chemical, materials & biomolecular engineering combine

CHEMICAL,MATERIALS&BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING

33 Message from the Department Head

2222 Research Update: New Faculty Members

2266 Chemical Engineering Faculty

2277 Materials Science & Engineering Faculty

Engineering Students HelpRebuild New Orleanspage 20

Some articles appearing herein are reprinted withpermission from UConn Engineering’s e-newspage. Visit www.engr.uconn.edu for more news.

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

CONTENTS

FEATURES44 Engineering Faculty Awarded

Grants for Health Center Collaborations

44 Hartford Chapter of ASM Holds Materials Camp

55 Claire Weiss Wins SMART Scholarship

55 Brody Receives 2009 Chalmers Award

66 Laurencin Wins Pierre Galletti Award

66 MSE Graduate Student Selected for Internship Sponsored by the Office of Naval Research

66 Biofuel Team Holds Workshops

77 Chemical Engineering Welcomes Its 5th New Faculty Member this Year

77 Mustain Receives 2009 Alumni Award for Outstanding Young Alumni from IIT

77 McEvily Admitted to the IFC Class of 2009 Fellows

88 Chemical Engineering Program Features Edwin Lightfoot in Distinguished Lectureship

88 2009 Scholarships and Awards

1111 Multi-Tasker Extraordinaire:James Bosse

1122 Carter Selected a MRS Fellow

1122 Two CMBE Faculty Elected to CASE

1133 ChE 50th Anniversary

1177 Materials Science & Engineering Students Inducted into Alpha Sigma Mu

1188 Congratulations to This Year’s MSE Program Capstone Senior Design Project Final Presentation Winners!

1199 Wang Awarded State Grant forStem Cell Research

2211 Materials Science & Engineering Class of 2009

2233 Piezoelectric Materials and Devices

2233 Engineering When Nanometers Count

2244 Alpay Receives United Technologies Corporation Professor in Engineering Innovation Award

2255 Chemical Engineering Class of 2009

Winterstein Lands Fulbright Scholarshippage 19

Outstanding Student Transforms Tragedy

into Triumphpage 16

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We have experienced another year ofchange in CMBE, but are very well

positioned to move ahead in spite of theState’s economic difficulties. Our new faculty, Cato Laurencin, Jeff McCutcheon,Bill Mustain, George Rossetti, PrabhakarSingh and Brian Willis, have all settled inand we are looking forward to welcomingour new Assistant Professor, Leslie Shor, inAugust. Twenty-six tenured or tenure-trackfaculty have their principal home in the department: 11 core faculty in ChemicalEngineering (ChE) and 13 core faculty inMaterials Science & Engineering (MSE),with the Head and Cato completing the team. Despite Dr. Laurencin’s busyschedule, as the Dean of the Medical Schooland Vice President for Health Affairs, his research activities continue to span both of our programs as he showed in hisdepartment seminar this year.

By visiting our web site, you will see thatwe have also begun to expand our Biomole-cular focus. Mei Wei and Ranjan Srivastavalead our Biomolecular research area, withfour colleagues having joint appointmentsin Orthopaedic Surgery, two more in Biomaterials at the UConn Health Center, and Yu Lei, Yong Wang and Monty Shawactively involved. Our Biomolecular Science& Engineering focus brings together bio-engineering and biomaterials for students,with the great advantage of receiving anABET-accredited degree in ChE or MSE.

Our emeritus faculty remain active: TomAnderson teaches in ChE; Bob Coughlinserves on the PTR Committee; Mike Cutlipcontinues to help with Polymath classes (hisbook is in its 2nd edition); Mike Howardremains a unique part of the Senior Lab experience; Art McEvily is still very active in research; Don Potter has replaced theXRD units and updated both the SEM and the TEMs for our seniors.

Our Materials Advantage Student Chapter (ACerS, TMS, ASM and AIST)was named one of the five national Chap-ters of Excellence for the second time. Ourstudent chapters of AIChE, MRS, OmegaChi Epsilon and Alpha Sigma Mu remainvery active, with two ChE students winningposter awards in Philadelphia. JonathanWinterstein, an MSE graduate student, won a Fulbright Award, which will take himto Graz, Austria, for nine months.

Research funding has already started to increase; I’ll just illustrate the breadth of our research with a few examples. Jeff McCutcheon and Prabhakar Singh received funding for their program linkingenergy and clean water. Prabhakar also received new support and samples fromRolls Royce. Bryan Huey was awarded anNSF Materials World Network grant tostudy phase-change memory devices. YongWang was the only Engineering facultymember to receive support from the State’s2009 Stem Cell program for his work onhybrid peptide/RNA molecules for safe and efficient gene silencing in human embryonic stem (ES) cells. George Rossettialso received new funding from the Department of Homeland Security.

Our graduate programs continue to remain busy. Our practice-oriented Masterof Engineering (MENG) program includingChE and MSE courses brings a classroomexperience directly to United Technologiesand Pratt & Whitney employees as well asbringing students from these and othercompanies back to campus. In fall 2009, we will welcome another 25 new CMBEPh.D. students.

We were sorry that Lei Zhu decided to leave the green fields of UConn for the big city of Cleveland. Bob Weiss and Monty Shaw both retired from UConn this summer after 28 and 31 years, respectively! Monty plans to stay with us,spending more time on his writing and research activities. Finally, a few statistics!Last year, the faculty published 141 refereedjournal articles (up 39% over last year) and 138 conference papers; we had 128 active research grants (up 30%); we advised74 Ph.D. students (up 20%) and 42 M.S.students. Our department was also home to 273 undergraduates (up 12%).

As you see, both ChE and MSE continue to flourish at UConn. We inviteall our friends and alumni, in particular, to visit and see for themselves, especially before work on the new Engineering building begins!

Dr. C. Barry CarterDepartment Head

Message from the Department Head

WWW.CMBE.ENGR.UCONN.EDU 3

CoMBinE is published for the alumni, faculty, students, corporate supporters and friends of the Chemical, Materials & Biomolecular Engineering Department at the University of Connecticut. Suggestions and information arewelcome. Send correspondence and addresscorrections to: [email protected]

WRITERS/EDITORSNan R. CooperKatrice DuellKristina Goodnough

GRAPHIC DESIGN/PHOTOGRAPHYChristopher LaRosaUniversity Communications

CONTRIBUTORDoug Cooper

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The University awarded grants to 11multi-disciplinary research teams,

of which four include engineering facultymembers. The one-year start-up grantswere made under a new UConn HealthCenter/Storrs and Regional Campus Incentive Grants (UCIG) program aimedat nurturing interdisciplinary research collaborations that are seen as having long-term promise and a strong potentialfor attracting significant external fundingafter the seed money concludes. The average funding level was $50,000.

According to Suman Singha, SeniorVice Provost and Interim Vice Presidentfor Research, the UCIG program was developed to promote inter-campus

research collabo-rations among researchers at theUConn HealthCenter and otherUConn campuses.Commenting onthe quality of submissions,

Dr. Singha said “We were very pleasedwith the quality of the proposals and are excited with the potential that thiscompetition has to stimulate creative, innovative and interdisciplinary scholarlyactivities.”

Two of the awards went to faculty inCMBE: Ranjan Srivastava and RobertWeiss. Ranjan Srivastava, an associate

professor in Chemical Engineering—alongwith UConn Health Center colleagues, principal investigator Rajesh Lalla of Oral Health & Diagnostic Sciences, Leslie Loew of Cell Biology and DouglasPeterson, Oral Health & Diagnostic Sciences—will investigate severe oral lesions, dubbed “mucositis,” that arisewhen cancer patients are undergoing high-dose chemotherapy and/or radiationtherapy. The ulcers, said Dr. Srivastava, are quite painful and substantially compromise nutrition and oral hygiene

as well as increase risk for infections. Hesaid that cancer patients experiencing oral mucositis can develop significant clinicalcomplications, including dose reduction of their chemotherapy or interruption ofradiation therapy, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the primary cancer treatment. Currently, there are few optionsfor patients afflicted with mucositis. Dr. Srivastava and his colleagues seek todevelop effective treatment modalities.“Our overall goal is to use detailed compu-tational models derived from clinical andlaboratory data to design new treatmentstrategies that minimize the severity of this important toxicity,” he said. “Thesemodels may enable us to maximize drugefficiency (that is, the cancer treatment)while minimizing mucosal injuries.”

Hartford Chapter ofASM HoldsMaterialsCamp

The Hartford chapter of ASM International organized the second

Hartford Area Materials Camp, whichtook place at UConn on April 13. Thehalf-day Materials Camps aim to introduce Materials Science & Engineering to high-school students.For this second camp, 24 high schoolstudents and six teachers from the Annual Multicultural Business YouthEducational Services Embarkment(AMBYESE), Yes I Can! Program andHartford Public High School’s Academyof Engineering and Green Technologywere exposed to a variety of hands-ondemonstrations. They included brazing,heat-treatment, casting, and metalforming. Over 20 MSE undergraduateand graduate students volunteered forthis camp as tour-guides or assistantsat the different learning stations. Theoverwhelmingly positive response fromthe attendees has motivated the ASMHartford chapter to consider a thirdcamp in 2010.

Engineering Faculty Awarded Grants for Health Center Collaborations

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We were very pleased with the quality of the proposals and are excited with the potential that this

competition has to stimulate creative, innovative and interdisciplinary scholarly activities.

Ranjan Srivastava

Claire Weiss, a doctoral student in Materials Science & Engineering,

has won a coveted scholarship under theScience, Mathematics, and Research forTransformation (SMART) Scholarship forService Program. Claire was one of approximately 200 students to capturethe competitive award, from among 1,500applicants. She is advised by Dr. PamirAlpay, an associate professor in theChemical, Materials & Biomolecular Engineering Department.

Under the SMART scholarship, Claire will receive sponsorship from theU.S. Army, which will also provide her summer research opportunities andmentoring throughout the course of herdegree program.

On receiving news of the award,Claire said “I’m really excited, becausethe SMART scholarship gives me the opportunity to do research at a wonderful facility—the Army ResearchLaboratory (ARL)—and also to work in a great job with ARL after I graduate.”

Managed by the Naval PostgraduateSchool (NPS) on behalf of the Office ofthe Secretary of Defense, the SMARTprogram is administered jointly by theAmerican Society for Engineering Education and NPS. It was created as a means to increase the number of civilian scientists and engineers working in Department of Defense laboratories.

Claire is a member of the Functional Materials Group, and her research

Claire Weiss Wins SMART Scholarship


focuses on the deposition, characteriza-tion, and electrical testing of complexoxide thin films for applications in tunabledevices, such as phase shifter arrays forelectrically steerable antennas.

