incentive for him to go to graduate school. He came to Louisiana to pursue graduate studies and graduated from LSU’s College of Engineering with a master’s degree in 1959 and a doctorate degree in 1961, both in Chemical Engineering. While pursuing his graduate studies at LSU, Dr. Brookshire was a Humble Oil and Refining Company (now ExxonMobil) fellow. The generosity of the Humble fellowship allowed Dr. Brookshire to concentrate fully on his graduate studies and research. This newly established fellowship is dedicated to that generosity.

The recipient of this fellowship will be a graduate student in the PhD program of the LSU College of Engineering, Cain Department of Chemical Engineering. The recipient must be a U.S. citizen with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.50. Preference will be given to students who have demonstrated scholarship accomplishment and strong leadership skills, shown integrity and exemplary character, indicated a career preference for the private sector in the Process Industries, and who will be a good ambassador for the College and for the State of Louisiana.

Dr. Brookshire said that what he most remembers about his time at LSU was a lot of hard work. He did take time to enjoy the football games (it was during the Billy Cannon era), but mostly he just studied. He hopes that this distinguished fellowship will help students who, like him, are willing to work hard and do research. Perhaps someday, they too will find a way to give back.

Department Receives Generous Contribution from Dow Chemical for New ChE Building (LSU News)

September 2007

ChE PhD Student Making LSU Headlines (LSU News)

Sharon Cole, a 1981 graduate of LSU in Chemical Engineering, is the new Site Director for Dow’s Louisiana Operations. Ms. Cole has served in a variety of manufacturing roles with Dow since starting her career with them in 1981. She moved into the Louisiana Operations Vinyl 2, VCM plant in 1991 and was named Production Leader in 1993. In 1997, she moved to Dow’s Freeport, Texas Operations where she was named Technology Director for the Dow Ethylene Dichloride/Vinyl Chloride Monomer business and assumed additional responsibilities for process research in 1999. Ms. Cole then moved into Dow’s Hydrocarbons & Energy business in 2003 as Technology Director for Light Hydrocarbons, Aromatics, Butadiene and Alpha Olefins.

The Electrodeposition Division of the Electrochemical Society awarded a travel grant to Wanli Xu, a graduate student in Professor John Flake's group, to present her work on "Silicon Nanowire Processing and Integration" at the 212th meeting in Washington DC.

August 2007

Matthew Balhoff (B.S., 2000; Ph.D., 2005) joined the University of Texas at Austin in 2007 as assistant professor in the Department of Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering. His past experience includes work at the Center for Subsurface Modeling group at the University of Texas at Austin as a postdoctoral fellow. His research involves pore scale and multiscale modeling, flow and transport in porous media, and reservoir engineering.

Yogesh Waghmare, a Ph.D. student under the direction of Carl Knopf, has two papers accepted for the Transport sessions at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Salt Lake City meeting to be held in November 2007.

The Department congratulates Shiju Thomas. Thomas recently attended the 21st International Symposium on Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds (ISPAC21) where he won the Best Student Oral Presentation Award. The title of Thomas’ presentation was “Identification of Methylene-Bridged Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from the Pyrolysis of Catechol.” This study is part of his thesis research on the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the pyrolysis of catechol, a model compound representative of structural units in solid fuels like coal and biomass. The project is funded by a grant from Philip Morris USA.

The ISPAC21 was held in Trondheim, Norway, August 5-10, 2007. There were 35 student presentations at this year’s symposium and two student awards were give — one for the best oral presentation and one for the best poster presentation. The award winners were decided by the plenary speakers at the symposium. The ISPAC symposium is organized by the International Society for Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds and is held biennially. The society provides a forum for presentation and discussion of research related to polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAC).

Thomas is a Ph.D. research assistant in the research group of Mary Wornat. He is currently in his last year of residence in the program and is in the final stage of preparations on his Ph.D. dissertation. He has presented his research at numerous national and international conferences over the past couple of years.

LSU Professor Named Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, LSU NEWS:

James Spivey, McLaurin Shivers professor of chemical engineering at LSU, was recently named a Fellow of the London-based Royal Society of Chemistry, or RSC.

