NJIT in the News

Peng Wang, PhD, of the Otto H. York Department of Chemical, Biological and Pharmaceutical Engineering at NJIT, will discuss “Hot Melt Extrusion–A Novel Method for Drug Manufacturing” on Sept. 28 at 2:45 p.m. in Room 373, Tiernan Hall.

Z. Conrad Zhang, PhD, of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will discuss "Direct Catalytic Conversion of Cellulose to 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF)" on April 13 at 2:45 p.m. in Kupfrian Hall Rm. 205. Contact: Assistant Professor XianQin Wang, 973-596-5707; Xianqin.wang@njit.edu.

Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, PhD, professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Tufts University, will discuss "Gold-Doped Ceria or Iron Oxide as Low-Temperature Catalysts for the Water-Gas Shift Reaction” on March 30 at 2:45 p.m. in Kupfrian Hall Rm. 205. The lecture is part of the Spring 2009 Graduate Seminar Series in Chemical Engineering at NJIT. Contact: Seminar Coordinator/Assistant Professor XianQin Wang, 973-596-5707; Xianqin.wang@njit.edu.

Kamalesh Sirkar, PhD, distinguished professor of chemical engineering at NJIT, and internationally-renowned expert in membrane separation technologies, has been named a Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 

"Pile Foundations in Difficult Ground: The Bronx Parking Facilities at Yankee Stadium" is the topic of a Chemical Engineering Department Seminar presented by Andrew Leung, P.E., Vice President and Drew Mazujian, P.E., Project Manager of Yu & Associates, Inc. of Elmwood Park, NJ on Dec. 8, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in Kupfrian Hall Room 210.

Felicia Amaechi, a senior majoring in biomedical engineering, and Karen Martinez, a junior majoring in chemical engineering, captured second place in the ExxonMobil Subject Matter Expert (SME) Bowl at the 2009 Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Conference on Nov. 8 in Baltimore. The SME Bowl is a competition with a "College Bowl" atmosphere where student teams representing the 10 SWE regions compete to answer engineering, math and science questions. Felicia and Karen, who are both in NJIT's Educational Opportunity Program, were part of a five-member team that included fellow region members from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Each team member received a $75 cash prize and $1500 for the region. Felicia is president of NJIT's SWE section and a Murray Women’s Center Ambassador.

The Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB), NJIT and University of Sao Paulo today announced a joint agreement for licensing four pending patents on a safe, building block chemical derived from corn known as isosorbide to chemists. The agreement marks a step forward in developing applications and markets for corn-based chemistry. 

Gloria Portocarrero, of Union City, receives her bachelor of science in biomedical engineering from NJIT at the Prudential Center this Saturday at 9 a.m. She’ll walk at the head of her class—an Albert Dorman Honors College scholar who’s accepted into a master’s degree program for next fall in biomedical engineering.

Giuseppe Di Benedetto and Micaela Caramellino, two doctoral students in NJIT’s graduate chemical engineering program, recently received recognition at a student poster event organized for developing efficient and robust approaches to manufacture nano- and micro-sized drug particles. The New Jersey section of the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering was the sponsor.

A better understanding of brain injury, a way to rejuvenate dead nerve endings and a device allowing patients to monitor their glaucoma at home, number among this year’s nine winners at NJIT’s annual provost’s student research day.

Lev N. Krasnoperov, PhD, a professor in the department of chemistry and environmental science at NJIT,  will speak at the joint seminar of the Chemical Engineering Department and Chemistry and Environmental Science Department on April 14 at 2:45 p.m. in Kupfrian Hall Room 117. “The Negative Temperature Dependences in Simple Metathesis Reactions and the Modified Transition State Theory” is the title of his lecture.

"Novel Approaches to Hydrogen Storage for Fuel Cell Applications" is the topic of a seminar by Arvind Varma, PhD, R. Games Slayter Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and Head of the School of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University, on March 31 at 2:45 p.m. in Kupfrian Hall Room 117. Varma's lecture is part of the Spring 2008 Chemical Engineering Department Graduate Seminar Series.

Dennis C. Prieve, PhD, Gulf Professor of Chemical Engineering at Carnegie-Mellon University, will discuss "Electrolyte-Dependent 2-D Aggregation of Colloidal Particles on a Planar A/C Electrode" on March 24 at 2:45 p.m. in Kupfrian Hall Room 117. The lecture is part of the Spring 2008 Chemical Engineering Department Graduate Seminar Series. 