Claire is particularly interested in thinfilms based on barium strontium titanate(Ba{x}Sr{1-x}TiO{3}) or BST. BST is consid-ered a top candidate for use in tunablemicrowave devices because of its highlynon-linear dielectric response to appliedelectric field. Her current research is exploring many methods to improve thedielectric properties of BST thin films,such as using compositional grading tominimize the temperature dependenceand doping to lower the loss.

Tunable microwave devices are usedin a broad range of commercial and mili-tary applications, from communicationsdevices, therapeutic medicine and heating to GPS navigation systems, automobiles and satellite-based systems.Claire’s research is currently beingfunded by the U.S. Army Research Officeand a Phase II SBIR sub-contract fromSMI, Inc.

Claire Weiss deposits a precursor solution onto a substrate in the spin-coater machine. The spin-coaterspins the substrate and the solution at a high speed to evenly coat the substrate and create a uniform thickness film.

Brody Receives 2009 ChalmersAward

Distinguished Professor of Materials Science & Engineering Harold Brody

was recently honored by TMS, the Miner-als, Metals & Materials Society, which presented him the 2009 Bruce ChalmersAward for outstanding contributions in thefield of solidification science. Dr. Brody received the award in recognition for his“seminal contributions to microsegregationand back diffusion during dendritic solidi-fication, in situ composites and peritecticsolidification, and computer modeling ofsolidification processing.” Dr. Chalmers(1907-1990), regarded as the father of solidification science, was a famed appliedphysics professor at Harvard University,whose research was instrumental in advancing the electronics and microelec-tronics industries.

For Dr. Brody, the Chalmers Award is a very personal honor. “Bruce Chalmerswas a pioneer in solidification research. He was renowned for his ability to look at a complex process, recognize the most important elements, and explain their inter-action in a simplemanner. As a graduate student at MIT, I was fortunate to belong to a research group overseen byProfessor MertonFlemings, who collaborated withDr. Chalmers.They regularlybrought their research groups together for seminars, includ-ing some presentedby Dr. Chalmers.

Harold Brody, Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, workswith liquid aluminum in his lab.

continued on page 9

Photo by Frank Dahlmeyer

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Dr. Cato T. Laurencin is the 2009 winnerof the Pierre Galletti Award, the Ameri-

can Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering's (AIMBE) highest honor.

Dr. Laurencin, who holds both anM.D. and a Ph.D.,is Vice Presidentfor Health Affairsat the University of ConnecticutHealth Center,

Dean of the UConn School of Medicineand a faculty member in the department of Chemical, Materials & Biomolecular Engineering in Storrs.

The Galletti Award recognizes contribu-tions to public awareness of medical and biological engineering and to promotion of the national interest in science, engineering and education. The AIMBEcites Laurencin’s “seminal contribution to tissue engineering and international leadership in biomedical engineering.”

In receiving the award, Dr. Laurencinsaid “I am both honored and humbled toreceive the Pierre Galletti Award. The awardis really a tribute to those instrumental in

my success in the field: Dr. Robert Langer,my Ph.D. adviser and lifelong mentor, my many great students, and of course my wonderful family.”

Dr. Laurencin holds the Health Center'sVan Dusen Endowed Chair in AcademicMedicine Center and is a professor in theDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery. Heearned dual degrees in 1987: a Ph.D. in biochemical engineering/biotechnologyfrom MIT and an M.D. from HarvardMedical School. His latest work uses polymer-based drug-delivery systems andnanotechnology to enhance bone and tissue regeneration.

Dr. Laurencin has received numeroushonors, including election to the Institute of Medicine, the Presidential Faculty Fellowship Award from President Clinton,the William Grimes Award for Excellence inChemical Engineering from the AmericanInstitute of Chemical Engineers, and theLeadership in Technology Award from theNew Millennium Foundation. Last year, he was named among “100 Chemical Engineers of the Modern Era” by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Laurencin Wins Pierre Galletti Award

Adam Heitmann, MSE graduate student,has been selected to participate in the

Naval Research Enterprise Intern Program(NREIP). Adam was one of 61 graduatestudents to be chosen for this opportunitythrough a competitive process. All partici-pants will be engaged in research at a Department of Navy (DoN) laboratorythroughout the summer, beginning June2009. As part of the program, Adam will receive support from the Office of NavalResearch (ONR) to pursue a portion of hisdoctoral thesis work at the Naval UnderseaWarfare Center (NOWC) in Newport, RI.The NREIP intern selection process carriesan affiliation with the American Society forEngineering Education and is based upon

academic achievement, personal statements,letters of recommendation, and career andresearch interests.

Adam received his B.S. degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in MaterialsScience and Engineering. His research isconducted under the direction of his advisor, Dr. George Rossetti, and involvesthe development and application of a thermodynamic model to guide the designof single crystal piezoelectric transducer materials. The project that Adam will exe-cute during his 10-week research project atNOWC, in collaboration with his advisorand his Navy Laboratory mentor, is entitled“Design and Modeling of High Power Density Acoustic Transducer Materials forAutonomous Undersea Vehicles.”

MSE Graduate Student Selected for Internship Sponsored by the Office of Naval Research

Drs. Richard Parnas (Chemical, Materi-als & Biomolecular Engineering) and

James Stuart (Chemistry) presented twoworkshops in January before audiencesof high school chemistry instructors, atthe request of the New England Associa-tion of Chemistry Teachers. The visitors,from schools across Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, wereintroduced to the production and testingmethods for biofuel processing usingspent cooking oil.

Dr. Parnas, director of the University'sBiofuel Consortium and a member of thePolymer Program, said 20 teachers andfive other attendees participated in theworkshops to learn howthey may construct small-scale demonstra-tion reactors or integratea learning module on biofuels into their chemistry lab courses.

The Biofuel Consortium comprises students and professors across the University who share an interest in stimu-lating a biofuels industry within the state.In the consortium laboratory, researchersconvert waste cooking oil collected fromUConn dining facilities into clean-runningfuel for the University's campus bus fleet.The team seeks to develop a large-scalereactor, and to introduce process im-provements and alternative feedstocksaimed at making the process more cost-efficient.

During the sessions, Dr. Stuart demon-strated the core ASTM tests—includingchromatography, cloud point, flash point,acid number and viscosity metrics—usedto assess biodiesel quality. UndergraduateChemical Engineering students SteveUnker and Alyssa Midgette assisted in the presentations and laboratory demonstrations.

Biofuel TeamHoldsWorkshops

Chemical Engineering assistant professor,William Mustain was awarded the

Outstanding Young Alumni Award from theIllinois Institute of Technology on Friday

May 1, 2009. This award is givento individuals whohave excelled beyond their peersin leadership, professional successand selfless service

to their community or university. Recipientsare selected by previous Outstanding YoungAlumni Winners.

Dr. Mustain received both his B.S. andhis Ph.D. degrees from Illinois Institute ofTechnology in 2002 and 2006, respectively.He has made significant contributions tofuel cell research,specifically in thearea of polymerelectrolyte mem-brane (PEM) fuelcells. His researchhas been published in 10 journal articles, 20 conference presentations, two proceedingpapers and four patent disclosures. In 2004,Dr. Mustain was awarded the Hamid Arastoopour Excellence in Teaching Awardfor Teaching Assistant of the Year at IIT,

voted upon by students in the chemical and biological engineering department.

Dr. Mustain has also been involved incommunity service projects with his wife,Leeann. “I enjoy volunteering. My wife and I built two houses while in Atlanta withHabitat for Humanity. It’s important for usto give back because we both know what it’slike to grow up with meager means.”

Raised in a troubled neighborhood inChicago, Dr. Mustain attended IIT as aHeald Scholar. Dedicated to encouraging all students, regardless of background, to besuccessful, he told his story during a celebration of IIT's Collens Scholarship Program in 2007.

“I want to be able to play an active role with underserved kids in the community.Currently, I’m working with the Hartford

Public Schools to give underserved studentsa chance to come to UConn for a day of science, energy, and engineering workshops.Ultimately, I would like to establish a scholarship program. I want to pioneersomething.”

Mustain Receives 2009 Alumni Awardfor Outstanding Young Alumni fromIllinois Institute of Technology

McEvily Admitted to the IFC Class of 2009 Fellows

Emeritus Professor, Arthur McEvily has been welcomed intothe International Congress on Fracture (IFC), Class of 2009

IFC Fellows. Professor McEvily is recognized “for his contributions to the understandingof fatigue mechanisms and processes in structural alloys.” He was officially honored atthe 12th International Conference on Fracture in Ottawa Canada on July 17, 2009. The IFCbegan 44 years ago to highlight individual and national accomplishments in the generalfields of Fracture Mechanics, Material Strength and Structural Integrity. quantitative basis.

Chemical Engineering Welcomes Its 5th New FacultyMember thisYear

Dr. Leslie M. Shor has joined UConn asan assistant professor in Chemical

Engineering from Vanderbilt Universitywhere she is a Research Assistant Professor. Dr. Shor received her M.S. andPh.D. degrees from Rutgers, The StateUniversity of New Jersey. She maintainsvigorous research relating directly to airand water pollution. She has focused on how micro-scale structures of soil andsediment impacts particle-scale contami-nant desorption and bioavailability. Dr. Shor’s dissertation work helped establish the importance of microporosityand vascular plant carbon on sequestra-tion and bioavailability of PAHs in harbor sediment. This work resulted ineight publications, including three in Environmental Science & Technology.Her research to develop the EcoChip, a micro-structured microbial habitatarray, has received significant supportfrom NSF. This work employs microfluidicdevices and a systems biology approachto develop integrated instrumentation tobetter understand microbial communities.

Dr. Shor exhibits tremendous leadership through her advisement ofVanderbilt’s Society of Women Engineers(SWE). In 2007, she was also the recipientof the Vanderbilt SWE Faculty Apprecia-tion Award.


I want to be able to play an active role with underserved kids in the community...

I would like to establish a scholarship program. I want to pioneer something.

Chemical Engineering ProgramFeatures Edwin Lightfoot in Distinguished Lectureship

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On April 20th and 21st, the ChemicalEngineering Program was proud to

feature Edwin N. Lightfoot, Jr., as thespeaker in the 2009 Frontiers in ChemicalEngineering Distinguished Lectureship.During his visit, Prof. Lightfoot presented

two seminars.The first was aTechnology andSociety Lectureentitled “TwoSides of theCoin: WhatCan ModernBiology Add to ‘Classical’Chemical

Engineering.” The second was a TechnicalLecture, “Transport Phenomena and Evo Devo.”

