Leading nanoscientists turn to the team of Chemical Engineering's Sharon Glotzer to explain a mystery: why did some tiled nanocrystals arrange themselves in an alternating, herringbone style?

When algae is converted to biocrude oil through 'pressure cooking,' valuable fertilizer is left behind in the treated water. Algae can't use it - the fluid is toxic - but now Nina Lin's lab has grown bacteria with it.

$The techniques of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and horizontal drilling have come together to change the American energy landscape. Researchers are now looking into the potential risks the technologies could pose to the environment and human health.$

Mark Barteau installed as first DTE Professor on April 25, 2013

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Solving the case of the herringbone nanocrystals

nanoherringbone

Leading nanoscientists created beautiful, tiled patterns with flat nanocrystals, but they were left with a mystery: why did some sets of crystals arrange themselves in an alternating, herringbone style? To find out, they turned to Sharon Glotzer's team for expert nanoparticle simulation.
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Closing the circle on algae biofuel

Bacteria biofuel

Turning algae into a biofuel that can readily replace petroleum looks promising, but one of the big roadblocks to mass-producing the algae is the need for fertilizer. Although algae have trouble reusing the nitrogen and phosphorus left in the water after their predecessors have been converted to bio-oil, the group of Nina Lin, an assistant professor of chemical engineering, found that bacteria can survive on those algae remnants.
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Kotov wins Langmuir Lecture Award from ACS

Nick Kotov

Nick Kotov has won the 2013 Langmuir Lecture Award from the American Chemical Society (ACS). He will deliver a plenary lecture in a special session of the Colloid and Surface Chemistry Division program at the 2013 Fall ACS National Meeting to be held in Indianapolis, Indiana.

PhD student's colorful 'hedgehogs' take top prize

neon hedgehogs

Technicolor "hedgehogs" took the top prize in the Materials Research Society's Science as Art competition. Joong Hwan Bahng, a PhD student in Chemical and Biomedical Engineering under Nick Kotov, created the spiky spheres by growing bristles of zinc oxide on nanoparticles.
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ChE student travels with College group to India

Sita Syal in India

College of Engineering Dean David Munson took a weeklong trip to India in March to explore educational opportunities for U-M students there. Graduating senior, Sita Syal, was one of seven students to accompany Dean Munson on the trip.The trip was designed to develop a platform for student engagement with companies owned by CoE Indian alumni.

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Also read about Sita's trip to India last summer

ChE undergraduate honored for entrepreneurial achievements

ChE senior, Carolyn Yarina, received the 2013 RPM Ventures Student Entrepreneur of the Year award. She is the co-founder (with fellow ChE Alex Thinath) and CEO of CentriCycle, a non-profit startup dedicated to bringing appropriate, simple medical technology to rural India. Yarina & centricycle in photo to the left.
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