Sankaran Sundaresan, PhD, professor in the department of chemical engineering at Princeton University, will discuss "Coarse-Grained Two-Fluid Models for Gas-Flows" on March 10 at 2:45 p.m. in Kupfrian Hall Room 117. The lecture is the seventh in the Spring 2008 Chemical Engineering Department Seminar Series at NJIT.

Kathleen J. Stebe, PhD, professor and chair of the department of chemical & biomolecular engineering at Johns Hopkins University, will discuss “Spontaneous Ordering of Particles at Surfaces and Interfaces” on March 3 at 2:45 p.m. in Kupfrian Hall Room 117. The lecture is part of the Spring 2008 Chemical Engineering Department Graduate Seminar Series at NJIT. 

Paul Chaikin, PhD, Silver Professor of Physics in the Department of Physics & Center for Soft Matter Research at New York University, will discuss “Toward Self-Replication with Colloids” on Feb 25 at 2:45 p.m. in Kupfrian Hall Room 117. The lecture is part of the Spring 2008 Chemical Engineering Department Graduate Seminar Series at NJIT.

Gintaras Reklaitis, PhD, Edward W. Comings Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University, will discuss “Progress in Decision Support Approaches for Pharmaceutical Product Pipeline Management” at a joint seminar of the Chemical Engineering Department at NJIT, the NSF Engineering Research Center and the New Jersey Center for Engineered Particulates. The talk is set for Feb. 20 at 2:45 p.m. in Kupfrian Hall Room 117. 

Howard A. Stone, PhD, Vicky Joseph Professor of Engineering and Applied Mathematics at Harvard University, will discuss “Manipulating Thin-Film Flows: From Patterned Substrates to Evaporating Systems” on Feb. 18 at 2:45 p.m. in Kupfrian Hall Room 117. The lecture is part of the Spring 2008 Chemical Engineering Department Graduate Seminar Series.

Thomas H. Epps, III, assistant professor in the department of chemical engineering at the University of Delaware, will discuss “Combinatorial Studies of Surface Interactions in Block Copolymer Thin Films” on Jan. 28 at 2:45 p.m. in Kupfrian Hall Rm. 117.

Andreas Acrivos, PhD, Albert Einstein Professor of Science and Engineering at The Levich Institute, City College of CUNY, will discuss “Rimming Flows within a Rotating Horizontal Cylinder and the Drag-out Problem in Film Coating” on Dec. 10 at 2:45 p.m. in Kupfrian Hall Room 117. The lecture is a joint seminar of the Otto H. York Department of Chemical Engineering at NJIT, the NSF Engineering Research Center and the NJ Center for Engineered Particulates at NJIT.

Teh C. Ho, PhD, senior research associate at Corporate Research Laboratories, ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Co., will discuss “Kinetic Modeling of Hydrocarbon Processing” on Dec. 3 at 2:45 p.m. in Kupfrian Hall Room 117.

Pablo G. Debenedetti, Class of 1950 Professor of Engineering and Applied Science and professor of chemical engineering at Princeton University, will discuss “From Particle Packings to Amino Acid Sequences: Statistical Characterization of Complex Systems” on Oct. 29 at 2:45 p.m., Kupfrian Hall Room 117.

Ilhan A. Aksay, PhD, professor in the department of chemical engineering at Princeton University, will discuss "Structure and Dynamics of Surfactant Micelles on Crystalline Templates" at the Fall 2007 Graduate Seminar Series on Oct. 15 at 2:45 p.m., Kupfrian Hall Room 117.

Chemical Engineering Professor Receives 2007 Robert Swanson Award Reginald PT (Reg) Tomkins, PhD, a professor and interim chairperson in the department of chemical engineering, was the 2007 recipient of the annual Robert Swanson Award for his continuing support of the athletic program in his 30 years on the NJIT faculty. Named for the late NJIT professor and athletic director, the Bob Swanson Award is presented to the faculty or staff member who has shown continued support for the Highlander athletic program.AIChE at NJIT Receives Award for Outstanding Student Chapter  The NJIT student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) received an Outstanding Student Chapter award from the national organization. The awards are presented annually to those Student Chapters that show an exceptional level of participation, enthusiasm, program quality, professionalism, and involvement in the university and community.Humanities Professor Publishes Book on Founder of Macedonian Dynasty Norman Tobias, PhD, an associate professor in the department of humanities, has published Basil I, Founder of the Macedonian Dynasty: A Study of the Political and Military History of the Byzantine Empire in the Ninth Century (Mellen Press, 2007). The book provides a re-examination of the life and accomplishments of Emperor Basil the First. Read more.

