Refining Breakthrough - Department of Chemical Engineering ...

Refining
Breakthrough
Dr. Kenneth Hall has helped develop a new method
for converting natural gas into useable fuel that
has the potential to produce more than twice the
amount of oil ever found in the United States.
Chemical engineering major Felipe
Rendon is leading an effort to assist a
Costa Rica community in need.
Shariq Yosufzai, a chemical engineering
graduate and president of global
marketing for Chevron Corporation,
discusses the value of the Aggie brand.
SPRING 2009

At a Glance
Total Faculty 29
Professors 13
Associate Professors 2
Assistant Professors 9
Non-tenured/ Non-tenure Track 5
Endowed Chair Holders 3
Endowed Professorship Holders 7
U.S. News & World Report Rankings
Rankings Among Public Institutions
15th Undergraduate
20th Graduate
Research Areas
Biomedical and Biomolecular
Complex Fluids
Computational Chemical Engineering
Environmental
Materials
Microelectronics
Microfluidics
Modeling and Simulation
Nanotechnology
Process Safety
Process Systems Engineering
Reaction Engineering
Thermodynamics
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16
Thoughts on a story or suggestions for a future issue?
Please direct all comments to Ryan A. Garcia, communications coordinator for the
Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University.
PHONE: 979.845.9237
EMAIL: ryan.garcia99@tamu.edu
MAIL: Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering
Texas A&M University
3122 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-3122
THE ARTIE MCFERRIN DEPARTMENT OF
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING MAGAZINE, Issue 2,
Spring Edition , April 2009.
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CONTENTS
Note From the Department Head
Texas A&M chemical engineering is making
an impact in a number of areas. Also, the
passing of one of the department’s pioneers.
The Lindsay Lecture Series
Chancellor Professor Enrique Iglesia of the
University of California, Berkeley is this year’s
distinguished lecturer.
Fueling the Future
A new technology for converting natural gas
into useable fuel could take advantage of the
stranded gas deposits around the world.
Faculty News
Honors, appointments and other distinctions
Brand Value
Former student and Chevron Corporation
President for Global Marketing S. Shariq
Yosufzai values his time at Texas A&M and his
chemical engineering degree.
Dr. Mariah Hahn: Engineering
a Healthier Future
Assistant Professor Mariah Hahn is passionate
about her work in the area of tissue
engineering and its potential to address a
wide variety of clinical needs.
Long - Distance Relationship
Texas A&M engineering students are
reaching out to a community in Costa Rica by
offering their engineering expertise.
Student News
Chemical engineering students excel.
Friends of Chemical Engineering
at Texas A&M
Recent Support of the Artie McFerrin
Department of Chemical Engineering
Page 1

Note from the
Department Head
Michael V. Pishko
Department Head and Charles D. Holland ‘53 Professor
Welcome to the spring edition of our department magazine. As always, there is a lot happening within our department, and
I’m excited to have the opportunity to share some of it with you. It’s my sincere hope that this publication provides a glimpse
into the exciting and meaningful work of our students and faculty members.
As this publication came together, a sort of theme emerged. Think of it as the many different areas chemical engineering
touches and the many different ways it enables an individual to make significant contributions across a number of fields.
Our cover story examines a promising new refining technology developed under the guidance of Dr. Ken Hall that has the
potential to greatly increase access to stranded natural gas deposits around the world and in turn lead to cleaner fuels while
stimulating local economies. We then move from refining to regeneration with a look at the work of one of our bright assistant
professors, Dr. Mariah Hahn. Her work in soft tissue engineering is focusing on the regeneration of organs for which mechanical
functionality is vital, such as blood vessels, bone and vocal cords. In keeping with our theme of widespread impact, we’re also
proud to relay the success story of Mr. Shariq Yosufzai,
a former student of this department whose chemical
engineering background helped him climb the corporate
ranks of Chevron Corporation, for which he now serves
as president of global marketing. Last but certainly
not least, our student story features a group of serviceoriented
young men and women who are assisting a
small community in Costa Rica with the renovation of
sanitation and septic systems in the local school.
Quite simply, Texas A&M chemical engineering is
everywhere – from the jungles of Costa Rica to the
executive boardrooms of Chevron.
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t take this time to mention
the passing of a man who this department and, indeed,
university, have long held in high esteem, Dr. Charles
D. Holland. Dr. Holland served as Texas A&M’s second
chemical engineering department head from 1964 to 1987.
To try and encapsulate within the confines of this
letter Dr. Holland’s many contributions over the course
of his life would be a near impossible task, but suffice it
to say, he touched many lives while helping establish the
groundwork that has enabled this department to grow
into what it is today.
One only needs to speak with anyone who had the
pleasure of knowing Dr. Holland to quickly gauge the
level of respect he garnered from those around him.
Within our department, evidence of that respect remains
apparent. One of our scholarship programs, which
targets high-achieving undergraduates in chemical
engineering, was established and named in his honor as
was the professorship that I proudly hold. Dr. Holland
passed away in March, and he will be missed, but his
contributions to his discipline and the lives around him
live on.
J.D. Lindsay
Lecture Series
Detailing how the surface reactivity of metal and oxide domains changes as their local structure and electronic properties
vary with size, Enrique Iglesia, chancellor professor of chemical engineering and director of the Catalysis Center at the
University of California, Berkeley, delivered the distinguished lecture in the 2009 J.D. Lindsay Lecture Series at Texas A&M
University this semester.
Iglesia, an authority on chemical reaction engineering, was selected this year’s
distinguished speaker for the series, which is sponsored by the Artie McFerrin
Department of Chemical Engineering.
Iglesia’s presentation, “Nanoclusters and
Nanospaces in Catalysis,” examined how small
domains provide active sites unavailable on surfaces
of larger structures of similar composition. Turnover
rates for oxidation and acid catalysis depend on the
ability of oxide nanostructures to stabilize anionic
species at the relevant transition states, which reflects,
in turn, their electronic structure, as determined by the
size and composition of these domains, Iglesia said.
Iglesia’s research interests are in heterogeneous
catalysis and chemical reaction engineering with
Chancellor Professor Enrique Iglesia is this
year’s distinguished Lindsay lecturer.
emphasis on materials and processes relevant in
energy use, synthesis of chemicals and fuels, and
prevention and abatement of environmental impacts.
Throughout his distinguished academic career, he has been awarded 40 patents
and has co-authored more than 250 publications. His research and teaching have been
recognized with the ACS George A. Olah Award in Hydrocarbon Chemistry, the AIChE
Richard H. Wilhelm Award in Chemical Reaction Engineering, the Paul H. Emmett
and Robert Burwell Awards of the Catalysis Society, the Humboldt Senior Scientist
Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and the Donald Sterling Noyce
Teaching Prize, the highest recognition for teaching in the physical sciences at Berkeley.
Iglesia joined Berkeley in 1993 after holding research and management positions
at the Exxon Corporate Research Labs.
Named in honor of the late Professor J.D. Lindsay, Texas A&M’s first chemical engineering department head, the lecture series was
established in 1980 to bring noted speakers to the university. Coming from both industry and academia, the lecturers are recognized for their
accomplishments in the practice, teaching and/or research of chemical engineering. Each year one lecturer is chosen as the series’ distinguished
speaker. The series also allows the lecturers several days for visiting the university and the department and for exchanging ideas on teaching
and research objectives and methods.
Page 2 Page 3

Fueling
the Future
A new refining technology developed by Texas A&M professors in
chemical engineering could result in increased access to natural gas
deposits remotely located around the world – and the 500 billion
barrels of oil they represent.
It was that unanticipated moment of innovation on which
scientists thrive and breakthroughs are fueled. Kenneth Hall
was on his way to a meeting when the gears in his mind began
to turn. Before long, a solution he later would label “so simple
it had to work” solidified within his mind, and a project once
months – possibly weeks – away from being shelved because
of complications became firmly rooted in reality. The final
piece of a rather ambitious puzzle undertaken by the professor
of chemical engineering and his colleagues at Texas A&M
University was in place.