Prof. Lightfoot is the Hilldale Professorof Chemical Engineering at the Universityof Wisconsin, Madison. Professor Light-foot is a world leader in the areas of mass-transport reaction modeling, biologicalmass-transfer processes and separationsprocesses. He helped establish one of thefundamental pillars of ChemicalEngineering when he, along withcolleagues Robert Bird and Warren Stewart, published theirseminal text, Transport Phenom-ena. Prof. Lightfoot has madenumerous contributions in a variety of areas related to chemi-cal engineering, biochemical engineering, and biotechnology,including the recovery and purification of vitamin B12, the study of multicomponent diffusion in living systems, the effects of mass transferin the microcirculation, and the study ofdiabetes and its response to insulin.

Prof. Lightfoot has been recognizedwith numerous honors for the caliber ofthe work he has accomplished and the im-pact he has had. Among his many awards,he has received honorary doctorates fromthe Technical University of Denmark andfrom the Technical University of Norwaywhere he was also a Fulbright Research

Scholar in 1962. He is a member of boththe National Academy of Sciences and theNational Academy of Engineering. Morerecently, Prof. Lightfoot received the National Medal of Science for Engineeringbestowed by the President of the UnitedStates “For vigorous and sustained leadership in developing the fields of biochemical and biomedical engineering,particularly in the areas of blood oxygenation, oxygen diffusion into tissue, mathematical modeling of biological pathways, bioseparations and studies of diabetic responses.”

Prof. Lightfoot received his B.S. degreein Chemical Engineering from CornellUniversity in 1947, followed by his Ph.D.in 1951. After working at Pfizer briefly,Professor Lightfoot joined the faculty ofthe University of Wisconsin in 1953 wherehe has been ever since.

The University of Connecticut Chemical Engineering Program establishedthe Frontiers in Chemical EngineeringLectureship in 2002. The lectureship wasestablished with two distinct purposes: torecognize outstanding accomplishments

and developments in chemical technology,and to share the excitement of engineeringscience and technology with a broad audience. In various years, the FrontiersLectureship will recognize outstandingmembers of the academic community, the industrial community, government,and the media who are leaders in research,technology development, and in commu-nication of scientific and technologicalideas, with the purpose of stimulating discussion and growth at the Universityand in the broader community.

2009 Scholarshipsand AwardsANONYMOUS DONOR LEARNING MENTORSHIP PROGRAMKelly L. Bertolaccini (MSE Senior)David N. Plamondon (CHEG Freshman)Jennifer L. Reynolds (CHEG Junior)

ASM HARTFORD CHAPTER SCHOLARSHIPKathryn S. Czaja (MSE/CHEG Senior)Joseph Rajan (MSE Junior)

AT&T SCHOLARSHIPMeghan E. McGuire (CHEG Junior)

BAYER EUROTECH SCHOLARSHIPJeffrey R. Gagnon (MSE/GERMAN Senior)

THE BORGHESI FAMILY SCHOLARSHIPJohn R. Varkonda (CHEG Sophomore)

RICHARD D. CAVANAUGH SCHOLARSHIPJeffrey R. Gagnon (MSE Senior)

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING ALUMNI SCHOLARJane E. Bugbee (CHEG Senior)

ENGINEERING OUTSTANDING SENIOR AWARDJames L. Bosse (MSE Senior)Kyle R. Hawley

GE ADVANCED MATERIALS ENDOWEDSCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMCynthia B. Beachman (CHEG Junior)Domingo M. Bugg (CHEG Senior)Emily A. Cole (CHEG Sophomore)

RASHID HAMID SCHOLARSHIPEmily M. Anderson (CHEG Sophomore)

continued on page 10


Listening to him speak and discuss his research, I was impressed by his skill intranslating the difficult into simple terms.He was a model for what a great professorshould be. I’m probably one of the last people to receive the award who was influenced directly by Dr. Chalmers.”

“As I built my own academic career,” he remarked, “I always tried to emulate the way he taught and thought. So it was especially poignant for me to be nominatedby my former graduate students and to beselected by a panel of prior Chalmers Awardrecipients.”

Solidification science is the study of theprocesses by which materials change from aliquid to a solid state. Dr. Brody explainedthat countless everyday objects, from high-end cookware, sculpture, turbine blades,and automotive components to bicycleframes, are produced using a solidificationprocess in the manufacturing sequence. Dr. Brody’s research has focused on the solidification of alloys. To make an alloy,metallurgists may heat two or more ele-ments to a liquid phase, mix them togetherat a proportion that provides a uniform solution, and transfer the molten alloy to a mold where it solidifies in a manner that produces desired properties in the cast product.

Dr. Brody said, Think of tea. Hot tea accepts more sugar than iced tea, with thesugar remaining bound in solution, to acritical tipping point: the solubility limit.When sweetened hot tea is cooled, sugarcrystals can begin to form as precipitates.The solid crystals are richer in sugar thanthe sweetened liquid tea. When we blendmetals in an alloy, the alloying elements, ingeneral, are more soluble in the liquid thanthe solid phase.” He continued, “Solidifica-tion takes place over a range of tempera-tures, and the composition of the soliddiffers from the composition of the liquidfrom which it forms. Typically, to efficientlyredistribute alloying elements between theliquid and solid phases, the solidifying crystalline solid develops tree-like, highlybranched structures called dendrites.” The distinctive “jack frost” that forms onwindows in winter is a familiar example of dendritic crystal formation.

According to Dr. Brody, one of Dr. Chalmers’ principal contributions wasin understanding how to solidify alloys toachieve a smooth, unbranched interface between the solid and the liquid that yields

a nearly defect-free structure, providing superior properties in semiconducting andmagnetic materials. In contrast, much ofDr. Brody’s work has focused on fosteringand manipulating dendritic solidification to attain premium properties in structuralmaterials.

Recent work relates to the casting andthermal treatment of engine blocks for theautomotive industry. With support from an automotive consortium led by GeneralMotors and the Department of Energy, Dr. Brody and colleagues are developingcomputer aided routines that simulate theevolution of dendritic structures. The resultswill be applied in the design and manufac-ture of high-quality components. To achievethis goal, he said, he and his team must discover and understand the behavior ofcomplex commercial alloys and develop apractical database of the thermodynamicand kinetic properties of different materials.

“We can manipulate the process by alter-ing temperature and time, using differentcompositions, applying electromagneticfields, etc. We try to understand exactly howthe dendritic patterns form so we can con-trol the microstructure. If we look at analloy with the naked eye, it may look per-fectly smooth and uniform. Using optical

and electron microscopes, and X-rays, weuncover the microstructure. We see the patterns of the dendrites and the particlesthat precipitate from the melt and the muchfiner particles that precipitate from solid so-lution. This is where the chemical, mechani-cal and electrical properties are manifested.”“We take advantage of what we know abouthow alloys ‘freeze’ in order to get the bestdendritic pattern, and the best distributionand morphology (shape) of the precipitateparticles” he explained. “After casting thealloy, we heat it to a high temperature belowthe melting range to dissolve the coarserparticles, then ‘quench’ or rapidly cool thealloy to trap the alloying elements in solu-tion, and then heat the alloy to a moderatetemperature to form a host of very fine pre-cipitates. In controlling the microstructure,we obtain required properties, such as highstrength, toughness or ductility, and fatigueresistance. This is the challenge, since most

things we do to increase strength result in a reduction in ductility. Controlling thedendrite structure and heat treatment is oneof a few things we can do to simultaneouslyincrease strength and ductility. We try toachieve a balance and also to consider cost.”

Dr. Brody andhis collaboratorshave also appliedProfessor Chalmers’principles to sup-pressing dendriteformation duringthe directional solidification ofcomplex alloys andceramics, includingperitectic phases.“The high tempera-ture superconducting compounds are peri-tectic systems; that is, during solidificationsome of the liquid phase and some of theformed solid react to form the supercon-ducting phase. Based on our research on thedirectional solidification of peritectic alloys,we hypothesized we could grow large, nearlydefect-free crystals of the superconducting,peritectic phase directly from the liquid, but we never quite succeeded in getting the desired single phase microstructure.”

Despite this perceived failure, the team’smeasurements of the superconducting and magnetic properties of the crystalsgrown, reported in the scientific literature,were the best results at that time. Dr. Brodycommented, “This reaffirmed an often repeated lesson: the experiment that doesnot work as expected often reveals the mostpromising opportunity.”

Dr. Brody joined UConn in 1991, whenhe was recruited as Dean of Engineeringfrom the University of Pittsburgh. He remained Dean until 1997. He was a facultymember and administrator at the Universityof Pittsburgh for 25 years prior to joiningUConn, holding positions as Chairman ofthe Department of Metallurgy & MaterialsEngineering and director of the Casting Industries Science & Engineering Institute.

As I built my own academic career, I always tried to emulate the way he taught and thought. So it was especially

poignant for me to be nominated by my former graduate students and to be selected by a panel

of prior Chalmers Award recipients.

Hal Brody continued from page 5

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EDWARD J. HUTCHINS-CHARLES E.WILCOX SCHOLARSHIPKyle D. Hope (CHEG Sophomore)

PAUL KRENICKI ENDOWED SCHOLARS IN SUSTAINABLE ENERGYRichard C. Case (CHEG Sophomore)

CARL A. & EDNA S. LINDBLAD SCHOLARSHIPEvan J. Fredericks (CHEG Junior)Chad R. Jens (CHEG Junior)

MATERIALS ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE SCHOLARSHIPChristie M. Barbera (MSE Sophomore)Richard V. Cady (MSE Freshman)Kathryn S. Czaja (MSE/CHEG Senior)Adam Dew (MSE Sophomore)Michael R. Di Re (MSE Sophomore)Drew V. Hires (MSE Freshman)Zackary J. Hixon (MSE Freshman)Derek M. Jollotta (MSE Sophomore)Blake R. Knox (MSE Freshman)Joshua A. Leibowitz (MSE Junior)Adam M. Marco (MSE Freshman)Andrew S. Napoli (MSE Sophomore)Erica A. Pehmoeller (MSE Freshman)Nicholas Pietrefase (MSE Freshman)Matthew Vaudreuil (MSE Freshman)Aaron C. Wall (MSE Junior)Michael E. Zilm (MSE Sophomore)

MIRSKY SCHOLARSHIPTimothy S. Dobbs (CHEG Senior)

PRATT & WHITNEY ENGINEERING DIVERSITY PROGRAM SCHOLARSHIPChristie M. Barbera (MSE Junior)Kathryn S. Czaja (MSE/CHEG Senior)Erica K. Marcinek (MSE Junior)

ROGERS CORPORATION SCHOLARKathryn M. Bowers (CHEG Senior)

WALTER M. ROSE ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIPRyan A. Hancock (CHEG Senior)Drew V. Hires (MSE Sophomore)