Spivey’s research focuses on the development of heterogenous catalysts, which are essential for the production of clean energy using hydrogen and alternative fuels such as ethanol.

These fuels can be derived from biomass and fossil resources like natural gas and coal but will only become feasible when new catalysts are developed.

“I am honored to be recognized by the Royal Society of Chemistry,” said Spivey. “I am looking forward to continuing our work here at LSU on the development of new catalysts and processes to produce the clean energy that we all need.”

The RSC has the longest continuous tradition of any chemical society in the world and a worldwide membership of more than 43,000 scientists, including 10 winners of Nobel Prizes in Chemistry.

Fellows of the RSC are selected by current members based on their professional achievements and contributions to the chemical sciences. Past Fellows include such notable figures as Sir Isaac Newton.

The Department extends its sincerest congratulations to George Newbill (M.S. 1970). Newbill is now executive vice president of manufacturing operations at Albemarle Corporation. He oversees all aspects of Albemarle’s global manufacturing operations including more than 20 facilities worldwide. Since graduating from LSU, Newbill has earned more than 40 years in the chemical industry.

LSU Professors Work to Improve Efficiency of Ethanol Fuel

Lowering fuel emission levels is a topic facing constant scrutiny by the global public. Rising gas costs, environmental concerns and conflicts in oil-producing areas have made consumers, corporations and researchers more than curious about the potential of alternative, or “green,” fuels, such as ethanol.

James Spivey, McLaurin Shivers professor of chemical engineering at LSU, and Challa Kumar, group leader of nanofabrication at LSU’s Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices, or CAMD, are working diligently with partners from across the nation to make ethanol fuel an efficient reality.

Together with Clemson University and Oak Ridge National Laboratories, the researchers received $2.9 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE, and its cost-sharing partner, Conoco-Phillips, the third-largest integrated energy company in the nation.

Read the full article in the LSU News: LSU Professors Work to Improve Efficiency of Ethanol Fuel

July 2007

Congratulations to Kalliat Valsaraj, who has been selected by the journal Environmental Science & Technology to receive their Excellence in Review Award. He was selected for this award in recognition of his service in providing scholarly and timely reviews for ES&T. His name, affiliation, and photo will be published in an upcoming issue of ES&T.

May 2007

The department would like to congratulate Ronald Cambre (B.S., 1960), who received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from LSU at the May 2007 Commencement ceremony. Mr. Cambre is the former president and CEO of Freeport-McMoRan Resource Partners, chairman of Rio Tinto Minera, and chairman of both Newmont Mining and Newmont Gold. He was honored for his exemplary lifetime achievements; his generous support of LSU, particularly the College of Engineering; and, his dedicated service on numerous LSU boards, including the Chemical Engineering Campaign Steering Committee, the College of Engineering Advisory Council, and the board of directors for the LSU Foundation.

At the recent meeting of The Electrochemical Society (ECS) in Chicago, John Flake was nominated and elected to the Technical Affairs Committee. This committee is responsible for the planning of technical symposia and for selecting new symposia topics for the ECS.

Congratulations from the department to James Spivey, who has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (Cambridge, UK), effective May 18, 2007. One notable achievement as basis for this honor, Spivey has served as Editor of the Society’s Catalysis book series since 1991, with Kerry Dooley co-editing the two most recent volumes.

Andrew Campos, a Ph.D. student under the supervision of James Spivey, presented a paper and poster at the SRI2007 Conference held in Baton Rouge in May. The presentation was titled, “Characterization of Mo additions in iron-based Fischer-Tropsch catalysts using X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy and X-ray Diffraction.” This research looks at secondary metal additions and their affect on bulk iron-based Fischer-Tropsch (FT) catalysts that will ultimately convert gasified biomass and coal into liquid fuels (selectively in the diesel fuel range of C10-C20). This is a collaborative Department of Energy funded project between Clemson University, LSU, and CAMD. Amitava Roy of CAMD is a co-PI on the project along with Spivey.