As big ideas go, Hall, an internationally recognized expert
in the area of thermodynamics, has certainly had his fair share.
He’s a holder of 12 patents, and since he joined Texas A&M
in 1974 he’s been awarded more than 60 grants and contracts
totaling in excess of $10 million. But this was an idea likely to
shoot to the top of his list because of its sheer implications.
Specifically, in that impromptu moment between meetings,
Hall had come up with an idea for incorporating a certain
type of reactor into a chemical process, which he had been
developing for the last decade. It would prove to be the key
step in a process that figures to impact the energy industry –
and world, for that matter – in unprecedented ways.
The process: a new method for converting natural gas into
useable fuel.
The result will almost assuredly mean increased access to
the roughly five quadrillion standard cubic feet of natural gas
remotely located throughout the world, Hall says. That’s the
equivalent of about 500 billion barrels of oil that are currently
inaccessible.
Stranded in remote areas such as the northwest coast of
Australia, the Peruvian jungles or Indonesian islands, those
natural gas deposits have remained untapped for a number of
reasons, including geographical barriers and transportability
issues, said Ben R. Weber, chairman and CEO of Synfuels
International, Inc., the Dallas-based energy firm that holds the
license to the gas-to-liquid (GTL) process. Throughout the last
10 years, Synfuels has partnered in the effort to develop the
process with Texas A&M and the Texas Engineering Experiment
Station, of which Hall is associate director.
Since then, Synfuels has expanded upon and patented the
technology, which the company estimates has the potential to
produce more than twice the amount of oil ever found in the
United States.
“This is undoubtedly the world’s first breakthrough
for a gas-to-liquids refinery,” said Thomas R. Rolfe,
president of Synfuels, at a press conference announcing the
commercialization of the technology. “By cultivating these
previously untapped resources, we will not only be able
provide the world with a cleaner energy solution, producing
virtually no unwanted byproducts, but we will also be able
to stimulate local economies where we have identified these
natural resources to be available.
“A new era in gas-processing technology has been born.”
Those in the energy industry have long known of the
abundant natural gas deposits located throughout the world.
The issue has been developing a cost-effective and efficient
refining method for tapping into those deposits. The major
components of natural gas – methane and ethane – are not
easily liquefied.
Hall found a way.
“In effect, what we are able to do is to activate methane,”
Hall said. “Methane is a very stable molecule; it doesn’t want
to change into anything else unless you burn it.”
In the new Synfuels technology, the methane activation
process converts it and all other hydrocarbons in a natural gas
stream into acetylene. This is accomplished through heating the
natural gas to a very high temperature by burning part of it to
form a flue gas that mixes with the rest of the gas, Hall explained.
The resultant gas contains acetylene as well as un-reacted
methane, carbon oxides, hydrogen, water and some nitrogen.
The system then adds hydrogen to the acetylene in a reactor
to form ethylene, which produces a better product than the
acetylene,” Hall noted. With the right catalyst, conversion
of the acetylene to ethylene is greater than 99 percent, Hall
said. From that point, the ethylene can be converted into a
number of different chemicals, including gasoline blendstock,
polyethylene and other petrochemicals.
Assuming a liquid product is the goal, the ethylene passes
through a reactor in which it combines with itself to form
heavier molecules, primarily those contained in gasoline. The
stream is then cooled to allow the liquid product to separate
from residual gas.
“What we were able to do is develop a very simple
process that would accomplish the same sort of thing as
the very complicated and expensive Fischer-Tropsch process.”
Dr. Kenneth Hall explains the Synfuels process to Interim Vice President
for Research Dr. Theresa Maldonado.
Page 4 Page 5

“What we were able to do is develop a very simple process
that would accomplish the same sort of thing as the very
complicated and expensive Fischer-Tropsch process,” Hall said.
Developed in the 1920s by German researchers Franz
Fischer and Hans Tropsch, the Fischer-Tropsch process
has been the industry standard for producing a synthetic
petroleum substitute,
typically from
coal, natural gas or
biomass. Although
it is an established
technology, the process
has not been without
its deficiencies,
namely start-up
and operational
costs as well as
lack of scalability
and environmental
concerns.
“Unless you have
access to about a
billion standard cubic
feet [of natural gas] a day, no one wants to build a Fischer-
Tropsch plant because of the economics,” Hall explained.
Adding to the trouble of building such a plant are the rising
costs of concrete and steel, making the construction costs of
a Fischer-Tropsch plant even more expensive. Some estimates
have priced such a plant at more than $20 billion, he said.
Unlike their Fischer-Tropsch predecessors, plants utilizing
Hall’s GTL process are capable of being built on a variety of
scales while still operating in a commercially viable manner.
In fact, Hall said these future plants can be downscaled
to such a degree that they can be built in pieces on skids,
enabling a helicopter to fly a disassembled plant to a remote
location where it then can be easily reassembled.
“When that field starts depleting, you can disassemble the
skids and fly them to another place,” Hall said. “You could
put them on barges and make them mobile, going to wherever
there is gas.”
In addition, these plants operate in a much more efficient
manner than traditional refining methods, which, according
to some estimates, annually waste as much as 5.3 trillion cubic
feet of natural gas by either flaring or being vented. “Flaring”
occurs when natural gas is inefficiently burned into the
atmosphere during the refining process. Currently, an amount
equivalent to 25 percent of the United States’ annual gas
Page 6
consumption is lost in this manner, Rolfe noted.
For as much of a global impact as this advancement stands
to make, amazingly, it almost didn’t happen. In a sense, it
could be considered an accident – at least at the beginning,
Hall said, admitting that if he and his fellow researchers had
begun their work with the intent of developing a GTL process,
they likely would have
Kenneth R. Hall
is a professor in the Artie
McFerrin Department of
Chemical Engineering at
Texas A&M, a Regent’s
Professor and holder of the
Jack E. and Frances Brown
Chair in Engineering. He
is associate director of the
Texas Engineering Experiment
Station (TEES) where he
emphasizes interdisciplinary
research projects and oversees
TEES centers and institutes.
employed some form
of Fischer-Tropsch
technology.
Instead, Hall and
colleagues Rayford
Anthony, Philip Eubank,
J.A. Bullin and the late
Aydin Akgerman set out
to develop a disposal
process for lube oil.
During the course
of its work, the group
discovered it was
possible to convert
natural gas to acetylene,
which could then be
converted to ethylene.
“That was the genesis of the project; it was a totally
different way to get ethylene from natural gas,” Hall said.
Later when the group proposed to Weber the idea of
realistically converting existing natural gas into useable
petroleum products, the Synfuels CEO confessed he thought
the concept was “almost too good to be true.” It was the
credentials of Texas A&M and its researchers, he said, that
convinced him to support the effort, and today Synfuels has
the opportunity to develop natural resources that could never
be developed before – and sooner than one might think. The
first plant to utilize Synfuels technology is expected to be
operational in roughly two years.
“One of the things I always say is that industries have
problems and are looking for solutions, and universities have
solutions and are looking for problems – we’re able to play to
each other’s strengths,” Hall said.
“It’s very exciting. Nothing proceeds smoothly in one
direction,” Hall said. “It’s always a bunch of starts and stops,
and then you go back and fix something then start again.
Luckily, the people at Synfuels were very dogged, and they
were committed to making this work. They listened whenever I
came up with ideas. Things took off from there.”
Faculty News
Hall Receives AIChE Best Fundamental Paper Award
Kenneth R. Hall, associate director of the Texas Engineering
Experiment Station (TEES) and the Jack E. & Frances Brown Chair
and professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical
Engineering, has been awarded the 2007 South Texas Section Best
Fundamental Paper Award from the American Institute of Chemical
Engineers (AIChE).
Hall co-authored the paper “Improved equations for the
Standing-Katz tables” with Gustavo A. Iglesias-Silva, a visiting
professor in the department of chemical engineering.
The article was published in the April 2007 edition of the
journal “Hydrocarbon Processing,” which provides information
to technical and management personnel in petroleum refining,
gas processing, petrochemical/chemical and engineer/constructor
companies throughout the world.