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING ACADEMICMERIT SCHOLARSHIPMelissa J. Catanese (CHEG Junior)Kyle J. Christiansen (CHEG Sophomore)Joshua B. Console (CHEG Sophomore)Christine E. Duval (CHEG Junior)Lindsey H. Fink (CHEG Senior)Katelyn M. Fitzpatrick (CHEG Senior)Jonathan A. Goldman (CHEG Junior)Gregory S. Honda (CHEG Senior)Benjamin M. Kendrick

(CHEG Sophomore)Erica A. Pehmoeller (MSE Freshman)Joseph A. Podurgiel (CHEG Sophomore)Joseph C. Rotchford (CHEG Sophomore)

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING DEAN’S SCHOLARSHIPErik L. Johnson (CHEG Sophomore)Britta H. Kunkemoeller

(CHEG Sophomore)Nathan R. Willbanks

(CHEG Sophomore)

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING SCHOLARSHIP & FELLOWSHIPKathryn S. Czaja (MSE/CHEG Senior)

THE STANLEY WORKS ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIPDerek T. Hargrove (CHEG Junior)

DAWN-MARIE SULLIVAN SCHOLARSHIPBlake R. Knox (MSE Freshman)Emily Tao (CHEG Junior)

UNILEVER CHEMICAL ENGINEERINGSCHOLARSHIPRobert M. Apap (CHEG Junior)

OMEGA CHI EPSILONChemical Engineering Honor SocietyDaniel D. AnastasioSarah E. BerthRyan J. BowersKathryn M. BowersMarjorie R. BruceJane E. BugbeeAlexandra M. CooperLindsey H. FinkKatelyn M. FitzpatrickNicholas W. FrechetteWilliam D. GoodellZeeshan GulKyle R. HawleyLauren D. HelstoskyGregory S. HondaAndrew M. LaTourAlyssa A. MidgetteChristopher W. RobakAlexander A. RubbiccoAshley K. SchempfKristopher S. SchreinerMatthew P. SnipesEmily TaoAndrew J. ThompsonJennifer J. VanoudenhoveDan WuRobert Yau

ALPHA SIGMA MUMaterials Science & Engineering Honor SocietyChristopher AmaroEllen LavoratoVincent PalumboKevin RankinGreg Santone, Jr.

TAU BETA PIEngineering Honor SocietyDaniel D. AnastasioKathryn S. CzajaKeith M. GrayebKyle R. HawleyLauren D. HelstoskyGregory S. HondaAlexander P. JadczakSajal SwaroopCharles L. TalbotEmily TaoAndrew J. ThompsonAlexander Z. WilliamsRobert YauJoseph Zinski

Awards continued from page 8

HONOR SOCIETY MEMBERS

Photos by Roger Castonguay


James Bosse, who completed his B.S. degree in Materials Science &

Engineering in May 2009, is a master multi-tasker who manages to juggle demandingcoursework with original lab research anda part-time job. Oh, and he’s also a nation-ally competitive bowler who participatesin tournaments about once a month.

James, who hails from Berlin, CT, has worked in the research laboratory of Dr. Bryan Huey—assistant professor ofChemical, Materials & Biomolecular Engineering—since the summer of 2007.He has conducted a variety of studies involving atomic force microscopy, orAFM, a technique that allows researchersto image objects and processes at a fraction of a nanometer.

“When I began working with Dr. Huey,”he said, “my work involved the use of AFM to efficiently and accurately separateDNA and protein strands by mass. I alsoresearched the mechanisms behind ferro-electric domain switching and stability.”

His Honors Program thesis involved theprecise application of electrical voltagesacross ferroelectric/piezoelectric materials to view domain switching andactuation. James has made this type ofmeasurement numerous times in the labalready, even presenting a poster at lastyear’s Materials Research Society confer-ence. For the next step, the goal is to enhance measurement speed, requiring

writing software usingNational Instruments’LabVIEW to integrate,

command and control a range

of lab equipment. The project exploits hisskill in the use of this object oriented programming language that he acquiredas an industrial intern at Emhart Glass Research Center.

Throughout most of his high schoolyears, James planned a career steeped in the mechanics’ milieu, like his father.College was nowhere on his horizon. However, a fateful meeting with his guidance counselor, and the counsel of aninsightful chemistry teacher, placed him ona different career track. “In high school, I always enjoyed mathematics and science. My guidance counselor told me I should consider becoming an engineer.”James applied to just one school, UConn,and liked what he heard at an open housewhere engineering faculty and studentsdiscussed the engineering professionsand displayed intriguing demonstrations.

He found a home in the Materials Science & Engineering (MSE) degree program. “Materials science has the bestfaculty—a lot of young, energetic profes-sors who are doing interesting research,”he said. He also dove into an array of ac-tivities that consume his days. During hisfirst three years at UConn, James providedhis peers with tutoring services in generalengineering and MSE subjects as well asmath, physics and chemistry. He also contributed his time as an officer in theMaterial Advantage chapter, serving as tutoring and scholarship chair, and beganan internship with Windsor-based EmhartGlass in May ‘08. He continued working in Emhart’s process automation and simulation group throughout the schoolyear, logging an average of 30 hours perweek last semester.

Multi-Tasker Extraordinaire: James BosseAt Emhart, James said, “I write Lab-

VIEW software to automate data collectionsystems, such as thermal history via pyrometers and thermocouples. I also automated a density comparison system.”He recently cut back on his work hours toallow for more time in the lab. During hisyears at UConn, he has also stayed activeas a top bowler, maintaining a schedule ofleague play twice weekly and competing in major tournaments monthly. He has won numerous national titles as a juniorbowler and recently won his first adulttournament.

A top student, James made the Univer-sity’s Dean’s List for three consecutiveyears and was an Honors Program student.James’s undergraduate education was financed by academic merit and needs-based scholarships, including the ASM International George A. Roberts Scholar-ship, ASM Hartford Chapter Scholarship,the Capitol Scholarship Program, and aSMART Scholarship. Thriving amid a demanding, rigorous slate of activitiescomes naturally to James. “I owe mydriven personality to three very influentialpeople: my father, my maternal grandfa-ther, and my old bowling coach, Bill Clay.They all stressed the importance of education, and a career filled with not onlysuccess, but also enjoyment. They haveprovided me with infinite wisdom over the years.”

Post-graduation, James said “I plan to earn my doctorate in materials science,hopefully at UConn. I also plan to go for an

MBA in finance. I’vegrown very interestedin business and investing over the past year. As for mycareer, I’d like to ascend to a senior vice

president, CEO, orCTO position.”

James Bosse at workin the laboratory of his advisor, Dr. Bryan Huey.

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Dr. C. Barry Carter, Department Headand professor of Chemical, Materials

& Biomolecular Engineering, was selected a Fellow of the Materials Research Society

(MRS). He wasformally recognized during the organi-zation’s springmeeting in April.

The honor ofbeing named a Fellow is bestowed

upon members who have made substantialcontributions to both science and the advancement of materials research world-wide. MRS has more than 15,000 membersfrom across the U.S. and 70 other nations.The association’s members hail from various

fields of science affecting materials science,and MRS promotes interdisciplinary goal-oriented research on materials of technological importance. Each year, fewer than .2% of members are elevated to the position of Fellow.

Dr. Carter joined the University of Connecticut in 2007. He previously heldthe 3M Harry Heltzer Endowed Chair in theDepartment of Chemical Engineering andMaterials Science and a professor in theChemical Physics Program at the Universityof Minnesota. His research interests includeinterfaces and defects in ceramics and semi-conductors, and with his graduate students,he is currently exploring the role of interfaceand defect chemistry on properties of materials for solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFC).

Carter Selected as a MRS Fellow

Atotal of five engineering faculty members were elected to membership

in the Connecticut Academy of Science andEngineering (CASE), two of them faculty in the Chemical, Materials & BiomolecularEngineering Department. They were inducted during the CASE annual meeting,which took place May 20th at the New England Air Museum, Windsor Locks. The new CMBE members are:

• MARK AINDOW, professor of Materials Science in the Department of Chemical, Materials & Biomolecular Engineering

• CATO LAURENCIN, Dean of the School of Medicine, Vice President for Health Affairs, Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Chair and professor of Chemical Engineering in the Department of Chemical, Materials & Biomolecular Engineering

His academic career spans 16 years as a faculty member at the University of Minnesota (’91-’07) and 12 years with theMaterials Science and Engineering depart-ment at Cornell University (1979-91). Dr. Carter earned his D. Phil. in Metallurgy& Science of Materials at Oxford Universityin 1975, and in 2005 he received the Sc.D.degree in Natural Sciences from CambridgeUniversity.

He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Materials Science and co-author of Transmission Electron Microscopy: a Textbookfor Materials Science and Ceramic Materials:Science & Engineering (2007). In addition,he serves as General Secretary of IFSM, the International Federation of Societies forMicroscopy, and is a past president of theMicroscopy Society of America. He has received many honors throughout his career and is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society.

Two CMBE Faculty Elected to CASE

“The Connecticut Academy of Scienceand Engineering is pleased to recognizeUConn’s newly elected members of theAcademy. Election to the Academy is basedupon scientific or engineering distinctionachieved through significant original contributions in theory or applicationsand/or unusual accomplishments in the pioneering of new and developing fields of applied science and technology,” said Myron Genel, CASE President.

Membership is limited to 250 scientistsand engineers from Connecticut’s academic,industrial and industrial communities. As a group, members identify and study issues and technological advances of concernto Connecticut residents and provide unbiased, expert advice on science- andtechnology-related issues to state govern-ment and other Connecticut institutions.

Mark Aindow

Cato Laurencin


The Chemical Engineering Program is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2009, distinguishing thepast, present and future transformations and innovations in chemical engineering. The Universityof Connecticut chemical engineering undergraduate curriculum was adopted in the 1959-1960 academic year. The department and the facilities had been authorized by the legislature several yearsearlier at the request of UConn’s President Jorgensen and representatives of Connecticut industrywho felt that this field was necessary to the School and the state’s industrial base. Continuing in theseefforts, today’s Chemical Engineering Program at UConn is on the forefront of research and acade-mia, confronting the grand challenges of the 21st century, including clean and readily available water;clean fuels and sustainable energy; advanced biomaterials; tissue engineering and systems biology.

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Joseph Zinski (‘10), an undergraduatestudent pursuing his B.S. in Chemical

Engineering with a minor in Molecular andCell Biology, aspires to a research careerperhaps involving stem cell science. This ambitious aim emerges not only fromhis keen intellect, dedication and promise,but also a life-altering accident.

One of nearly 700 students in his seniorclass, Joe graduated from Eastern HighSchool in Voorhees, NJ. He credits two influential individuals with his decision topursue a career in engineering: his struc-tural engineer father and a much-admiredhigh school teacher, AP Chemistry teacherWilliam Crozier.

