News & Events
Lin to lead Department of Chemical Engineering
Jerry Y.S. Lin has been named chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering in ASU’s Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering. He takes over a department with plans in place to add to its faculty and improve it academic rankings. Lin has been interim chair of the department since July 2006. “I’m optimistic about the future,” he says. “We have top-quality faculty who are devoted to excellence in education and who are working on cutting-edge research.” The department has hired several new faculty in the past several years and seen its graduate program improve in the U.S. News and World Report magazine rankings from 50 to 44 in the nation. Lin says he expects both undergraduate and graduate chemical engineering programs to earn improved rankings in coming years. “Professor Lin is an excellent researcher and technical leader,” says Deirdre Meldrum, dean of the School of Engineering. “We’re excited to have him on our leadership... Read more »
Chemical engineer’s NSF Career Award will expand ASU nanotechnology efforts
Nanotechnology research and education at Arizona State University and beyond will be boosted by a National Science Foundation (NSF) Career Award recently won by Bryan Vogt, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering. It’s one of several prestigious NSF Career Awards received by engineering school faculty members in recent years. Vogt’s award will provide more than $405,000 over five years to support his research on expanding the capabilities of nanostructures and nanomaterials and fund instruction of undergraduates in the subject of the research. In addition, the award will support an effort to incorporate nanotechnology concepts in the chemistry curriculum at Estrella Mountain Community College in Maricopa County, and provide for tutorials in nanotechnology at a central Phoenix elementary school through ASU’s Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program for K-12 students. NSF Career Awards acknowledge researchers’ and educators’ accomplishments as well as... Read more »
High expectations: Hot air 'Balloon-a-thon' provides chemical engineering lesson
While many Arizona State University students were writing essays for final exams, about 50 undergraduates in Veronica Burrows' Chemical Engineering 100 class were launching hot air balloons to conclude their course work. The Balloon-a-thon on Nov. 29 was a test of the skills they learned in the class. "The goal is to have the students learn a number of things about engineering, design, problem-solving, communication and teamwork. All of that is integrated in this project," explains Burrows, an associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering. This is the second semester she has assigned the balloon project to her students. A testament to the success of the first project was that several students from that previous class came to help out with this semester's Balloon-a-thon. [[3]] In addition to the design and construction of a hot air balloon, the project required students to devise a mathematical model to predict the flight behavior of... Read more »
Engineering research aids development of new drug-addiction treatments
Treating drug abuse and addiction has traditionally been the sole business of medical and behavioral health practitioners. Today, partnerships among experts in a range of sciences has led to research cross-pollination. Now, for instance, behavioral scientists work with chemical engineers on new approaches to social problems such as substance abuse. Daniel Rivera, an associate professor of chemical engineering in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, is involved in one such a collaboration. Rivera, director of the Control Systems Engineering Laboratory, is leading two research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that focus on the application of control systems engineering to the practice of adaptive behavioral health interventions – used by medical and behavioral health professionals to treat behavioral issues such as drug dependency. Used widely in the fields of chemical, electrical, mechanical and aerospace engineering, and in computer science, control engineering principles can also be applied... Read more »
Steps toward sustainable energy: Efforts to advance hydrogen-based fuel technology
(Image, left: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Phoenix and the Valley is now the fifth most populous metropolitan area in the nation and one of the 10 fastest-growing. Residents rely mostly on their vehicles for transportation – adding to the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. Scottsdale-based alternative energy company ECOtality hopes to counteract this phenomena by commercializing a hydrogen-based source of energy) It’s no secret that petroleum is a finite resource. If that weren’t reason enough to develop alternative sources of fuel, we now know that burning oil for energy contributes to global warming – one of the most pressing issues facing society today. Scottsdale-based alternative energy company ECOtality is attempting to commercialize a technology that could offer a viable alternative to fossil fuels for use in vehicles and for generating electricity. The company purchased the technology, a device called Hydrality, from the National... Read more »