Kao’s Research Featured on iTunes U
Katy Kao, assistant professor in the Artie McFerrin Department
of Chemical Engineering, has been featured on iTunes U for her
research on evolutionary adaptation, which was recently published
in “Nature Genetics.”
iTunes U is used by Texas A&M students, faculty and staff.
However, the service is open to the public, including prospective
and former students of Texas A&M. Users can download and listen
to content on a personal computer or iPod through the iTunes
application.
Kao’s research can be downloaded free of charge as part of the
“Research Quick Briefs” program that is featured in the Texas A&M
section of iTunes U. The program is an audio podcast produced
by Texas A&M’s Division of Research and Graduate Studies. Once
at the main page for Texas A&M’s iTunes U, users can find the
program under the “news and information” tab.
Working with yeast cells, Kao has provided the first direct
evidence of aspects occurring during the evolutionary process,
which up until now have remained mostly theory. The result, she
says, is the most detailed picture of the evolutionary process to
date.
To access Texas A&M iTunes U. visit: http://itunes.tamu.edu.
Kuo Named Member of Hong Kong’s Research Grants
Council
Yue Kuo, Dow Professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of
Chemical Engineering, has been appointed a formal member of
the Engineering Panel of the Research Grants Council (RGC)
of Hong Kong.
Kuo, who was officially named a member by RGC Chairman
Roland Chin, will hold membership through 2010 and serve on the
engineering panel of the council, which is Hong Kong’s equivalent
to the National Science Foundation.
The RGC is established under the aegis of the University Grants
Committee (UGC). It is responsible, through the UGC, for advising
the Government of the Special Administrative Region of the
People’s Republic of China on the needs of Hong Kong’s higher
education institutions in the field of academic research and for the
distribution of funding for academic research projects undertaken
by academic staff of UGC-funded institutions.
Pishko Receives Plenary Lecture Award at AIChE Annual
Meeting
Michael V. Pishko, professor and head of the Artie McFerrin
Department of Chemical Engineering, has received the American
Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Food, Pharmaceuticals
and Bioengineering Plenary Lecture Award.
Pishko, whose research interests include microfabricated
biosensors, neovascularization of implanted biomaterials and
“smart” drug delivery systems, was honored at the 2008 AIChE
Annual Meeting for his presentation “Nanoparticles for Drug
Delivery and Biochemical Sensing.”
The presentation detailed Pishko’s research in nanoparticles
drug delivery systems for chemotherapy and the development of
nanosensors for mapping oxidative stress in cells.
Laird Recognized for Teaching Excellence
Carl Laird, assistant professor in the Artie McFerrin Department
of Chemical Engineering, has been named this year’s recipient of
the Celanese Excellence in Teaching Award.
The award recognizes Laird for his dedication and outstanding
contributions to the education and professional development of
chemical engineering students at Texas A&M.
Laird teaches an undergraduate class on numerical methods
and co-teaches a graduate level class on carbon dioxide capture
and sequestration.
In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Laird conducts
research focusing on large-scale nonlinear optimization, parameter
estimation and parallel computing. As part of his research, he
has worked on developing algorithms as part of an early warning
contaminant detection system in municipal drinking water
networks. He also is involved in the modeling and optimization of
infectious diseases, working to determine the fundamental driving
forces affecting the spread of infectious disease.
Celanese Corporation, which is based in Dallas and employs
approximately 8,900 employees worldwide, is a world leader in
the production of high-performance engineered polymers used in
consumer and industrial products.
Page 7

Hahn Presents Research at Georgia Tech
Juergen Hahn, assistant professor in the Artie McFerrin Department
of Chemical Engineering, discussed his research on systems biology at
The Georgia Institute of Technology this past January.
Hahn’s presentation, “Developing Improved Models of Signal
Transduction Pathways via Systems Biology,” was part of a seminar
series sponsored by Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and
Biomolecular Engineering.
His presentation at Georgia Tech detailed the dynamics of
expression and interaction of the IL-6 signaling pathway molecules,
which Hahn says act as a key factor of the phenotypical characteristic
of the acute phase response (APR) in the liver.
IL-6, he says, has been identified as one of the systemic
inflammatory mediators involved in the regulation of the hepatic APR.
Gaining an improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms
involved in the APR in the liver upon trauma or injury can lead to
improved treatment of complications arising from inflammatory
disorders, Hahn explains.
Hahn’s work develops and analyzes a comprehensive mathematic
model for signal transduction through the JAK/STAT and the MAPK
signaling pathways in hepatocytes stimulated by IL-6. Interactions
among the two signaling pathways are systematically investigated
using sensitivity analysis in order to ultimately derive and validate an
improved model.
Mannan Named Regents Professor
M. Sam Mannan, holder of the T. Michael O’Connor Chair I in
the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering and director
of the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center, has received the
designation of Regents Professor for 2007-08.
The A&M System Board of Regents established the Regents Professor
Award program in 1996 to recognize employees who have made
exemplary contributions to their university or agency and to the people of
Texas. To date, 105 faculty members have been named Regents Professors.
Mannan, a professional engineer and certified safety professional, is an
internationally recognized expert on process safety and risk assessment.
Also recognized with the designation of Regents Professor was
K.R. Rajagopal of Texas A&M’s Mechanical Engineering department.
Rajagopal holds a joint appointment in the Artie McFerrin Department
of Chemical Engineering.
Hahn Named Outstanding Reviewer by Automatica Journal
Juergen Hahn, assistant professor in the Artie McFerrin Department
of Chemical Engineering, has been named an “Outstanding Reviewer”
by “Automatica,” the flagship journal of the International Federation
of Automatic Control (IFAC).
Each year the editors of “Automatica” identify a select group of
reviewers from a pool of about 1,300 individuals who prepare reviews
for the journal. This is Hahn’s third consecutive selection.
As a reviewer, Hahn is responsible for judging the novelty of the
work and quality of the manuscripts that are being considered for
Page 8
publication by “Automatica.”
“Automatica” publishes papers on original theoretical and
experimental research and development in the control of systems,
involving all facets of automatic control theory and its applications.
Cagin Discusses Research at American Physical Society
Annual Meeting
Discussing modeling and simulation studies conducted on various
complex materials systems, Tahir Cagin, professor in the Artie McFerrin
Department of Chemical Engineering, recently presented his research at
the annual American Physical Society Meeting in Pittsburgh.
His invited presentation, “Molecular Dynamics Simulations of
Interfaces in Complex Materials,” was one of two talks featured in
“characterization and modeling of surfaces and interfaces” focus session.
It detailed interface chemistry and role of strain in
photoluminescence of embedded silicon nanocrystals in silica matrix
in the context of solar energy applications; the role of nanostructure
in thermoelectrics such as superlattices, nanoscopically thin films
and nanowires for improving the efficiency of converting waste heat
into usable electricity; and the role of nanostructured interfaces in
piezoelectric materials for improved mechano-electric coupling in
these functional ceramics.
In addition, Cagin also discussed fundamental issues of modeling
such interfaces in condensed phase systems, such as carbon nanotube
polymer nanocomposites, polymer nanocomposites with layered
inorganic and nanoparticle inclusions.
Materials Science Research on Cover of ‘Advanced
Functional Materials’
Research by Hae-Kwon Jeong and Zhengdong Cheng, two assistant
professors in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering,
has been featured as the cover story in the December edition of the
international journal “Advanced Functional Materials.”
The article details work in the complex area of materials science –
work that could lead to advancements in areas such as energy, health
and medicine, and sensing. The research is a collaboration between
Jeong and Cheng’s research group, which examines colloids, complex
fluids, crystallization and other soft condensed matter topics.
“Advanced Functional Materials” publishes full papers, feature
articles and highlights on innovative and exciting research in all
areas of materials science. It contains high-quality, in-depth reports
on the advances being made at the forefront of the interdisciplinary
development and application of functional materials.
Cheng Presents Research at India Symposium
Zhengdong Cheng, assistant professor in the Artie McFerrin
Department of Chemical Engineering, recently presented his research
at the 17th International Symposium on Processing and Fabrication of
Advanced Materials, held in New Delhi, India.