When it came time to decide upon a college, Joe—a top student and outstanding swimmer—had many options,including Ivy League colleges, which, he said, “Seem to promote a cut-throat,highly competitive atmosphere amongtheir undergraduates that I found unat-tractive.” During the summer sandwichedbetween his junior and senior high schoolyears, he became acquainted with UConnthrough the Mentor Connection program,which allowed him to research organohy-drogels in the laboratory of chemistry professor Challa Kumar. The experiencewas formative, so while many of hisfriends left for the University of Maryland,Joe decided upon UConn. “I liked theUConn engineering culture, which promotes a more cooperative learning environment and works to retain students.I also found the Storrs campus beautiful,with the mix of historic and state-of-the-art new buildings.”

Shortly after finishing his freshmanyear in 2005, Joe suffered a catastrophicdiving accident in which he broke hisneck, rendering him a quadriplegic. He underwent surgeries and countless hoursof intensive physical therapy in his bid toreclaim not only mobility in his arms butalso his educational dreams. The samequalities that made him a champion swimmer are helping Joe rebuild his

Outstanding Student Transforms Tragedy into TriumphFor many people, crucial turning points define, or perhaps reroute, their life trajectories.

educational, personal and career goals.With unflagging determination, grit andhumor—and aided financially by a generous merit-based Northeast UtilitiesEngineering Scholarship—he returned toUConn to continue his education.

Despite the challenges of his reducedmobility, including the hurdles of maneu-vering campus in a wheelchair and continuing to maintain a rigorous scheduleof physical therapy, Joe has remained a serious scholar, a member of the Univer-sity’s Honors Program, a New EnglandScholar and a regular on the Deans List.He has also engaged in laboratory research over the last two years—in thearea of his former nemesis, biology—and he was recently awarded a Summer Undergraduate Research Fund (SURF)grant to continue his research on campus this summer. In addition, Joe wasaccepted into a summer internship at the

Harvard Stem Cell Institute. The covetedinternship is awarded to just a handful ofnon-Harvard students each year, and Joeis ecstatic. He plans to choreograph hissummer schedule to accommodate boththe Harvard Stem Cell and UConn SURF research projects.

IN THE LAB: MODELING A BACTERIUM�The Harvard internship is the first step toward one of Joe’s aims: to become involved in stem cell research, which holdspromise of helping individuals afflictedwith severe spinal injuries. A different typeof research opportunity presented itselfduring the 2007-08 school year, when he

began work in the laboratory of Pathobiol-ogy professor Dr. Steven Geary. There, he assisted doctoral candidate SteveSzczepanek in work involving the genomicsequencing of the bacterial pathogen Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG), whichcauses respiratory and reproductive diseases in poultry. A serious affliction thatis easily transmitted within the crampedconditions of most commercial poultry op-erations, the presence of M. gallisepticumoften causes commercial poultry farmersto destroy entire flocks to eliminate the disease, resulting in an estimated $500 millions annually in the U.S. alone. Joe said

I liked the UConn engineering culture, which promotes a morecooperative learning environment and works to retain students.

I also found the Storrs campus beautiful, with the mix of historic and state-of-the-art new buildings.


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At the April 14, 2009 meeting of the Hartford Chapter of ASM, certificates, keys, andtassels were presented to the newly elected members of the Connecticut Alpha Chapter

of Alpha Sigma Mu, the International Professional Honor Society for Materials Science andEngineering. Student membership selection is based upon scholastic standing, characterand leadership. New members inducted that evening who attended the meeting are picturedbelow, at right. Also elected to membership, but unable to attend the ASM meeting wereYan-Ling Hu, Ph.D. candidate, and Shawn Fonseca, junior MSE and ME major. Highlight-ing the technical program were research presentations by the three CMBE graduate students. Their abstracts appear below.

Materials Science & Engineering Students Inducted into Alpha Sigma Mu

SPEAKER 1 BIO: SATYESH KUMAR YADAV earned his B.S. at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (2004-2008), in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering. He begangraduate studies at UConn in fall 2008 in materials science. Area of research: Ab initio studyof II-VI semiconductors.

ABSTRACT: Although Zn based II-VI semiconductors are abundant, stable, and environmen-tally benign, their band gap energies are too large for optimal photovoltaic efficiency. If bandgap can be engineered to desired level they can be excellent materials for photovoltaic application; especially in form of core/shell nanowire (that could improve the carrier collection in solar cells by reducing the excitation recombination rate). One way to engineerband gap is through strain. By using pseudopotential density functional theory calculations,we systematically study how the band gap, optical absorption of Zn based II-VI semiconduc-tors changes with strain. We find that by suitably straining, band gap can be engineered to desired level. ZnO/ZnS core/shell nanowire with band gap of 2.07 eV matches with Shockley-Quiesser efficiency limit of 23%.

SPEAKER 2 BIO: XUEFEI WAN received a bachelor and master’s degrees from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Tianjin University, China. She enteredthe University of Connecticut in August 2006 and then joined Prof. Leon Shaw’s group in January 2007 to study the hydrogen storage materials.

ABSTRACT: Currently, lithium borohydride (LiBH4) has been studied extensively as a reversible hydrogen storage materials for onboard energy carrier applications because ofits high gravimetric hydrogen density (18.5 wt% H2). However, to date, LiBH4 has always beendehydrogenated/rehydrogenated at the high temperature because of its high temperaturestability. Our study is focusing on destabilizing the LiBH4 system and decreasing its dehydro-genated/rehydrogenated temperature through nanoengineering and mechanical activation.

SPEAKER 3 BIO: ARIF MUBAROK received a B.S. in Materials and Metallurgical Engineering(MME) from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka,Bangladesh in November 2004. He enrolled as a Ph.D. student at the University of Connecticut in August 2006. In January 2007, he became a Research Assistant in the Nano-structured Metallic Materials group. His supervising faculty is Prof. Rainer Hebert.

ABSTRACT: Bulk metallic glasses currently attract significant attention in the field of materials science with many unique and desirable properties, such as high strength, good hardness, good wear resistance etc. Thermal expansion behavior is very important butvery few studies were done to elucidate the factors affecting the true thermal expansion ofbulk metallic glass. Several factors affect the thermal expansion of amorphous alloy such as structural relaxation, viscosity, crystallization, heat-treatment condition etc and they areconsidered as non-reversible factors. We have synthesized a new Cu50Hf41.5 Al8.5 bulk glassyalloy in our lab and we used a new approach i.e. temperature modulated TMA to separate the true thermal expansion from other non-reversible affects.

From left to right: Asst. Prof. Rainer Hebert, Arif Mubarok, Xuefei Wan, Satyesh Kumar Yadav,and Dr. Sam Christy, Welding and Joining Discipline Chief, Global Services Engineering(Pratt & Whitney)

From left to right: Robin Bright, newly electedmember, Ph.D. candidate; Tippawan Markmaitree,newly elected member, Ph.D. candidate; VincentPalumbo, current Chapter President; James Bosse,newly elected member, senior MSE major; Prof. Harold Brody, chapter advisor; EricaMarcinek, newly elected member, junior MSEmajor; Keith Grayeb, newly elected member, senior MSE major; and Joseph Rajan, newly elected member, junior MSE major. Also participat-ing in the induction ceremony, but not pictured,were Ellen Lavorato, Chapter Vice-President, and Joseph Koplar, member, senior MSE major.

Photos by Arnie Grot


M. gallisepticum lacks a cell wall, whichmakes treatment difficult because antibiotics that inhibit cell wall formationcannot be used.

The aim of Dr. Geary’s research program on M. gallisepticum, funded byNSF and USDA, is to contribute toward thedevelopment of effective avian vaccinesand treatments.

Calling it a “small genomic bacterium,with just under 1 million base pairs, andthe first I’ve gotten to know intimately,”Joe pointed out that M. gallisepticum alsocauses conjunctivitis in songbirds and displays degenerative evolution: over time,unused genes simply disappear from thegenome. He said that although MG hasbeen sequenced, only a portion of thebacterium's proteins, which are responsi-ble for the bacterium’s virulence, havebeen identified.

The research interested him, so whenit came time to choose a project for hissenior Honors thesis, he worked out anarrangement with Dr. Geary and Dr. RanjanSrivastava, an associate professor ofChemical, Materials & Biomolecular Engineering, to co-advise his continuedresearch on M. gallisepticum over thesummer and through next year.

The long-term project involves both“wet lab” and intensive computing. UnderDr. Srivastava’s guidance, Joe said, “I willstudy the metabolism of various cell typesby using metabolic models and mass balances to create working digital modelsof the living cell. These models can be

Joe Zinski continued from page 16

used to predict the use and production ofmetabolites [such as oxygen, glucose, CO2 and certain amino acids] as well asthe growth rate of the cells. The model can then be easily modified to predict themetabolic response of deleting certain reactions or pathways. I’m building ametabolic model of M. gallisepticum withthe aim of using it to predict which genescould be eliminated to create vaccines.”

Joe’s development of a metabolicmodel will involve the use of complex software tools, including Pathway Tools, a bioinformatics software system that allows researchers to predict metabolicpathways based on an organism’sgenome, along with a probability-basedBayesian classifier. For the M. gallisep-ticum portion, he will rely on genomic sequencing and annotations developedin Dr. Geary’s lab, largely by Research Associate and microbiologist Edan Tulman.

After developing a computer model, in the Pathobiology wet lab, Joe will focusprimarily on studying virulence factors inM. gallisepticum. “I’ll perform assays tomonitor the uptake and discharge of certain metabolites. I’ll also measure cellgrowth. Then I’ll compare my experimentaldata against the model and modify themodel as needed to ensure it accuratelypredicts the real performance of the bacterium.”

In the final phase, working with otherresearchers in Dr. Geary’s lab, Joe plans to compare two similar strains of the bacterium, a wild strain and a clone thathas been “evolved” such that it is non-vir-ulent. This analysis will allow him to create

a more accurate metabolic model for theevolved, non-virulent strain of M. gallisep-ticum and to compare the virulent and non-virulent models to identify differences.The modeling results may then provide a basis for development of new drugs totreat the virulent strain.

Joe will graduate with his B.S. degreein May ‘10, but he plans to continue his education by pursuing a doctorate in either metabolic engineering or stem cellresearch, with the goal of becoming an academic researcher.

FUNDRAISING FOR DISABLED ATHLETES�Joe’s commitment to improving the lives of individuals with spinal cord injuries extends beyond the research lab. Lastyear, he organized a fundraiser for theSwim With Mike Foundation (SWM), a University of Southern California-basedorganization that provides scholarships for former athletes who experienced a disabling injury or condition. Joe wasawarded this merit-based scholarship in2006 and it—in combination with theNortheast Utilities Engineering Scholar-ship—provided the financial support heneeded to continue his education followinghis injury. SWM sponsors annual swim-a-thons at USC and the University of Hawaiito raise funds in support of these criticalscholarships. Last year, Joe coordinatedwith the Honors Council and Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) to host a very successful swim-a-thon/water volleyball tournament fundraiser at UConn.