The SRI2007 Conference Proceedings will be published as a special issue of Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A (NIMA). Campos’ paper has been submitted for publication.

Katherine Levy, a senior in the chemical engineering program, has been awarded the Southwest Chemical Association Scholarship (SCA) for 2007. This is a one-time $5,000 award given to a student based on academic achievement as well as extracurricular activities. Katherine, along with other winners from our region, will be honored and presented with a check at the SCA’s annual banquet to be held in Houston in August.

The Department would like to congratulate all of our 2007 graduates who, along with family and friends, attended the May 2007 commencement ceremonies. Following are the names of those who received honors:

Summa Cum Laude

Matthew K. Desmond
James B. Michiels

Magna Cum Laude

Sonam D. Sherpa
Luke J. Stein
Genti Zylyftari

Cum Laude

Christopher H. Boudreaux
Richard C. Green
Edgardo E. Kamar

Please check out our full list of graduates as well as photos from the department’s commencement reception.

Anino Adokpaye, a chemical engineering graduating senior, will be honored at the May 2007 commencement ceremonies as one of only eight LSU Distinguished Communicators. This is the first certification of its kind in the nation and is coordinated through the Communication across the Curriculum Program. This program seeks to improve the communication skills of undergraduate students in four communication areas: written, spoken, visual, and technological. The other awardees are: Laura Gauthreaux (Biological Engineering), Meredith Lapre (Mass Communication), David Leedom (Mechanical Engineering), Sarah Owens (Biological Engineering), Ishtiaq Rouf (Electrical Engineering), Stephanie Simmons (Mechanical Engineering), and Shawn Treadaway (Mechanical Engineering). This program is made possible by a gift from Che alumnus, Gordon Cain.

The Department is pleased to announce the hiring of two new assistant professors, Michael Benton and Francisco Hung, who will both begin in August 2007 at the start of the fall semester.

Professor Benton comes to LSU from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, just having received his Ph.D. in chemical and biological engineering this year. He received his B.S. in biology from the University of South Carolina in 1994 and his M.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Alabama in 2002. His main area of research concerns biological engineering.

Professor Hung also comes to LSU from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, having just finished a two year postdoctoral research associate appointment. He received his Ph.D. from North Carolina State University in 2005 and both his B.S. and M.S. from the Universidad Simon Bolivar in Venezuela, all in chemical engineering. His main areas of research concern the nanoscience of liquid crystals and porous materials.

Prof. Benton and Prof. Hung are both very excited and anxious to begin teaching in the fall as well as to begin preparing their research programs. The department is delighted to have them as new members of our faculty and know that they will both be valuable additions to the department as we continue to move forward and hence our programs.

Justin Birdwell, a Ph.D. student under the direction of Louis Thibodeaux, is the recipient of the 2007 Dow Chemical Award for Excellence in Macromolecular Studies. He was honored at a ceremony hosted by the Department of Chemistry held at the LSU Faculty Club on May 9. The recipient of this award is selected by the co-Directors of the LSU Macromolecular Studies Group and is approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. The recipient must have a GPA of 3.5 or higher in graduate level coursework and must be a candidate for Ph.D. degree. Additional selection criteria may include: the imagination, resourcefulness and independence displayed by the student during the conduct of his or her research, especially as evidenced by publications and presentations; commitment to any assigned teaching responsibilities; and, the promise of the student for enhancing the capabilities and reputation of the LSU Macromolecular Studies Group.

In other student award news, Jiao Yang has been selected as the Best Dissertation Award recipient for 2007 by the Baton Rouge Chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Yang received his Ph.D. in December 2006; he studied under the direction of Martin Hjortsø. His dissertation was entitled, “A Distribution Kinetics Approach for Polymer Crystallization and Phase Separation.” Yang will be honored at the annual Coates Banquet, which will be held in Baton Rouge on May 23.

April 2007

The LSU Student Chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) received three awards for their car design at the 2007 Southern Regional Conference of AIChE. The conference was held March 30 – April 1 in Columbia, South Carolina. They received second place overall for their car design as well as a certificate of excellence for the “Most Spirited” and a certificate of excellence for the “Most Creative Car Design.” The car design team earned a $450 cash award for receiving second place in the overall competition.