Cheng, whose research is in the area of complex fluids, was
invited to speak on “Cell Encapsule and Novel Particle Fabrication via
Microfluidics and Electrospray.”
When in India, Cheng also visited students from the Indian
Institutes of Technology as well as universities and institutions who
had expressed interest in Texas A&M’s graduate programs in chemical
engineering and materials science.
The purpose of this international symposium was to convene
state-of-the-art developments on all aspects related to the processing
and fabrication of advanced materials. The symposium provided an
opportunity for presenting the latest advances in materials processing
and fabrication by researchers, scientists and engineers from industry,
research laboratories and academia.
Mannan Honored by Poland University
M. Sam Mannan, director of Texas A&M University’s Mary Kay
O’Connor Process Safety Center and professor in the Artie McFerrin
Department of Chemical Engineering, has been honored with the
Medal of Honor of the Technical University of Lodz in Poland.
Mannan, who visited the university to present research on risk
analysis and process safety as part of the institute’s International
Scientific Symposium, was recognized for significant contributions to
the scientific cooperation between Texas A&M and Technical University
as well as his support of process safety education and research.
Mannan, a professional engineer and certified safety professional,
is an internationally recognized expert on process safety and risk
assessment. In addition to his many professional honors and
achievements, he has served as a consultant to numerous entities
in both the academic and private sectors, including the Columbia
Accident Investigation Board.
Balbuena Discusses Fuel Cell Catalyst Research at University
of Florida
Perla Balbuena, professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of
Chemical Engineering, discussed her research in the area of fuel cell
catalysts at the University of Florida.
Balbuena spoke about “Challenges in the Design of Active and
Durable Fuel Cell Catalysts” as part of the chemical engineering
department’s seminar series.
Balbuena’s presentation detailed some of the most important
challenges associated with the design of efficient alloy nanocatalysts,
due to the harsh chemical environment where these catalysts work.
Metal nanoparticles used as catalysts in low-temperature fuel cells
are expected to provide the necessary activity and stability such that
the fuel cell performance is minimally affected by catalytic decay,
Balbuena says.
Four Faculty Members Honored by Texas A&M Engineering
Four faculty members from the Artie McFerrin Department of
Chemical Engineering have been recognized by Texas A&M University
Engineering for excellence in teaching, research and service.
Professors Mahmoud El-Halwagi and Kenneth Hall and assistant
professors Juergen Hahn and Mariah Hahn are recipients of awards
bestowed by the Dwight Look College of Engineering and the Texas
Engineering Experiment Station.
El-Halwagi has been honored with the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
Company Excellence in Engineering Teaching Award, and Hall has
received the Charles W. Crawford Service Award, which was established
in 1962 for distinguished service to the college of engineering.
Juergen Hahn has received the 2008-2009 Brockett Professorship
Award and the 2008-2009 William Keeler Faculty Fellowship, both
presented to individuals who have displayed continued excellence in
both teaching and research, and Mariah Hahn has been named a Texas
Engineering Experiment Station Select Young Faculty member.
El-Halwagi Honored with Teaching Excellence Award
Mahmoud El-Halwagi, professor in the Artie McFerrin
Department of Chemical Engineering, has been named a recipient
of the first-ever Teaching Excellence Award, part of a voluntary,
student-selected honors program launched last fall by The Texas
A&M University System.
The winners represent the top 18 percent of the nearly 500 faculty
members who participated. Awards are based on rankings from
evaluations created and administered by students, with weighting for
factors such as class size.
As part of the program, a total of 80 faculty members from the Texas
A&M University, Prairie View A&M University and Texas A&M University-
Kingsville have been honored. El-Halwagi is one of only 10 faculty
members at Texas A&M designated in the top three percent category.
Faculty members ranking in the top three percent will be awarded $5,000
to $10,000. The next 15 percent receive $2,500 to $5,000.
The $1.1 million program, funded through the Texas A&M System,
was initiated by Chancellor Michael D. McKinney in 2008 to honor
and financially reward the system’s top teachers as selected by students.
For the spring 2009 semester, the program is expanding to all nine
campuses of the Texas A&M System and will increase to include the top
20 percent of participating faculty. All faculty members are eligible.
M. Hahn Receives Outstanding Young Faculty Award
Mariah Hahn, assistant professor in the Artie McFerrin Department
of Chemical Engineering, has received the 2009 American Society for
Engineering Education (ASEE) Gulf Southwest Section Outstanding
Young Faculty Award.
The award was established to encourage and recognize young faculty
participation in ASEE or engineering education activities and events.
Recognition as an outstanding young faculty member is based
on contributions in a number of areas, including publication and
presentations at professional meetings that enhance engineering education;
scholarly activities related to engineering or engineering technology; and
advising and service to graduate and undergraduate students.
Hahn’s research focuses on understanding cell-cell and cellmaterial
interactions at a more fundamental level to rationally guide
tissue regeneration. Earlier this academic year, she was named a Texas
Engineering Experiment Station Select Young Faculty member.
Page 9

Brand Value
S. Shariq Yosufzai knows the value of a brand.
As president of global marketing for Chevron Corporation,
he’s responsible for retail fuels marketing, convenience
retailers, and commercial and industrial marketing of the
corporation’s convenience products and fuels, which are
sold at a rate of nearly four million barrels a day across 70
countries and under the familiar brands of Chevron, Texaco
and Caltex. Convenience retailing product brands include
ExtraMile and Star Mart.
Page 10
S. Shariq Yosufzai
The brand, Yosufzai explains, is more than a mere
marketing tool; it’s the expression of a company’s values and
its approach to the way it conducts business. In Chevron’s
case, it’s the representation of the corporation’s mantra of
“clean, safe and reliable,” delivered in a way that creates a
powerful proposition for its clients and potential clients. In
short, it’s a one-word, unwavering answer to Shakespeare’s
poetically framed lament, “What’s in a name?”
Everything.
So perhaps it was no surprise that when a particular brand
Yosufzai has long held close to his heart was, in his estimate,
Yosufzai takes time to visit with a member of Texas A&M’s Corps of Cadets and the school’s mascot, a full-blooded collie named Reveille.
called into question, the savvy executive responded with a
swift and passionate reply. No, this wasn’t about Chevron,
Texaco or Caltex. This concerned the Aggie Ring Yosufzai
proudly wears on his right hand.
Yosufzai, who graduated from Texas A&M in 1974 with a
bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, had just finished
reading a letter to the editor of the university’s student
newspaper that argued the significance of the Aggie ring.
One eloquently penned retort later, Yosufzai had responded
with a brief but intense lesson on brand value. In his response,
Yosufzai explained that the true worth of the Aggie Ring is
found in its symbolism of the loyalty, dedication, excellence
and commitment shared by a community of individuals.
“More so than even the instant camaraderie it engenders,
what the ring
represents is the
nexus of values
established between
two strangers who have
a foundational basis
to form a link, to form
a network,” Yosufzai
said, explaining
his motivations
for responding to the letter. “I took great umbrage at the
deconstruction of this.
“As Aggies, we must all understand that we have to nurture
and refresh the Texas A&M brand every day. We must treat any
attack on the brand – whether it’s an improper behavior by
one of its practitioners or an attempt to lower it to the lowest
common denominator – with a high degree of accountability,”
added Yosufzai, who is both a distinguished alumnus and
outstanding international alumnus of Texas A&M.
Yosufzai’s fervent devotion to his alma mater stems from
his deep belief in the power of Texas A&M – a power, he says,
that results from a unique coupling of world-class academic
programs and an environment that cultivates leadership and
personal growth.
It’s a power he experienced firsthand. After all, long before
Yosufzai emerged as the influential marketing executive
he is today, he was an aspiring young man from what is
now Bangladesh, arriving at the doorstep of the university
about which he had heard so much while growing up in his
hometown of Dhaka.
The local engineering school as well as the local agricultural
school – at the time known as the East Pakistan University of
Engineering and Technology and the East Pakistan University of
“The core values of Texas A&M,
the brand that it represents – selfless service,
integrity – those ideals are hugely important.”