Congratulations to This Year’s MSE Program CapstoneSenior Design Project Final Presentation Winners! First Place ($600 per student): JASON BROWN, ROBERT SCALISE

BRIEF TITLE: Duplex Stainless Steel WeldingElectrode ProceduresINDUSTRY SPONSOR: General Dynamics-Electric BoatINDUSTRY ADVISORS: Neil Fichtelberg, Robert Peirce, and Jeff Hall FACULTY ADVISOR: Prof. Harold Brody

Second Place ($400 per student):STEPHANIE GAGLIARDI, MELISSA JACQUES

BRIEF TITLE: Design and Implement an Accel-erated Test to Determine and Improve WearProperties of a Dynamics Control ElementINDUSTRY SPONSOR: Hamilton SundstrandINDUSTRY ADVISORS: Kevin Rankin, BlairSmith, Scott Beloncik and Glenn Grandischer FACULTY ADVISORS: Profs. George Rossettiand Thomas Barber (ME)

Third Place ($200 per student): JAMES BOSSE, JULIE MACKEY

BRIEF TITLE: Design Rule Development for High Strength Investment Cast Heat TreatedAluminum AlloysINDUSTRY SPONSOR: Integra-Cast, Inc.INDUSTRY ADVISOR: David Arcesi FACULTY ADVISOR: Prof. Harold Brody

18 [ CoMBinE ]

Jonathan Winterstein, a doctoral student in Materials Science &

Engineering, has been awarded a FulbrightScholarship to carry out research at theAustrian Centre for Electron Microscopyand Nanoanalysis—an institute renownedfor its high-quality electron spectroscopyand microscopy. The Centre is associatedwith the Technical University of Graz (TU Graz). Jonathan, who earned his B.S.at Washington State University—Pullman,is advised by Dr. C. Barry Carter, Depart-ment Head of Chemical, Materials & Biomolecular Engineering.

The Fulbright program is sponsored bythe U.S. government and seeks to enhancecultural awareness and cooperation between U.S. scientists and professionalsand peers around the globe.

Jonathan’s Fulbright research will focus on ceramic fuel cell materials. He explained that ceramics play an importantrole in making next-generation clean energy technologies, such assolar and wind power, afford-able and reliable. “Currently,cost is restrictive and the spreadof solar and wind resources isnot uniform; that is, not everypart of the world receives equalwind or sunlight. Solutions tothese barriers may come in theform of new technologies basedon ceramic materials. For exam-ple, some ceramic materials canbe used to convert solar heatinto hydrogen that can later beused to power fuel cells. Hydrogen technology is a potential means to reducecost and distribution difficulties of solarand wind power.”

He continued “Many technologies to convert plant material to biofuels alsodepend on ceramics. Ceramic fuel cells,which convert fuel to electricity withoutburning the fuel, using clean hydrogen orbiofuels are among the most promisingtechnologies for clean energy generation.”

His research at UConn has focused onthe chemical and structural characteriza-tion of oxide ceramics and, in particular,cerium oxide, which is a promising mate-rial for energy technologies. A principaltool of his work is transmission electron

Winterstein Lands Fulbright Scholarship

microscopy, or TEM, which permits researchers to understand materials at thenanometer scale.

Jonathan seeks to control defects in the ceramic materials in order to optimizethe performance of fuel cell materials. Heexplained that he hopes to answer many of the unresolved questions about ceriumoxide materials, including the nature andmanagement of defects and their influenceon fuel cell performance. He also hopes togain a better understanding of ceramicproperties and structure with the objectiveof applying them in catalysis.

Visualizing things on such a minutelevel requires the use of TEM, which hedeems “critical to determining how theprocessing of materials influences the finalperformance of a product. During process-ing, nanometer-scale structures and defectsare introduced into materials that must becontrolled to produce a useful product.TEM can provide images and data about

these defects that are unobtainable byother techniques. Combining TEM withspectroscopy is particularly powerful forstudying defects in materials.”

Jonathan’s nine-month Fulbright awardwill provide him access to the Centre’sunique resources. “Few institutions in theworld offer the state-of-the-art equipmentavailable at TU Graz and no other institutehas the same level of expertise in this field as that possessed by researchers at TU Graz.”

Jonathan previously received a prestigious National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship, which has supported much of his doctoral research.

Professor Yong Wang of Chemical Engineering received one of two state

grants awarded to researchers on theUConn Storrs campus. The state-fundedgrants are presented through the Connecticut Stem Cell Research AdvisoryCommittee (SCRAC) to advance embryonicand human adult stem cell research inConnecticut. The funding program was

approved by legislation in 2005and continuesthrough 2015. Dr. Wang’s proposal wasevaluated against77 statewide

requests. A total of 12 seed grants wereaccepted for funding.

Dr. Wang intends to engineer biomole-cules to create novel nanostructures fordrug delivery, regenerative medicine, and clinical diagnosis. In this particular research, he will use peptide and oligonucleotides as structural units to create hybrid nanostructures for RNA interference (RNAi) in hESCs. RNAi is amechanism discovered by by two Nobellaureates, Professor Andrew Z. Fire atStanford University, California, and Profes-sor Craig C. Mello at the University ofMassachusetts Medical School in 1998. It has been proven that RNAi is very important for both the functions of cellsand the development of organisms. Furthermore, the discovery of RNAi hashad a broad impact on life science and is expected to lead to novel medical applications in the future.

RNAi has recently been applied tohESC studies for the discovery and validation of gene functions and the differ-entiation control by means of the deliveryof small interfering RNA (siRNA), a 21-23nucleotide (nt) duplex with 2-3 nt overhangs. However, contrasted with most

Wang AwardedState Grant for Stem Cell Research



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Say the phrase “spring break” and visionscome to mind of bikini bacchanalia in

Cancun, black diamond slopes at Vail, ormaybe a quick cruise around the Caribbean.For some dedicated engineering students,the week was spent in rebuilding spirits andhomes in New Orleans, which shows littleprogress even four years after the devastat-ing events of hurricane Katrina.

Among the students taking the long, 27-hour bus ride to New Orleans in Marchwere junior engineering students DanielleLaPointe (Biomedical Engineering), EricDorsey and Mike Kowalczyk (both CivilEngineering), Lindsey Fink (Chemical Engineering), and senior Danny S. Lee(Mechanical Engineering).

The students were part of several organized college groups from Connecticutmaking the trek. Eric, Danielle and Mikebelong to the on-campus InterVarsity Chris-tian Fellowship, while Lindsey and Dannywere part of a non-denominational contin-

gent that worked for an organization called“Rebuilding Together New Orleans.”

A second-timer who volunteered duringlast year’s spring break as well, Eric hasworked in construction jobs during the lasttwo summers and found that his engineer-ing training was helpful in understandingwhy New Orleans sustained such devastat-ing damage. “As an engineer, you see thereal problem was the failure of the levee system to withstand the storm surge.” Hesaid the flood damage was still widespreadthroughout the Ninth Ward and Industrial

Canal area, where plant life has proliferatedunhindered amid the ruined buildings and roads.

Lindsey agreed that she drew on muscle,more than her engineering education, during the week’s toil. But like Eric, she felt her background helped her betterunderstand the issues surrounding the levee reconstruction and why the levees ultimately failed during the hurricane.

Eric worked in the Ninth Ward withabout a dozen other volunteers and residents re-roofing a family home. He saidthe one-story home, damaged by 10-footfloodwaters, belonged to a family ofnine who lost everything but an atticfan. The patriarch, an engineer bytrade, and his three sons workedalongside the volunteers throughoutthe week—driven to speed by thegovernment’s imposed deadline of90 days for completion of certainrepairs. The volunteers were shocked to

learn that families who cannot meet the repair deadline will have their homes foreclosed on by the government.

The work Lindsey and Danny tackledinvolved demolition. Lindsey explained thatthe Rebuilding Together organization strivesto avoid purchasing new materials in the rebuilding efforts, preferring to use recycledmaterials. “My team worked at taking apartan abandoned house, salvaging wood, nails,and other materials that could be reused inthe construction of a house. It was neat tosee that the organization was trying to recycle and reuse old materials.”

The students were all motivated to volunteer by a desire to help others. Lindseycommented, “The alternative spring breakprogram provides a convenient way togive back and help out those less fortu-nate. I had an amazing experience.Not only was it great to see anotherpart of the country and meet somany new people, I was able to

help out other people in the process.” Sheleft New Orleans with a strong sense ofcommitment. “Although it did take timeand hard work to help others, I benefitedand got so much more out of the experiencethan anything I could have put into it. Theexperience also helped to cement my desireto continue working to help others in thefuture and in my career.”

During the week, Eric’s fellow UConnengineering students and InterVarsity members, Mike and Danielle, respectivelypainted baseboards and finished a bedroomat a home in nearby Slidell, and helped tobring order to rooms stuffed with donatedclothing and other goods available to families still in desperate need.

Eric rated the week’s experience a 10 outof 10 and said he plans to volunteer for the

Engineering Students Help Rebuild New Orleans

The alternative spring break program provides a convenientway to give back and help out those less fortunate. I had an amazing experience. Not only was it great to see another

part of the country and meet so many new people, I was able to help out other people in the process.

continued on nxt page


effort againnext year. He summed up his experiencethis way:“The peopleof New Orleans feelforgotten. When you drive through thearea, you see just how little has been doneto reclaim the city, rebuild homes and lives. Entire sections of the city remainuntouched. And you realize people areactually living in these destroyed homes,without utilities and basic services. So itwas inspiring to be able to give some-thing of ourselves toward making thesepeople feel they’re not invisible.”

Lindsey agreed that New Orleans appears to have fallen off America’s radarscreen as an area in need. “The hurricanetook place almost four years ago, and thegovernment funding for relief efforts has greatly decreased. As a result, the revitalization of New Orleans and thesurrounding areas would literally not bepossible without volunteers. Volunteeringgives you a sense of purpose and selfworth; the work we did made a direct impact on someone else’s life.”

Engineering students have donecleanup efforts in other parts of the hurricane-damaged Gulf Coast region as well. Senior Chemical Engineer JaneBugbee and other members of the University’s Honors Program Counciltraveled to Pearlington, Mississippi during the 2008 spring break. Jane’s teamwas tasked with executing finishingtouches—including indoor and outdoorpainting and linoleum floor installa-tion—on new houses built by thePearlington Recovery Center for familiesstill in government trailers. She said, “Onexisting houses that were salvageable, wedid repairs on water-damaged parts; forinstance, on one house that was on stilts,all the insulation underneath had beenwater damaged, so we replaced it.”