The car design team will next compete at the national convention, which will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, November 3-5, 2007. Members of the team as well as the ChE car are pictured below. They are as follows: (Top Left) Timothy LeBlanc, Matthew Stephens, Whitney Amato, Stephanie Peterson, and Tracie Ferguson; (Bottom Left) James Henry-faculty advisor, Zach Scheibal, Tim Krimmel, and Omkar Namjoshi.

March 2007

Nicholas Ashley, a Ph.D. student under the direction of Kalliat Valsaraj and Louis Thibodeaux, is the recipient of a $2,000 scholarship from the Air & Waste Management Association. He will receive the scholarship for the 2007-08 academic year. It can be used for tuition, fees, student stipends, and other related educational expenses. In addition, he will be receiving a gratis one-year student membership to the Air & Waste Management Association as a way to encourage his participation in the association’s activities.

The primary goal of the Air & Waste Management Association is to foster educational activities in the areas of air quality, waste management, and environmental management, policy, and law. Mr. Ashley will be recognized by the association in a future issue of their publication as well as at the 100th Annual Conference & Exhibition, to be held in Pittsburgh in June 2007.

Mr. Ashley received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering in 2004 from LSU. His academic achievements have garnered him numerous awards over the years. Most recently, he was awarded a Donald W. Clayton Award from the College of Engineering. This is a 3-year supplement award given to exceptional engineering Ph.D. students who intend to enter into academia upon graduation.

The Department congratulates chemical engineering undergraduate senior Laura Harvey. She has been selected to participate in the 2007 GACCoM Transatlantic Program for students which will take place for the third time in 2007 and will give 25 selected U.S. students the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience Germany and the German business environment first hand. The Transatlantic Program stands for projects to provide American citizens with facts on Germany and to bring the two nations closer together.

Applicants for the ambassadorship were required to have background knowledge of German and be involved in completing a technical degree. Harvey, from St. Francisville, LA, has completed 38 hours of German classes at LSU and a chemical engineering internship with BASF in Ludwigshafen, Germany. An interview in half English and half German was conducted in the selection process.

The program is financed from European Recovery Programm (ERP) Special Funds provided by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and is graciously supported by the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest (GACCoM) and additional corporate sponsors.

In 1997 the German government initiated the German Program for Transatlantic Encounters financed from the ERP Special Funds. Its purpose is to keep the memory of George C. Marshall alive and foster transatlantic partnership in line with his wishes.

According to the German Ministry the program aims at:

• projecting a comprehensive picture of Germany, of German culture, and of the German language;
• promoting contacts, primarily between emerging leaders of the business community;
• exchanging views on topics of current and future political and economic interest;
• strengthening cooperation in the business sector.

All participants will take part in a ten-day fully funded immersion seminar in Berlin, followed by an individual internship in a German company, prearranged by GACCoM and its German partner InWent.

The first part, the immersion seminar, will take place from May 19 to May 29, 2007 in Berlin and includes day trips to Hamburg, Rostock, and Potsdam. Throughout the immersion seminar, the participants will be meeting with government officials, representatives of companies and associations, and fellow students to discuss topics of current and future interest.

In addition, the students will participate in a German language and culture course, conducted by Prof. Dr. Kraft of UIC. The course will prepare them for the topics discussed in the first week, help them to adapt to their new surroundings, and give valuable advice for living and working in Germany.

At the end of the immersion seminar the students will start part two of the program and travel to their individual internship locations. The internships will start on June 1, 2007 and last from two to six months.
The second part of the program also includes a mid-term seminar for all participants in Cologne, organized by GACCoM's German partner InWent.

All information taken from Transatlantic Program.

February 2007

Chemical Engineering sophomore Joe Maltempi has been selected for one of the walk-on positions on the LSU football team. He began practice on January 22 and hopes to make the team as a defensive back. Maltempi was one of only 8 players selected as walk-ons this spring.