Agriculture – had been established, in part, with several technical
agreements between the schools and Texas A&M.
“Texas A&M enjoyed in the late ‘60s a great brand in
that part of the world from a lot of graduates who had set
up two institutions of higher learning with very limited
funds but with a very dedicated faculty that used innovation
and creativity to achieve great things in a very challenged
environment,” Yosufzai said.
So in the fall of 1970 Yosufzai ventured to College Station,
entering a Texas A&M environment in the midst of change. It
was a time of physical growth for the university.
The Memorial Student Center expansion, Rudder Tower and
Rudder Auditorium headlined a long list of new additions on
campus. It was, however, the personal growth that Yosufzai
experienced that he
credits as providing the
foundation for his future
success.
“One of the things that
was very evident when I
was a student – as it is
evident today – is that
Texas A&M is a wonderful
leadership laboratory
– and not leadership in the sense of self-aggrandizement,
but leadership that allows you to grow by growing through
others,” he said. “We had a culture, we had a brand, and this
notion of selfless service was very prominent. And even though
the school has today transformed itself into an institution of
47,000 students, that ideal continues.”
While pursuing his chemical engineering degree, Yosufzai
immersed himself in the university culture, participating in
Texas A&M Corps of Cadets and the Student Conference on
National Affairs. An opera enthusiast, Yosufzai also helped
initiate the university’s Opera and Performing Arts Society,
today better known as MSC OPAS. Those endeavors along
with a host of other academic and cultural opportunities, he
explained, helped catalyze a process of self-discovery in an
environment chiefly characterized by egalitarianism.
“Never was I judged by the quality of the car I drove
or the background from which I came,” he said. “The vast
preponderance of my time at Texas A&M was typified by an
overall meritocracy rather than where a person came from or
how much money a person had. That was a defining quality
then, and I think it continues to be today.”
And while those extracurricular activities nourished and
cultivated important elements in his overall development,
Page 11

Yosufzai credits the intensive chemical engineering education
he received as a major factor in helping distinguish him years
down the road.
Upon graduating with a bachelor’s degree in chemical
engineering, Yosufzai joined Texaco in 1975, working as a
process engineer at the company’s Port Arthur refinery. It
would be the beginning of an extremely successful career with
Chevron Corporation, a career in which Yosufzai has ascended
from a frontline employee to president of global marketing.
As might be expected, his climb up the corporate ladder was
full of twists and turns that saw him serve in a number of
engineering capacities across all three brands of Chevron, but
in 1988 he was given the chance to try his hand in a new arena:
marketing. Seizing that opportunity, Yosufzai wasted little time
applying the discipline that defined his chemical engineering
work to a field generally considered more free form.
“I was always a nascent marketer,” Yosufzai said. “One of
the things that I brought in from my chemical engineering
background was a more systematic discipline in ways of
looking at the business. Marketers basically in those days –
and probably still to some extent now – were concerned with
volume and market share as opposed to profitable volume
and the cost to serve. The discipline that a chemical engineer
would bring to a field that is more creative and free flowing
was a good match.”
From that point on Yosufzai would assume positions of
increasing responsibility until in 2004 when he was appointed
to his current role. It’s a role through which he diligently
works to ensure Chevron’s three brands remain globally
robust. That often translates into days that begin early in
the morning with correspondence to Africa and the United
Kingdom and end late in the evening when Singapore is
waking up – all in an effort to achieve the greatest brand value
for his corporation’s products.
“Most of our service stations are owned by third parties,
independent business people, large as well as small, who have
choices in terms of brand,” Yosufzai said. “They can go with
any brand that they wish.
“Positioning our brands is very important. The Chevron
and Texaco brands are the number-one and number-two most
powerful fuel brands in the U.S. Caltex brand is the most
powerful brand in Hong Kong and parts of Asia, as well as
South Africa. Our Texaco brand is the most powerful brand in
Latin America.”
As for the Texas A&M brand? It’s not doing so badly either.
“Once, while I was at the United Nations, I was standing
near a payphone,” Yosufzai recalled. “I had my hand on the
wall, and after my conversation was over someone tapped on
my shoulder. I found out he was the U.N. ambassador of a
West African country, who just happened to be an Aggie, and
he had seen my ring. That type of thing happens many times.
I have an Aggie sticker on the back of my car, and even in
California people honk and give me the Gig ‘em sign.
“The iconic symbol of the Aggie network is hugely
important to people who belong to it, but it’s also open to
the people on the outside. The core values of A&M, the brand
that it represents – selfless service, integrity – those ideals are
hugely important.”
Yosufzai serves as second vice-chair of the board of directors of the
California Chamber of Commerce; on the executive committee of board
of directors of the San Francisco Opera; and The Association of Former
Students of Texas A&M as chair elect. He has previously served on the
boards of Houston Grand Opera; Jesse H. Jones, School of Business at
Texas Southern University; the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta; Junior
Achievement of Southeast Texas Inc.; the Greater Houston Area Recycling
Council; and Texas A&M’s College of Science. He also has been active
with American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), serving as the first
chair of the Societal Impact Operating Council (SIOC), chair of the first
AIChE Management Conference, and chair of the National Public Relations
Committee. In 1995, he was awarded AIChE’s Robert L. Jacks Memorial
Award for his contributions to both the Management of Engineers and the
Chemical Process Industries. He was elected a fellow of AIChE in 2002.
FACULTY PROFILE
Dr. Mariah Hahn
Engineering a Healthier Future
As much as Mariah Hahn would like to hearken back to that one magical childhood moment during which she
decided to embark on a career in science, the assistant professor in Texas A&M University’s Artie McFerrin Department
of Chemical Engineering confesses she didn’t have one. In fact, she candidly admits that she wasn’t even very
inquisitive as a child.
“I was never one of those kids who asked why the sky was blue; I was just happy knowing it was blue,” Hahn joked.
Oh, how things have changed.
Page 12 Page 13

These days Hahn spends her time in a world of questions,
asking and attempting to answer some very complex ones.
A bright, young chemical engineer whose focus is on
biological processes, specifically cell-material interactions,
Hahn is one of the up-and-coming minds in the rapidly
advancing field of tissue engineering. She’s recently been
named a “Texas Engineering Experiment Station Select Young
Faculty” member. And last year Hahn was recognized as a
“rising star” by the American Chemical Society, receiving the
organization’s “PROGRESS/Dreyfus Lectureship Award” in
recognition of her research contributions in the areas of soft
tissue engineering.
It’s a field that at one time seemed the stuff of science
fiction with its focus on regeneration and growth of manmade,
living replacement parts for the human body. Advances
in science and medicine throughout the last few decades,
however, have resulted in serious progress in the field, making
what once seemed unimaginable now chock-full of potential.
In addition to reducing the number of lives lost due to
shortages of transplantable organs, tissue engineering may
lead to more effective treatments for burn victims as well
as those suffering from injuries and even degenerative or
congenital defects.
Hahn focuses on studying regeneration of organs for
which mechanical functionality is vital. She’s particularly
interested in blood vessels, bone and vocal cords.
Her work with vocal folds began when she was a graduate
student at MIT under the guidance of Robert S. Langer, a
distinguished and highly regarded researcher in the field.
Prior to that, Hahn had earned her master’s degree in
electrical engineering from Stanford University and attended
the University of Texas at Austin as an undergraduate where
she received her bachelor’s in chemical engineering. The plan
back then, said Hahn, was to utilize her electrical engineering
background and work with medical imaging technology, such
as that used in MRI scans.
But events at MIT took a somewhat fortuitous turn.
In 2001, Langer’s research group was seeking two graduate
students to assist in a new vocal cord regeneration project
– one who would focus on designing the biomaterials
needed for regeneration and another who would focus on
developing measures
for evaluating
biomaterial success,
including the use of
imaging technology.
Ultimately, only
one student was
hired – Hahn. She
was selected however
with the expectation
that she focus on biomaterials research rather than imaging.
She accepted the challenge and began tackling a serious and
compelling problem.
Vocal cord disorders have affected millions of people.