She found the experience deeplymeaningful. “I gained the ability to lookat my life from a different perspective.The people down there lost literallyeverything to hurricane Katrina but werestill upbeat, welcoming and grateful justfor life itself.”

New Orleans continued from previous page

UNDERGRADUATESJames L. BosseJason J. BrownJessica L. DeMartinoStephanie Lucille GagliardiBrian T. GardenerKeith Michael GrayebRichard GurskyDaniel Karl GyntherMelissa Cyndia JacquesTimothy James KazienkoJoseph Thomas Koplar

Materials Science & EngineeringClass of 2009

PH.D. RECIPIENTS 2008-2009 ACADEMIC YEARBamidele AllimiTitle: Metal - Insulator Transition in Epitaxial V2O3 Thin FilmsAdvisor: Pamir Alpay

Yanling HuTitle: Microstructure and Phase Stability of a Quinternary Nb-Mo-Cr-Al-Si AlloyAdvisor: Mark Aindow

Will OsbornTitle: Development of Nano-engineered Powders of LiNH2

for Solid State Hydrogen StorageAdvisor: Leon Shaw

MASTER’S DEGREE RECIPIENTS 2008-2009 ACADEMIC YEARJacquelynn GarofanoTitle: Characterization of Microstructural Effects in Percussion

Laser-Drilled Ni-based Superalloy P/M IN100Advisor: Mark Aindow

Jen-Tai LiTitle: Investigation of Catalyst Degradation in Phosphoric Acid Fuel CellsAdvisor: Mark Aindow

Matthew Jason KubaJulie Anne MackeyMisael ManjarresGregory Scott Santone, Jr.Robert Sean ScaliseSalay Robyn StannardAnthony Lee TenaglierAdam Jeffrey WentworthAlexander Zygmunt WilliamsSarah Catherine Winiarz

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RESEARCH UPDATE: New Faculty Members

Drs. Yusuf Khan, Sangamesh Kumbar, Lakshmi Nair, Syam Nukavarapu, and

Daniel Wan all joined the Department ofOrthopaedic Surgery at UCHC and the Department of Chemical, Materials, and Biomolecular Engineering at UCONN

Storrs last September. Theymake up a largepart of the groupthat came from the University of Virginia with Dr.Cato T. Laurencin.

The group is currently funded by NIH, NSF, DOD, and the Coulter Foundation tosupport their research interests, which include musculoskeletal tissue engineer-ing, drug delivery, and biomaterials development, with each member pursuingindividual aspects of these topics.

Dr. Kumbar’s research program aims todevelop mechanically competent, porous,3-D scaffolds functionalized with nanofiberstructures of natural origin for bone repairand regeneration applications. He has applied for a U.S. provisional patent on thistechnology. He has also submitted a grantproposal to the Wallace H. Coulter Foun-dation 2009 Early Career Translational Re-search Awards in Biomedical Engineering.Dr. Kumbar’s other research program aimsto develop injectable particulatechemotherapeutic agent delivery systemsand intends to submit a grant proposal toProstate Cancer Idea Development Awardsponsored by the Department of Defense.

Dr. Nair’s areas of research focus on developing biomaterials for muscu-loskeletal tissue repair and regeneration.A significant part of Dr. Nair’s program iscommitted to using biocompatible andbioactive materials and molecules to modulate cellular response for scar-lesstissue regeneration. Additional ongoingprograms include development of injectable biocompatible polymeric deliv-ery vehicles for soft tissue regeneration.

Dr. Khan has been working on the development of biodegradable compositescaffolds for bone regeneration and repair,and methodologies to incorporate thesescaffolds into current clinical treatmentsfor fracture non-unions. He is also

developing biphasic delivery strategies utilizing microsphere-based delivery systems, and presented his latest findingsin this area at the 2008 Society for Biomaterials meeting in Atlanta, GA.

Dr. Nukavarapu is looking at developingbiodegradable scaffolds comprising waterdispersible carbon nanotubes. Such scaf-folds offer bone compatible mechanicalproperties and are suitable for bone regeneration. Part of the investigation was patented and presented at a TissueEngineering meeting, TERMIS-2009.

Dr. Wan is working on intervertebraldisc regeneration research. He alsoserved as one of the abstract reviewers for 2009 Society for the Biomaterials meeting held in San Antonio.

The group was also well-representedat the 2009 Society for Biomaterials meeting of the Orthopaedic Special Inter-est Group in which Dr. Nair was electedChair, Dr. Kumbar elected Vice Chair, Dr. Khan elected Program Chair, and Dr.Nukavarapu elected Treasurer/Secretary.

Following is a list of presentations,patent applications, and publications fromthe group over the last year:

PRESENTATIONS/PRESENTED PAPERS:1. Injectable Thermosensitive Chitosan Based

Scaffolds for Musculoskeletal Tissue Regeneration. Nair LS & Laurencin CT, TERMIS 2008, December 7, 2008

2. Injectable Stimuli Sensitive Scaffolds for Musculoskeletal Tissue regeneration. Nair LS. 3rd annual research day, New England Musculoskeletal Institute, University of Connecticut Health Center, March 2009.

3. Nair LS, Invited Lecture on Nanotechnologyand Tissue Engineering Stevens Institute, New Jersey, February 2009.

4. Nair LS. Invited lecture on Nanotechnology and Tissue Engineering ASME-NSF work shop, Boston, November 2008

5. Khan Y, Corgiat B, Ondesko K. Novel Bilayered Polymeric Microspheres for BoneTissue Engineering Applications: Effects of Alginate Coating on Release Kinetics. Society for Biomaterials Annual Meeting September 2008

6. Use of Polymer Ceramic Composites for Bone Repair. Khan Y. 3rd annual research day, New England Musculoskeletal Institute, University of Connecticut Health Center, March 2009.

PATENT APPLICATIONS: Kumbar, SG; Laurencin, C.T.: Nukavarapu, S.P.;J. Roshan; Mechanically competent natural polymer based bone grafts for bone repair andregeneration. US provisional patent filed on 02/23/2009, Provisional Application Serial No.61/154,5.

PUBLICATIONS:1. Fabrication, Characterization, and In Vitro

Evaluation of Poly(lactic acid glycolic acid)/Nano-hydroxyapatite Composite Microsphere-based Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering in Rotating Bioreactors. Lv Q, Nair L, Laurencin CT.J Biomed Mater Res A. 2008 Nov 24. [Epub ahead of print].

2. Curcumin Loaded poly(caprolactone) Nanofibers: Diabetic Wound Dressing with Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Properties. Merrell J, McLaughlin S, Tie L, Laurencin CT, Chen A, Nair LS. Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology 2009 (in press).

3. Biodegradable Polyphosphazene-Nanohydroxyapatite Composite Nanofibers: Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering Bhattacharyya S, Kumbar SG, Khan YM, Nair LS, Singh A, Krogman NR, Brown PW, Allcock HR, Laurencin CT. J. Biomed. Nanotechnol. 2009: 5, 69–75.

4. Electrospun Poly(lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) Scaffolds for Skin Tissue Engineering. Kumbar SG, Nukavarapu SP, James R, Nair LS, Laurencin CT.Biomaterials. 2008 Oct;29(30):4100-7.

5. Recent Developments in Nanoparticle Based Targeted Delivery of Chemotherapeutics. Peach, MS, Kumbar, SG*.; Brown, JL.; Laurencin, C T Current Bioactive Compounds 2009, 5, (In Press)


Associate professor George Rossettiand his team are developing new

compositional families of piezoelectric ceramics that efficiently interconvert electrical and mechanical energy and find

numerous applications insolid-state devices for actuation, sensing and energy harvesting. Materi-als with the highest electro-

mechanical coupling efficiencies andgreatest piezoelectric response tend to be found in multi-component perovskite-structured oxide systems that display complex hierarchical microstructures withfeatures having characteristic dimensionsranging from just a few nanometers up tofractions of a millimeter. An important ele-ment of Dr. Rossetti’s research concernsthe development of a phenomenologicaltheory that can reproduce the genericphase diagram topologies of these sys-tems and can be used to understand howmicrostructure evolution is influenced bythe time-temperature-transformation history experienced during processing.Using this theory, Dr. Rossetti and his

collaborators have found it possible to ex-plain why specific microstructural featuresare observed only in particular regions of these phase diagrams, providing new insights into how to tailor materials chem-istry and processing to achieve propertiesthat are optimized for device applications.His research on this topic is currentlybeing applied to the development of highpower sonar projectors under a University-Laboratory Initiative program sponsored bythe Office of Naval Research, and to theprocessing of materials for anhystereticactuators under a Short Term InnovativeResearch project supported by the ArmyResearch Office. Dr. Rossetti also receivessupport from the Department of HomelandSecurity as a participant in UConn’s National in Transportation Security Centerof Excellence. Working as part of a teamwith CMBE professors Rainer Hebert andBryan Huey and Civil & Environmental Engineering professor Jeong-Ho Kim, research is underway to design and fabricate novel hybrid piezoelectric transducer architectures having bothsensing and energy

harvesting capabilities. These transducersare intended to function as structural sensing elements that scavenge energyfrom ambient sources to operate withoutan external power supply. If successfullydeveloped, these materials would find applications in performing autonomousstructural health monitoring of bridges or other critical components of the transportation infrastructure. Dr. Rossetticurrently has three doctoral studentsworking under his direction and is continu-ing to build specialized laboratory facilitiesfor carrying out processing studies and property measurements on dielectric,piezoelectric and other electroceramicmaterials.

Piezoelectric Materials and Devices

Associate professor Brian Willis joinedthe CMBE Department in January ’09,

and serves as the Program Director forChemical Engineering. His duties includeteaching, research, and organizing departmental educational programs andoutreach activities. Dr. Willis maintains avigorous research program focused on

engineering nanoscalestructures for energy andelectronics applications by controlling chemical reactions at surfaces.

Using tools such as scanning tunneling microscopy and tunneling spectroscopy,his group investigates chemical reactionswith nanometer scale precision. Combinedwith computational modeling, these exper-iments provide detailed insight into thegrowth of materials one layer at time usingatomic layer deposition. Recent highlightsinclude the reversible adsorption and

Engineering When Nanometers Countdetection of single molecules using tunnel-ing spectroscopy in monolithic nanoscopictunnel junctions (MNTJs). These MNTJdevices are promising for biomimeticchemical sensors that distinguish mole-cules based on vibrational characteristics.Current activities involve scaling these devices for massively parallel sensor arrays. Other applications include energyharvesting through light detection andthermoelectric elements. Other activitiesinclude integrating epitaxial oxides with semiconductors and investigatingsubstrate degradation in PEM fuel cells.Dr. Willis’ research is supported by severalresearch grants from the National ScienceFoundation, Office of Naval Research, Department of Energy, and Intel Corpora-tion. Dr. Willis will teach this first chemicalengineering course in fall 2009.

