DeVELOPING OUR POTENTIAL

The fall semester has proven to be an exceptionally busy period, with several activities getting underway simultaneously. The first, and in many ways the most important, activity is the recruitment of new faculty members for the department. The University has given us authorization to recruit for a senior position in the area of biotechnology and a junior position in the area of micro/nanoelectronics or computational biology. Both recruitment efforts are now in full gear, and I hope to report on our successes in the next NewsJournal.

The second important activity is getting ready for the visit in the fall of 2006 by the American Board on Engineering Training (ABET). In preparation for this event, we are putting together a document detailing the department's assessment of its effectiveness in undergraduate education. I am very pleased that all of my colleagues have agreed to help me in the preparation of this material.

Product Development Program

The department has made significant progress over the past two months in our objective of implementing a graduate-level Product Development Program (PDP) by fall of 2006. Our PDP Executive Director, Keith Alexander (B.S. '78, Ph.D. '83), has conducted extensive interviews with industry, faculty and students to raise awareness and develop a detailed plan for each major component of this innovative initiative.

"Four initial specialization areas for our Product Development Program are likely to be biotechnology, microelectronics/ nanoscience, consumer products and new ventures."As currently structured, the program will offer a one- calendar-year course of study that results in a Master's in Chemical Engineering with an emphasis in product development. In terms of academic content, the program will be composed of three basic elements. First, a set of mandatory customized and comprehensive courses will provide a robust background in the fundamentals of product development with an emphasis on the chemical engineering perspective. Second, a combination of required and elective courses focused in an area of industry specialization will be chosen by students before they enter the program. (Our market interviews suggest that four initial specialization areas may be particularly attractive to students and industry: biotechnology, microelectronics/nanoscience, consumer products and new ventures.) Lastly, each student will be required to complete a challenging two-month field study assignment related to product development practice in an industrial setting. We plan to begin accepting applications from prospective students early in 2006. Keith is actively seeking help from alumni, both for their ideas regarding program content and for financial support. He can be reached at (510) 642-4526 or kalexand@berkeley.edu.

ChemE car a winner

Two years ago, Jeff Reimer introduced a design project into ChemE 140, the first chemical engineering course taken by our majors. The assignment was to design, construct, operate, and analyze a small car powered by baking soda and vinegar. This simple project was very well received by the students in the class. Several of the ChemE alums went on to enter the western regional competition for a hydrogen peroxide-powered vehicle. Much to everyone's delight, the Berkeley team won first place in the AIChE student chapter regional conference, which was hosted by UC Berkeley here in March of 2005. The goal during the regional conference competition was to have the ChemE car travel a distance of 55 feet. The UC Berkeley ChemE car came closest to this goal by traveling a distance of 50 feet, which happened to e the longest distance traveled by a ChemE car in the competition. This year, the ChemE car team has focused on further improving its novel design. New additions to the car for this year include several safety features such as secondary containment vessels, improved plumbing, and nozzles. The ChemE car team has also grown to now include twelve UC Berkeley students (ten of whom are new students). The team anticipates that the car will go "all of the way to the finish line" in the national competition, which will be held at the annual meeting of the AIChE in Cincinnati, OH, October 30 through November 4.

According to Ernest Bradley, captain of the ChemE car team, the car is powered by hydrogen peroxide and uses cupric sulfate as the catalyst for the decomposition reaction. The "reactor" is built on a skateboard and is made out of PVC pipes, which are non-catalytic and are capable of withstanding the pressure of oxygen released by the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide. The reactor is an open  system—pressure is allowed to build up rapidly and the gas produced is released through two nozzles. The rules of the competition dictate that nothing hazardous be released from the car, so several liquid "traps" are located in the tubing leading to the nozzles. It is projects like this one that allow us to show the next generation some of the fun and wonder that exist in our field. Good luck to them!

Chakraborty to M.I.T.

I regret to report that Arup Chakraborty, professor of both chemistry and chemical engineering, moved to M.I.T. in September, though he will be on leave without salary here until January. Arup was elected last year to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for his accomplishments in applying theoretical chemistry to practical problems in immune system recognition, polymer interfaces, sensor technology, and catalysis. Of particular note has been his success in applying quantum and statistical mechanics to complex systems. The application of these methods has enabled his group to develop a fundamental understanding of how the adaptive immune response is orchestrated by T cells.

In addition to his research and teaching, Arup led the Computational and Theoretical Biology Department at LBNL and is a former chair of the chemical engineering department. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Delaware and since 1988 has been a faculty member at Berkeley, where he has contributed immensely to our department through his research, teaching, and administrative efforts. It has been particularly exciting to watch the evolution of his research work into a broad and multifaceted program. My colleagues and I are truly sorry to see him leave, and we realize that his decision to do so was a difficult one. We wish him all the best as he starts the next phase of his career, and we look forward to
having him visit us in the future.

Awards in the department

And finally, our faculty and students continue to receive accolades for their hard work and dedication. Elton Cairns has been elected an honorary member of the International Society of Electrochemistry; David Schaffer has been named the Van Ness Lecturer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and in July received a promotion to associate professor of chemical engineering; I have won the 2005 AIChE William H. Walker Award for Excellence in Contributions to the Chemical Engineering Literature. And recently we honored our outstanding graduate student instructors: Esther Marie Winter, received the Dow Excellence in Teaching Award, and the department's Outstanding Graduate Student Instructors were J.T. Koerber, Wes Marner and Jeff Wilber.

Sad news

As we go to press, we have learned that Professor Emeritus Eugene Petersen passed away on October 27. We will have more details in the spring issue of the NewsJournal.