Damage to the cords can be attributed to scarring from
surgical procedures, including intubation, or to lesions
caused by excessive talking, yelling, coughing, smoking,
and even throat clearing. In worst-case scenarios, vocal cord
damage can result in permanent voice dysfunction or loss.
Hahn’s role in the research initiative focused on
developing materials that would allow cells in the vocal fold
to begin repairing the damage. It is work she continues to
expand on as an assistant professor at Texas A&M.
“We want cells to reproduce what is native for that organ,”
Hahn explained. “For example, if we are trying to restore
damaged bone, we want the material to instruct the cells to
produce normal bone. This means that cells should deposit
what we call an ‘extracellular matrix,’ and the proteins
composing this extracellular matrix should be present in the
same amount and organization as in normal bone. It’s not
enough just to have the proper ingredients; you also must mix
it together properly. Think of making a cake. It’s the amount
and how it’s organized spatially.”
Towards that goal of identifying a material that would
allow cells to produce vocal cord extracellular matrix, Hahn
developed a composite “hydrogel” made of collagen, the
major structural protein of the human body, and alginate,
a sugar-like substance found in the cell walls of algae.
“There are so many questions, and
A hydrogel, explains Hahn, is a water-absorbent gel,
much like Jell-O, that allows cells to conduct normal
physiological processes.
Hahn’s hydrogel maintains its original shape and mass
significantly longer than most materials currently used for
vocal cord repair while simultaneously allowing cells to
synthesize new extracellular matrix. This is significant
since it could potentially avert the need for multiple
surgical procedures.
As with lip
augmentation,
multiple
injections are
required in vocal
cord repair if
the injected
material does
not maintain its
original volume
for a long enough time. But for the vocal cords, multiple
procedures carry a high risk of causing further injury and
should be avoided. An additional benefit of Hahn’s material
is that its mechanical properties can be readily tailored to the
individual patient.
These features potentially mean Hahn’s hydrogel may
be an important tool in restoring the normal shape and
physiology of the vocal cords over time.
In addition to her continued work with vocal cord
restoration, Hahn also is focusing on vascular tissue
engineering – trying to effectively recreate small-diameter
blood vessels such as coronary arteries. It’s a complex process
with progress measured in inches rather than miles, but it’s
one for which there is a pressing need.
“A lot of people have coronary artery bypass procedures,
and right now there are no good replacements for coronary
arteries other than taking tissue from another part of your
body,” Hahn said. “About 20 percent of bypass patients have
no such suitable tissue. Tissue engineering has the potential
to fill this clinical need.
“We understand cells so imperfectly. There is so much
to discover about them. How can we get cells to do what
we want them to do? Even after 30 years of research into
tissue engineering we still can’t replace or regenerate
certain aspects of skin, for example. We can’t yet engineer
capillary beds.
“There are so many questions, and they’re questions I’m
interested in; they’re questions I get excited about.”
they’re questions I’m interested in;
they’re questions I get excited about.”
Page 14 Page 15

LONG
Students belonging to Texas A&M’s chapter of Engineers Without
Borders have established a relationship with the small community of
San Juan, Costa Rica in an effort to improve the area while helping
its people help themselves.
Deep within the dense rainforests of Costa Rica, the small
but proud community of San Juan has grown many a crop.
Primarily composed of subsistence farmers, the Central
American settlement of about 60 families works hard to
produce what it needs to survive, but it’s the seeds San Juan
has sown as of late that may flourish into the community’s
greatest yield.
Working with a group of talented student engineers from
Texas A&M University, the people of San Juan are undertaking
the extensive renovation of their educational facilities in an
endeavor that reaffirms the community’s commitment to the
future of its youth.
It’s an international partnership made possible by Texas
A&M’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB). EWB is
a national non-profit humanitarian organization established
to partner with developing
communities worldwide in
order to improve their quality
of life. This partnership
involves the implementation
of sustainable engineering
projects, while involving
and training internationally
responsible engineering
students. EWB has more
than 200 developing and
established chapters engaged in more than 170 projects in
41 countries throughout the world.
The Texas A&M EWB chapter, which consists of about
35 students from throughout the Dwight Look College
of Engineering, was founded in 2005 and is part of the
organization’s South Central Region. The group is advised
by Jo Howze, senior associate dean for academic programs in
the Dwight Look College of Engineering. In addition, EWB
Page 16
- Distance
Relationship
“When it all comes together, we feel
like we have had a part in empowering
people to improve their way of life.
Honestly, my work with EWB is the most
satisfying I’ve had in college.”
EWB President and chemical engineering major Felipe Rendon
consults with Texas A&M engineering professors for guidance
on the multiple local and international endeavors it takes on
each year.
This past January, the group of students completed the
construction of a much-needed library for an elementary
school in Acuna, Coahuila in Mexico. The project had been
under way for about a year, with students participating in all
stages of the effort from design to actual construction, which
they began and finished while on break between semesters.
Not content to rest on its laurels, EWB has turned its sights
on San Juan after having learned of a request for assistance
made by the community to Texas A&M’s newly established Soltis
Center for Research and Education (located in Costa Rica).
Looking to build on the momentum of a successful
conclusion to the Acuna project, EWB President and chemical
engineering major Felipe Rendon dedicated the rest of his
“break” to determining how EWB could assist the small
Central American settlement. With funding provided by the
Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Rendon
and fellow student Grady Meloy traveled to San Juan on an
exploratory mission that has
laid the foundation for what
Rendon envisions as a rewarding
international relationship,
benefitting both the students of
Texas A&M and the community
of San Juan.
“The people of San Juan are
extremely nice and welcoming,
and they’re proud of the
progress of their community,”
Rendon said. “They don’t want charity; they want to be shown
how to build a better community. They said several times that
they do what they can, and they’re happy with what they have,
but they want to take advantage of whatever opportunities
exist for helping improve their community.
“This cultural aspect underscored to me that EWB needs to
work with this community as opposed to just coming in and
telling its members what they need.”
That recognition of cultural sensitivities is absolutely vital
to the approaches taken by the students of EWB who often
find themselves working with people and cultures with whom
they are unfamiliar, Howze explained.
“That’s a key aspect of this,” Howze said. “The companies
that these students are likely to work for are global entities;
they are global organizations. It is essential that our students,
as we train them to be leaders, gain an appreciation and
a sensitivity to other cultures. That is something that we
need to teach them, and EWB is a tremendous tool for that.
This is more than just work experience. This is gaining an
appreciation for the way other people think and having to
work with that to move ahead with a goal.”
After talking to San Juan
community leaders and
the director of the local
school, Rendon and Meloy
discovered an immediate
need – functional, sanitary
restrooms at the local school,
which serves about 65
elementary and high school
students.
While adequate restroom
facilities are something
taken for granted by most
in the United States, the
restrooms located in the
San Juan school hardly
could be labeled as welcoming. Pieced together by locals,
the restrooms did manage to feature running water but very
little beyond that. Outdated and dilapidated, these facilities
are characterized by cramped spaces, caved-in roofs, decrepit
walls, rusted fixtures and doors without locks, Rendon noted.
“One bathroom at the elementary school was in very poor
condition,” Rendon recalled. “It was in terrible shape. It was
seldom used because it was broken down and appeared to
be vandalized. It needs to be renovated if not completely
reconstructed.”
And that’s where EWB comes in.
Rendon said the group intends to work with San Juan in
constructing two to four restrooms, including a new one in
the high school, which currently does not have a restroom
facility. The effort will represent the first significant step in an
overhaul of the school’s sanitation system, which is the first
Rendon visits with children from the San Juan community who attend the local school.
of many possible EWB-involved projects aimed at an overall
improvement of the community’s school, Rendon said.
About 15 Texas A&M students will be immersed in the
San Juan project by the time of this magazine’s publication.
In addition to their standard academic responsibilities, their
semester will consist of conducting a formal assessment trip
to San Juan as well as drafting and submitting an official
proposal to EWB’s national office. In addition, the group,
whose work is entirely dependent on donations, will use this
period to raise funds for building materials and travel and
lodging expenses, Rendon said.