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Since joining CMBE in August, assistantprofessor William Mustain has been

extremely active. He recruited two gradu-ate and four undergraduate researchers to his research group, which has initiatedwork on a diverse range of electrochemi-

cally oriented projects including, characterizingnew non-carbon supportmaterials for acid mediaelectrocatalysts, quantify-

ing the effect of impurities on the oxygenreduction reaction in anion exchangemembrane fuel cells, developing a roomtemperature carbonate fuel cell, designinglow hydrolysis anode electrocatalysts fordirect borohydride fuel cells and corrosionmitigation of bipolar plate materials.

Recently, his Ph.D. institution, the IllinoisInstitute of Technology, recognized Dr. Mustain’s professional achievementsby awarding him the IIT Outstanding YoungAlumni Award, a top honor for recent IITgraduates. Dr. Mustain has also been quitebusy writing proposals to both industryand federal agencies and will submit hisfirst NSF CAREER proposal this summer. Finally, he has become quite visible outside of the university, becoming an active member in the Energy TechnologyDivision of the Electrochemical Society,chairing sessions and organizing symposia. He has also been highly activein university outreach with local second-ary schools and industry.

RESEARCH UPDATE: New Faculty Members con’t.

Dr. Jeffrey McCutcheon is the NortheastUtilities Assistant Professor in

Environmental Engineering Educationhoused in the CMBE department. He is acenter faculty at the Center of Environ-mental Sciences and Engineering and hascourtesy affiliations with the Institute ofMaterials Science and the ConnecticutGlobal Fuel Cell Center. He also has acourtesy appointment in the Environmen-

tal Engineering Program. Dr. McCutcheon’s researchinterests involve novel polymer processing meth-ods applied to membrane

separations for applications to sustainablewater and power generation. He has 10publications, 3 patent disclosures, and 19conference proceedings based on his research on osmotically driven membraneprocesses, most notably forward osmosis. Dr. McCutcheon is considered a leader inthe bourgeoning field of osmotically drivenmembrane processes. Dr. McCutcheon received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering

from the University of Dayton in 2002 andhis Ph.D. in Chemical and Environmentalfrom Yale University in 2007. Dr. Mc-Cutcheon held a post-doctoral position atStony Brook University while working in asmall startup company which was devel-oping new thin film composite membranesfor desalination. Dr. McCutcheon wastechnical group leader of the team of engineers developing this novel mem-brane technology. Dr. McCutcheon’s laboratory has quickly developed in hisfirst year at UConn. He currently is advising 3 graduate students and 2 under-graduate honors students. His researchinterests are in membrane design for novel separation processes, transportphenomenon at polymer interfaces, and electrospinning polymer nanofibersfor sustainable water and energy applications.

Associate professor Pamir Alpay hasbeen given the United Technologies

Corporation(UTC) Professorin Engineering InnovationAward. Theawards are inrecognition of the exceptionalachievements of faculty at the Assistantand Associate Professor ranks. These professors exemplify excellence and are at the top of their area of research. This three year appointment provides Dr. Alpay with discretionary funds of$5000 a year to promote his professionaldevelopment and growth.

Dr. Alpay’s research concentrates onfunctional or "smart" materials systems.These include ferroelectric, ferromag-netic, and shape memory materials. His current research programs focus onthe development of frequency agile tunable devices for telecommunicationsand self-healing electrical contacts formilitary applications.

Alpay ReceivesUnited Technologies Corporation Professor in Engineering Innovation Award

types of cells, hESCs are very fragile butresistant to transfection. As a result, safeand efficient siRNA delivery into hESCs remains a challenge. Therefore, there is a clear need to develop novel methodsand reagents to improve siRNA deliveryinto hESCs. The objective of Dr. Wang’s research is aimed at developing novel hybrid molecules for siRNA delivery with-out the need of using viruses, transfectionreagents, or physical tools. The hypothesis—that the peptides will perform like keysto open the closed doors in the cells andtherefore achieve the efficient delivery—will be tested through three specific aims:

1. Synthesis and characterization of hybrid peptide/RNA molecules;

2. Characterization of binding, internalization and distribution of hybrid molecules;

3. Evaluation of gene silencing effect.

This will be the first development of abifunctional hybrid molecule-based delivery system for siRNA delivery. The hybrid peptide/RNA molecules are expected to provide not only a platform to enhance gene silencing in hESCs, but also a convenient tool of doing tempo-ral control of gene silencing in hESCs. A successful outcome will strengthenhESC research and applications in thestate of Connecticut.

“These grants are further testament to the ground-breaking work in stem cellresearch that’s going on at UConn’s HealthCenter and Storrs campuses,” said UConnPresident Michael Hogan. “This further investment by the State in our stem cellprograms reflects the leadership role that UConn researchers are playing in scientific discovery and state-of-the-arthealthcare. I’m very proud of the work of our research teams.”

The research is expected to be finished in two years.

Yong Wang continued from page 19

UNDERGRADUATESDaniel D. AnastasioSarah Elizabeth BerthRyan James BowerKathryn Mae BowersMarjorie Rose BruceJane Elizabeth BugbeeFirdaous ChalhaouiAlexandra M. CooperWilliam Spencer CushmanReece DelongEiner M. DosSantosAndrew Wayne FlorianChristopher Mathew GaitoMichael J. GentileHunter Scott Giles

Chemical Engineering Class of 2009

PH.D. RECIPIENTS 2008-2009 ACADEMIC YEARRobert Paul BrookerTitle: The Effect of the Addition of Silicotungstic Acid to the Electrodes

of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel CellsAdvisor: Richard Parnas

Rachelle HowardTitle: Automated Autocorrelation Function Analysis for Detection,

Diagnosis and Correction of Underperforming ControllersAdvisor: Doug Cooper

Shurui ShangTitle: Synthesis of Comb-like Copolymers from Renewable Resources:

Itaconic Anhydride, Stearyl Methacrylate and Lactic Acid Advisor: Robert Weiss

MASTER’S DEGREE RECIPIENTS 2008-2009 ACADEMIC YEARAyorinde AwonysiTitle: Fabrication of γ -Alumina Supported Palladium Membrane Composite:

for hydrogen gas separation and applications in methanol steam reforming process

Advisor: Ben Wilhite

Zeeshan GulKyle Richard HawleyLauren Dorothy HelstoskyJames KtoridesKathleen L. MalacarneAlyssa Ando MidgetteDavid Ryan RitchieChristopher Walter RobackAlexander Anthony RubbiccoAshley Kim SchempfTim Ernest StroutAndrew James ThompsonMelissa Lynn TweedieJennifer Joy VanoudenhoveDan Wu


Chemical Engineering Faculty

26 [ CoMBinE ]

DOUG COOPERPh.D., University of ColoradoProcess Modeling & Control

CATO LAURENCINPh.D., MITM.D., Harvard Medical SchoolAdvanced Biomaterials, Tissue Engineering,Biodegradable Polymers, Nanotechnology

YU LEIPh.D., University of California-RiversideBionanotechnology, Bio/nanosensors, Bio/nanomaterials, Remediation

JEFFREY MCCUTCHEONPh.D., Yale UniversityMembrane Separations, Polymer Electrospin-ning, Forward Osmosis/Osmotic Power

WILLIAM MUSTAINPh.D., Illinois Institute of TechnologyProton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, Aerobic Biocathodes for Oxygen Reduction,Electrochemical Kinetics & Ionic Transport

RICHARD PARNASPh.D., University of California, Los AngelesBiodiesel Power Generation, PEM Fuel Cell, Polymer Gels & Filled Polymers

MONTGOMERY SHAWPh.D., Princeton UniversityPolymer Rheology & Processing

LESLIE SHORPh.D., Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyEnvironmental Biotechnology, Water Quality and Sustainability

RANJAN SRIVASTAVAPh.D., University of Maryland, College ParkSystems Biology & Metabolic Engineering

YONG WANGPh.D., Duke UniversityNanobiotechnology, Nanomedicine & Drug Delivery

BENJAMIN WILHITESc.D., University of Notre DameMicroreactors & Sustainable Energy

BRIAN WILLISPh.D., MITNanotechnology, Molecular Electronics, Semiconductor Devices & Fuel Cells

C. BARRY CARTERDEPARTMENT HEAD, PROFESSOR OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AND MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERINGD. Phil., Oxford University Sc.D., Cambridge UniversityInterfaces & Defects, Ceramics Materials, TEM, AFM, Energy


Materials Science & Engineering Faculty

MARK AINDOWPh.D., University of Liverpool, England Defects and Interfaces, Microstructural Development in Alloys and Thin Films, and Electron Microscopy

PAMIR ALPAYPh.D., University of MarylandFerroic Materials, Thermodynamics & Kinetics of Phase Transformations, Thin Film Deposition

HAROLD BRODYSc.D., MITMaterials Processing, Alloy Casting and Solidification, and Process Models

PUXIAN GAOPh.D., Georgia Institute of TechnologyNanomaterials Synthesis and Characterization, Nanotechnology for Biomedical Applications

RAINER HEBERTPh.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison Phase Transformations, Metals and Alloys, Metallic Glasses, Severe Plastic Deformation Processing

BRYAN HUEYPh.D., University of PennsylvaniaScanning Probe Microscopy, Nanoscience, Electronic Materials, Ferroelectrics and Piezoelectrics, Chalcogenide Glass PhaseChange Materials, Nano-education, Chemo-mechanical Response of Cells and Tissues to Nanoindentation

THEO KATTAMISSc.D., MITSolidification and Metals Joining, MaterialsProcessing, Thin Coatings and Tribology

HARRIS MARCUSPh.D., Northwestern UniversityFreeform Fabrication, Mechanical Behavior, Fatigue, Nanotechnology, and Photonic Crystals

RAMAMURTHY RAMPRASADPh.D., University of IllinoisMaterials Modeling & Computation, Nano-materials, Thin Films & Interfaces, Photonic Crystals & Meta-materials

GEORGE ROSSETTI, JR.Ph.D., Pennsylvania State UniversityElectroceramic Materials: Crystal Chemistryand Physics, Particulate Processing, and Crystal Growth

PRABHAKAR SINGHPh.D., University of Sheffield, EnglandMBA, University of PittsburghFuel Cells & Energy

LEON SHAWPh.D., University of FloridaNanomaterials, Coatings, Composites, Freeform Fabrication, and Hydrogen Storage Materials

MEI WEIPh.D., University of New South Wales, AustraliaBiomaterials, Ceramics, Coatings and Composites

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