Letter from the Chairman
Dear Alumni and Friends,
 A new building still remains
a high priority for the Gordon A. and Mary Cain Department of
Chemical Engineering. Planing money from the State of Louisiana
is already being put to use on the project, and the appointed
architectural firm is drawing up the plans. The new facility will
be 72,500 gross square feet and will cost $16.5 million, $7.2
million of which has been approved by the State and the remaining
$9.3 million to be self-generated.
Meanwhile, the department is continuing other modernization
and improvement efforts. We are actively trying to recruit new
faculty. In fact we are in the final stages of negotiating offers
to two prospective faculty members. One of these offers is to
fill the first Gordon A. and Mary Cain Endowed Chair, and the
other offer is for an associate professor position. We hope to
report additional and successful details in our Spring newsletter.
Progress continues in the undergraduate laboratory.
In addition to other improvements, a new Batch Polymerization
Experiment has been added at the cost of one million dollars.
Students were able to begin using this important tool for the
first time this fall.
The newly formed Alumni Advisory Committee held its first meeting
in early August, to help the Department define educational objectives
and assessment tools to evaluate those objectives. The committee
suggested that the department included more interaction with local
industries for undergraduate students; placed greater emphasis
on building teamwork and communications skills; and increased
emphasis on environment, health, and safety issues within the
curriculum.
We believe that all our efforts toward improvements and modernizations
will ensure that our program, on both undergraduate and graduate
levels, meets the needs of local industry and produce graduates
of the highest caliber. Any efforts and support that you or your
company can provide toward the new Chemical Engineering building
in particular would be greatly appreciated. While self-generating
funds for the new building is a significant challenge, Industrial
Advisory Committee members and university officials agree that
a new building is necessary for recruiting faculty to fill the
5 Cain Endowed Chairs and for maintaining a competitive reputation
among chemical engineering departments across the country.
As always, if you have any questions or comments regarding our
program and the direction in which we’re headed, please do not
hesitate to stop by the department. The faculty and I would be
most interested in speaking with you.
Sincerely,
F. Carl Knopf
Robert D. and Adele Anding Professor and
Gordon A. and Mary Cain Department of Chemical Engineering Chairman
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