Implementation is scheduled to take place this summer,
and when it does the final product will have to meet social,
economic and environmental
criteria, Rendon explained.
The goal, he said, is to produce
a sustainable system, one
that can be maintained and
improved upon by the people
of the community.
This means developing
a system that takes into
account the social preferences
and sensitivities of the San
Juan community, he said.
Economically speaking, this
translates into using affordable
materials that can be purchased
by community members
if they need to service a certain component. And from an
environmental standpoint, EWB must ensure that whatever it
contributes to the community does not harm any other aspect
of the surrounding area, Rendon explained.
“When it all comes together, we feel like we have had a
part in empowering people to improve their way of life,”
Rendon said. “Honestly, my work with EWB is the most
satisfying I’ve had in college.
“As for San Juan, our national organization encourages us
to make a five-year commitment to a community, so my hope
is that this is the first of many projects that will establish us as
a positive presence in Costa Rica.”
Given these students’ engineering knowledge and passion
for service as well as San Juan’s penchant for cultivation,
there’s every reason to believe this relationship will be a
fruitful one.
For more information on Engineers Without Borders at Texas A&M or to make donations to the group, please contact Dr. Jo W. Howze, senior associate dean for
academic programs in the Dwight Look College of Engineering and adviser to EWB. Dr. Howze may be reached at 979.862.4367 or via email: j-howze@tamu.edu.
Page 17

Student News
Chem-E-Car Class Promotes Science at Open House
Looking to “drive” home the point that chemical engineering
can be fun, students from the Artie McFerrin Department of
Chemical Engineering “Chem-E-Car” team participated in the 21st
Annual Chemistry Open House and Science Exploration Gallery at
Texas A&M University, held last October.
Supervised by Senior Lecturer and Assistant Head for Upper
Division Programs Lale Yurttas, the Chem-E-Car class was on hand
to demonstrate its projects – small team-designed vehicles that
are powered by various chemical reactions. As part of the exhibit,
the students showed a solar car powered by a chemoluminescent
reaction, a bio-diesel engine car and a newly designed fivecylinder
pneumatic piston engine.
The cars, which are engineered to travel a designated distance
and stop, all while carrying a specified cargo, are developed each
year by teams of students enrolled in a one-credit-hour chemical
car design course sponsored by Texas A&M’s student chapter of
the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). Teams
from around the state and nation annually compete in regional
and national competitions, sponsored by AIChE.
2008 Deisler Fellowship Recipients Named
Tarun Bansal and Yeonshick Yoo, graduate students in the Artie
McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, have each received
the Paul and Ellen Deisler Fellowship in Chemical Engineering.
These fellowships are awarded on the basis of scholarly
productivity and excellence in graduate studies and include a
$5,000 stipend.
The Paul and Ellen Deisler Fellowship in Chemical Engineering
was endowed in 2000 by the Deislers as a means of promoting
advanced studies in chemical engineering.
A World War II veteran, Paul Deisler completed his degree
in chemical engineering from Texas A&M in 1948. He is a
distinguished alumnus of both the Dwight Look College of
Engineering and the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical
Engineering. His wife, Ellen, is a graduate of the University of
Colorado and fellow chemical engineer.
Christensen Named Department’s Outstanding Senior
Jennifer Leigh Christensen, a senior in the Artie McFerrin
Department of Chemical Engineering, has been named the
department’s “Outstanding Graduating Senior” for Fall 2008.
Christensen, who is from Hamilton, Texas, was honored with
the distinction during the department’s fall award ceremony.
Earlier in the fall semester, Christensen received the 2008-2009
Craig C. Brown Outstanding Senior Engineer Award. The award is
considered the most prestigious honor bestowed on a graduating
Page 18
senior in the university’s Dwight Look College of Engineering
and is presented to a student who demonstrates scholastic
achievement, leadership skills and a strong moral character.
Former Grad Student Recognized by Qatar University
Mert Atilhan, assistant professor in the department of
chemical engineering at Qatar University in Doha and former
graduate student of the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical
Engineering, has been honored with the Qatar University 2008
Research Award.
The award, which is bestowed upon only one faculty member
from Qatar University, was presented to Atilhan during the
university’s September convocation ceremonies.
While at Texas A&M, Atilhan was a graduate research assistant
who studied under Professor Kenneth R. Hall before earning his
doctorate in 2007. His research at Qatar University focuses on
applied thermodynamics and thermophysical fluid properties,
including natural gas and hydrates.
Atilhan has continued to work closely with Hall and Professor
Mahmoud El-Halwagi, who also instructed him at Texas A&M
and served on his Ph.D. committee. Together, the three faculty
members are working on a joint project funded by the Qatar
National Research Foundation.
Chemical Engineering Students Recognized at Miniaturized
Systems Conference
Three graduate students and a postdoctoral researcher
from the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering
have won awards at the 12th International Conference on
Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences (micro-TAS
2008), held in San Diego.
Jen-Huang Huang, Yu-Wen Huang, Serdar Ozturk and
Jeongyoon Kim all received recognition for their research, which
they presented at the conference.
“This is the top conference in the area of miniaturized devices for
chemical and biochemical analysis,” said Associate Professor Victor
Ugaz, who supervises the students. “These awards are very selective,
and it is unusual for any single institution to bring home this many.”
Jen-Huang Huang and Kim received the “Young Researcher
Poster Award” for their work in a joint collaboration with
Assistant Professor Arul Jayaraman titled “Rapid Fabrication of
3D-Branched Microvascular Flow Networks.” Their poster was
one of only four selected as award winners out of a total of 589
posters presented at the conference. The award was sponsored by
the Society for Chemistry and Micro-Nano Systems.
Yu-Wen Huang received the “Art in Science Award” for an
image selected from her work titled “A Versatile Platform for
Rapid Label-Free Detection of Proteins and Small Molecules Using
Microfabricated Electrode Arrays.” The award was co-sponsored by
the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Royal
Society of Chemistry. The image also will be featured on the cover
of an upcoming issue of the journal “Lab on a Chip.”
Ozturk was named recipient of a student travel grant that will
enable him to present his work titled “Microfluidic Investigation
of Mass Transport Enhancement in Nanoparticle Suspensions.”
These travel grants were awarded through a competitive process to
provide support for outstanding student presentations.
Chem-E Student Elected to AIChE National Office
Daniel Arnold, a senior in the Artie McFerrin Department
of Chemical Engineering, has been elected executive student
committee president of the American Institute of Chemical
Engineers (AIChE).
Arnold, who hails from Richmond, Texas, was elected at the
organization’s centennial annual meeting in Philadelphia. The
newly formed national position represents the highest-ranking
office within AIChE that a student may serve.
As executive student committee president, Arnold is helping
coordinate the activities of AIChE’s more than 160 student
chapters, which are located across nine geographic regions
throughout the nation.
He is primarily tasked with developing approaches for
enhancing cooperation among schools belonging to the same
region, increasing overall student enrollment in AIChE, and
helping facilitate communication between the national level
of AIChE and its student chapters to promote awareness of the
institute’s many available resources and programs.
Chem-E-Car Races to Third Place in National Competition
Texas A&M University’s alternative-powered vehicle raced to a
third-place finish in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’
(AIChE) national Chem-E-Car competition in Philadelphia at the
institute’s Centennial Annual Meeting.
In this year’s event, students were challenged to transport
250 milliliters of water 60 feet. Teams received two chances to
run their cars, with their final score being their best attempt at
meeting the established distance. Cornell University took the
top prize of $2,000. Finishing in second place and taking home
$1,000 was Louisiana State University, using citric acid and
sodium carbonate. Taking third place and $500 was Texas A&M,
which used chemicals making hydrogen gas to propel their car.
The Aggie team was sponsored by BP and included seniors
Daniel Arnold, Matt Johnson, Derek Nelson, Stephen Pope,
Neil Rodrigues and Thomas Wanja, and junior Travis Walthall.
Graduate student Michael Landoll provided additional leadership,
along with chemical engineering faculty and staff members Randy
Marek, Jerry Bradshaw, Victor Ugaz and adviser Lale Yurttas.