January 2007

Jose Romagnoli received the “Best Paper Award” at the 50th Anniversary of the International Congress Methodologies For Emerging Technologies In Automation conference held in Rome, Italy, November 13-15, 2006. The paper was entitled, “An Intelligent/Smart Framework for Real-Time Process Monitoring and Supervision,” which he co-wrote with former student Bharat Bhushan (University of Sydney, Australia).

The paper proposes an integrated framework for real time process monitoring and supervision. It is applied to fault detection and identification. Also, self organizing self clustering network is used for fault diagnosis. A continuous stirred tank reactor process plant is used to check the efficiency of the proposed strategy. The paper was selected based on the following criteria: clear formulation of the addressed problem, correct exploitation of conceptual frameworks and algorithms, applications of theoretical results to relevant industrial automation cases, well-argued explanation of what has been done and why it was worth doing it, clear identification of the proposed approach within a more general scientific world trend. The selection committee further stated that, “the paper deals with extremely interesting and up-to-date technical and scientific problems and shows great potential for possible extensive adoption by the industrial world.”

The Engineering Faculty Professionalism Award is given annually to one engineering faculty member in each engineering school in Louisiana with EAC/ABET accredited engineering programs. The objective of this award is to bring to the attention of all faculty at their school, those members who are registered professional engineers; to present registration in a new light which encourages faculty to work toward registration and professionalism; and, to benefit the students and the profession with the promotion of professionalism in the Universities.

Louis Thibodeaux, Jesse Coates Professor in Chemical Engineering, is the 2007 LSU recipient of the Engineering Faculty Professionalism Award. The award was presented at the Louisiana Engineering Society’s Awards Banquet which was held in conjunction with the Joint Engineering Societies Conference, January 17-18, 2007.

Thibodeaux had the following to say concerning professional registration as well as winning the award. Professional registration for chemical engineers is more than just another line on one’s resume. Traditionally, they enjoyed job security without the need for it; in reality it wasn’t necessary when working for a big chemical company. Times have changed. Service companies, consulting firms, and private practice value the professional engineer (PE) designation. It is often a requirement for employment for chemical engineers in non-traditional areas and is absolutely necessary if you are self employed. Just do it; get registered.

I am proud being selected as the LSU recipient of the Louisiana Engineering Foundation Faculty Professionalism Award for 2007. My experience with professional engineering registration over the last 40 years reflects the many changes that have occurred for both chemical engineers and College of Engineering faculty members. While still a graduate student I took the engineer-in-training (EIT) exam. My major Professor Dr. Jesse Coates was a member of the Board of Professional Registration for State of Louisiana; I didn’t have a choice but to take it. While on the engineering faculty at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville I accumulate enough work experience to become a registered PE in Louisiana. Somehow COE Dean Brannigan learned I was a registered PE and I got the job of grading the chemical engineering section of the Arkansas PE exams assigned to him. He gave me $5 for each one graded. I was the only chemical engineer in the College with a PE. A PE registration requirement for faculty teaching design and strongly encouraged for all COE faculty members was passed. So, I was required to go to Little Rock, Arkansas and take the written exam, the one I graded many times, plus later stand for an interview before the Board. All-in-all, it was a good experience. I now hold registration in both Louisiana and Arkansas. On returning to LSU after 17 years at UA the environmental engineering specialty was offered by the Louisiana Board. Although a chemical engineer by training my teaching, research, and service over the years had a very significant environmental chemical engineering component. I was offered and so got grandfathered-in as an environmental engineer. Yearly renewal of registration is not automatic anymore. Continuing education, ethics training, etc. must be done and cataloged on a yearly basis and documented forms submitted to the Board to gain ongoing registration. Although I am now categorized as Emeritus with inactive status in Louisiana, I am proud to be a registered PE in both chemical and environmental engineering.

Lloyd Guillory of ExxonMobil will be hosting a luncheon on January 10 in order to present the 2006 LSU department checks from the corporation. Kalliat Valsaraj will attend to represent the Department of Chemical Engineering, which is receiving an allocation of $18,500 out of a total $83,000 being donated by ExxonMobil in 2006.

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This page was last modified on October 26, 2007