More than 100 faculty, staff and students crowded into Eberhardt Hall NJIT Alumni Center yesterday for a memorial celebration of chemical engineer, inventor and philanthropist Otto H. York.

Morton M. Denn, PhD, Albert Einstein Professor of Science and Engineering and Director of the Levich Institute at CUNY, will discuss “Failure and Wall Slip in Entangled Polymer Melts” on Sept. 24 at 2:45 p.m., Kupfrian Hall Rm. 117.

John F. Brady, PhD, Chevron Professor of Chemical Engineering at California Institute of Technology, will discuss "Micro vs. Macro Rheology" on Sept. 10 at 2:45 p.m., Kupfrian Hall, Room 117.

Dan Watts is on a crusade. The NJIT research professor would like the pharmaceutical industry to adopt safer, greener, more efficient and more effective manufacturing processes. Last week Watts brought his crusade down to the grass roots level at a five-day workshop at which 16 faculty from universities around the nation developed ways to encourage their students to pursue careers in the pharmaceutical industry so this new way of thinking can flourish.

We can all breathe easier thanks to NJIT alumnus John J. Mooney. In 1971, Mooney co-invented the three-way automotive catalytic converter, one of the 10 most important innovations in automotive history. During NJIT’s May 17 graduation ceremony in Continental Airlines Arena, he will receive an honorary doctorate.

Norman W. Loney, PhD, an associate professor in the department of chemical engineering at NJIT, was invited to give a seminar titled “Mathematical Model of a Multi-fibule Counter Current Dialyzer” at Ohio State University on Jan. 18.

The Research and Development Council of NJ presented one of its highest awards this week to Kamalesh K. Sirkar, PhD, distinguished chemical engineering professor at NJIT. Sirkar, an internationally regarded expert in the field of membrane separation technologies, holds a total of 22 patents; he received the honor for his patent to remove volatile organic pollutants from waste gas streams produced from manufacturing processes before the toxic pollutants are released to the atmosphere.

Jeff Morris, PhD, an associate professor in the department of chemical engineering at The City College of New York, will discuss "Suspension Pressure: Osmotic Concepts Applied to Suspension Flows" on Oct. 16, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Mechanical Engineering Center, Room 224.

Chemical engineer Kamalesh Sirkar, PhD, a distinguished professor at NJIT, will discuss Thursday new technologies for desalinating and treating water. Sirkar, an expert in membrane separation technology whose work is supported by grants from the US Department of the Interior and the US Office of Naval Research, will speak at 4:30 p.m. on June 8 at the Harvard Club in New York City.

Denis Blackmore, PhD, a professor in the department of mathematical sciences at NJIT, will discuss "Chaos and Mixing in Vortex Dominated Flows" on Feb. 27 at 2:45 p.m., Guttenberg Information Technologies Center, Rm. 3710. Contact: Dr. Robert Barat, 973-596-5605.

Richard A. Register, PhD, a professor of chemical engineering at Princeton University, will discuss "Crystallizable Block Copolymers: Directing Crystallization via Polymer Architecture" on Feb. 6, 2:45 p.m., Guttenberg Information Technologies Center, Rm. 3710. Contact: Sharon Pettiford, 973-596-3570.

Dimitrios Zarkadas, a doctoral candidate in chemical engineering at NJIT, received a graduate student research award from the Separations Division of the American Institute of Chemicals Engineers (AIChE) earlier this month at the organization's annual convention in  Austin, Texas. Kamalesh K. Sirkar, PhD, distinguished professor of chemical engineering, was also honored as Zarkadas’ dissertation advisor.

Chemical engineers at NJIT have developed a new filtration system to enable scientists and engineers to separate and purify two different kinds of proteins having relatively close molecular weight. Until now, doing such separations with membrane filtration was impossible. "To separate the good from the bad proteins is an important engineering breakthrough," said Kamalesh K. Sirkar, PhD, distinguished professor of chemical engineering and the project's lead researcher. "We believe that pharmaceutical companies will immediately be able to put our research to work."