The car runs on hydrochloric acid and sodium bicarbonate to
produce carbon dioxide gas at pressures on the order of 120 psig.
The gas runs through a pressure regulator set at 60 psig and then
runs the handmade engine.
The goal of the competition is to create a shoebox-sized car
that runs off of a chemical reaction a distance from 50 to 100 feet.
The distance is specified at the competition, and teams calculate
the amount of reactants needed to move the correct distance.
Plant Design Competition Winners Named
Three groups of students from the Artie McFerrin Department
of Chemical Engineering have been recognized for their original
designs of a vinyl acetate chemical processing plant by the Celanese
Corporation as part of the Fall 2008 Plant Design Competition.
Sara Guest of Paris, Texas; Jason Jeansonne of Lewisville,
Texas; Ufuoma Boma of Lagos, Nigeria; and Regina Ramsey of
Nederland, Texas are members of the team awarded first place by
Celanese for its original design of a vinyl acetate plant.
Daniel Balch of Liberty, Texas; Ankush Bhalla of Missouri City,
Texas; Oscar Cabada Kriebel of San Jose, Costa Rica; and Majemite
Dafinone of Lagos, Nigeria were awarded second place.
The team composed of Brian Klussmann of Brenham, Texas;
Richard Lietzau of Austin, Texas; and Brook Marshall of Humble,
Texas received third-place honors.
Each of the winning teams received a monetary prize from
Celanese, and the first-place team was recognized with a plaque
commemorating its achievement.
The competition, which was sponsored by Celanese, tasked
students with designing a fully functional vinyl acetate production
facility in South America. Vinyl acetate is a monomer used in
paints, coatings and other adhesives. In designing the plant,
students had to account for both the specifications for the plant
and product set by Celanese as well as safety factors associated
with developing such a facility and process.
Celanese Corporation, which is based in Dallas and employs
approximately 8,900 employees worldwide, is a world leader in
the production of high-performance engineered polymers used in
consumer and industrial products.
Chem-E Student Schrock Honored with Gathright Award
Shanna Lynn Schrock, a sophomore in the Artie McFerrin
Department of Chemical Engineering, has been named a recipient
of the 2009 Thomas S. Gathright Scholar Academic Excellence Award.
Named in honor of Texas A&M’s first president, Thomas S.
Gathright, the award is presented annually to the sophomore,
junior and senior with the highest grade point average in each
academic college.
Schrock, who has been named the outstanding sophomore in
the Dwight Look College of Engineering, is a native of Slidell, La.
The Gathright Award was established in 1973 by student
government in order to recognize superior academic achievement
and is sponsored by The Association of Former Students.
Page 19

Strong Support for Department Continues
With Endowed Scholarships
The full funding of three endowed scholarships and a
laboratory fund for the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety
Center highlighted a strong level of support this past year for
the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering.
These contributions along with many more were formally
recognized at the department’s Endowed Donor Banquet this
past fall. The annual banquet provides an opportunity for a
select group of chemical engineering students and the donors
of their scholarships to meet and be recognized.
This year, Nancy M. and Brock D. Nelson, a 1990 graduate
of Texas A&M; Emily and Oliver Osborn, a 1938 graduate of
Texas A&M; and Donna and Norman J. Tetlow, a 1966 graduate
of Texas A&M were recognized for completing funding
for their respective gifts for endowed scholarships. The
scholarships were established through the department’s C.D.
Holland Scholars Program. This was the Nelsons and Tetlows
second such gift.
In addition, T. Michael and Olive E. O’Connor established
a fund in support of the activities by the Mary Kay O’Connor
Process Safety Center, which was established by O’Connor
in 1995 and is housed in the Artie McFerrin Department
of Chemical Engineering. The laboratory fund will provide
support for maintenance, supplies and equipment that
performs dispersion testing, calorimetry, chemical detection
and explosion and flammability testing.
“This fulfillment of your initial pledges is a testament
to your belief in this department and your commitment
to investing in the future of this state and nation,” said
Department Head and Charles D. Holland ’53 Professor
Michael V. Pishko, addressing the group of donors.
Pishko lauded the efforts of all of the department’s
supporters as well, citing the awarding of more than $220,000
in scholarships to 120 students during this past academic
year as evidence of their generosity. The investment of the
department’s supporters in both dollars and energy, he said,
is critical to enabling promising students and recruiting and
retaining faculty members.
Pishko also noted that the department received pledges
for two new scholarships. One scholarship will be funded
by the children of William James Miller as a gift to their
father, a 1950 graduate of Texas A&M. Miller is dedicating
this scholarship to the memory of his former professor, J.D.
Lindsay. A second scholarship pledge was made by Brent
Myrick and Commonwealth Engineering and Construction
and will establish the “John Bradford Myrick ’87 Scholarship.”
As part of the ceremonies, students in the C.D. Holland and
J.D. Lindsay Scholars Program were recognized as well as those
students who have received industry and individual scholarships
and fellowships through the department. More than 40 of those
students were new scholarship recipients for 2008-’09.
The Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering thanks all of its continued supporters,
including those friends of the department that made gifts from August 2008 – December 2009.
Howdy Friends ($20-$249)
Accenture Foundation Inc.
Dr. and Mrs. Paul F. Deisler, Jr. ‘46
Global Impact-KBR
Global Impact-KBR
Mr. Russell A. Hall
Fish Camp Friends ($250-$499)
Dr. and Mrs. Jack R. Hopper ‘59
First Yell Friends ($500-$749)
Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas E. Gallopoulos ‘57
Mr. and Mrs. Michael Pishko
Page 20
Elephant Walk Friends ($1,000-$4,999)
Mr. Aniekan N. Attang ‘08
ChevronTexaco
Dow Chemical Foundation
Dow Chemical Foundation
Gas Processors Association of Houston
Lubrizol Foundation
Marathon Oil Company
Mr. Tai Yu ‘02
Aggie Ring Friends ($5,000 & Above)
Mr. James W. Alexander ‘47
Mr. Leonel D. Austin
ChevronTexaco
ChevronTexaco
CITGO Petroleum Corporation
Communities Foundation of Texas, Inc.
Communities Foundation of Texas, Inc.
Dow Chemical Foundation
Exxon Mobile Corporation
Flour Foundation
Hess Corporation
Shell Global Foundation
Shell Oil Company
Department Head Michael V. Pishko
Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University – Limitless Possibilities.
Possibility. The very word, when spoken in the language of ingenuity and responsibility, is enough to inspire hope for a better
tomorrow. Here at the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, we recognize that our faculty and students have
the talent and potential to transform possibilities into realities and in doing so help make the world safer, cleaner, healthier
and more efficient.
With this in mind, we’re committed to offering an educational environment ripe with possibilities and opportunities for our
students.
In the lab we’re pioneering new advances in important areas such as energy, health and the environment. In the classroom
we’re consistently providing a world-class engineering education to our students that we believe will serve as a foundation for
success throughout their lives.
It’s an environment where an outstanding faculty engages in vital research while also inculcating the future leaders of our
society with both the knowledge and values that define a Texas A&M University education. But cultivating such an environment
demands resources. In short, we need your help.
Indeed, many of our research and educational endeavors would not be possible without help from our former students and
friends of the department. This support, when expressed in the form of undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships,
enables young Aggie engineers to pursue their educational goals and ultimately become leaders in industry, academia and
government. When channeled in the direction of faculty development and research, these contributions help us recruit and
retain the best possible teachers and scholars, ensuring that many generations of students receive an outstanding education.
However you choose to direct your gift, you can remain confident that your generosity will help us
maintain excellence in chemical engineering at Texas A&M. This year, make a donation for chemical
engineering through the Texas A&M Foundation. The Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical
Engineering is committed to serving our state, nation and world, and with your support, the possibilities
are truly limitless.
Contact Andrew Acker, Chemical Engineering Development, Texas A&M Foundation
979.458.4493, 979.324.2953 or a-acker@tamu.edu or visit www.giving.tamu.edu.

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