Michigan Chemical Engineering Winter 2012 eNews
Faculty Receive Honors in the New Year!
 Susan Montgomery was one of three inaugural collegiate lecturers selected from across the Ann Arbor campus. She was chosen for her outstanding teaching, her unparalleled prowess at advising, and her deep dedication to our students and alumni.To honor a much-loved faculty member, Susan's new title will be the G. Brymer Williams Collegiate Lecturer.
 Nick Kotov has been named the Joseph B. and Florence V. Cejka Professor of Engineering. Nick and his research group are working on the biocompatible plasmonic nanoparticles that are designed for early diagnostic and treatment cancer. This work was particularly relevant to the donor who wished to support research in the study and treatment of cancer.
 Mark Burns has been named the T. C. Chang Professor of Engineering. In addition to developing microfluidic devices for disease diagnosis, his research group and several collaborators have developed new fluid motion strategies and assembled complete reaction and separation systems on small chips. His technology was licensed by a successful startup company (HandyLab), started by two ChE graduate students, that was recently sold to Becton Dickinson (see Double Feature article below, on the right.)
Second Edition of the ChE History Book
 Looking for Alumni Contributions for Our New Publication!
Soon we will begin work on our second edition of the history book, A Century of Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan, and we are soliciting input from you, our alumni, about your experiences in the department and university. We would welcome your contributions for consideration, preferably one or at most two paragraphs long, with a photo if relevant, and oriented largely to your experiences at Michigan, also including a sentence or two (at most) about your subsequent career. Please send all submissions to Sandy Swisher at sandys@umich.edu or to 3074 H.H. Dow, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2136
Research Highlights
Nanoparticle Superclusters and Dow Chemical Grants
A delicate balance of atomic forces can be exploited to make nanoparticle superclusters (image on left) that are uniform in size. The resulting superclusters are similar in some ways to viruses. Nicholas Kotov and Sharon Glotzer led this research project. The findings are newly published online in Nature Nanotechnology. U-M News Service »
Corporate Support for Research
Dow Chemical Grants
Ronald Larson received two grants from the Dow Chemical Co. One grant is to develop computer models or simulations that could improve researchers' understanding of how small molecules interact with polymers. The other grant is to build computational tools to model the behavior of complex atomic-scale interactions that occur in waterborne coatings. Find out more about Ron's grants and Dow Chemical's support at Michigan »
(Alumnus Steve Schwendeman (BSE '86), chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, also received support from this grant)
Alumna in the News
 Tracy & Angela are the Tops!
Two of our graduates, Tracy Onufer (BSE '95) and Angela Harris (BSE '03, MSE '08) were selected for a feature story, "Women on Top" in the magazine, Marie Claire, in their October 20, 2011 online issue. Tracy is in the Air Force Special Ops and is only the second woman operational commander. Angela is a research engineer at Ford and pioneered the creation of the "EnviroSeat," with soy-foam cushions. Angela has recently been on campus, presenting at a Society of Women Engineers regional conference and at an Omega Chi Epsilon meeting. Read more about Tracy and Angela on the online version of Marie Claire.
Middle and High School Outreach
 Skyline-ChE Summer Intern Program
This summer marked the first session of the Skyline-ChE Summer Intern Program, which was created by the Chemical Engineering Graduate Society (ChEGS). The goal of the program was to provide hands-on experience on experimental design for the Ann Arbor Skyline High School students. Read more »
WISE GISE
U-M's Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program brings 7th and 8th grade students to campus for one week during the summer where they participate in hands-on science and engineering activities at a program called Girls in Science and Engineering (WISE GISE). This year, Professor Mike Solomon's research group hosted the girls interested in engineering (photo to the left). Read more and view video and photos»
Alumni
Stay Connected with the Department!
Check out our new Facebook page 
And don't forget to join the ChE alumni group on LinkedIn, with over 925 alumni and friends! 
Support the Chemical Engineering Department
To make an online donation, please click on icon below
Or you can send your contribution to:
Ms. Pamela Bogdanski
Department of Chemical Engineering, 3074 H.H. Dow Building
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109–2136
Phone: 734-764-7368
Checks should be made payable to the "University of Michigan."
Visit us online @ www.che.engin.umich.edu
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ABET Accreditation
Program Re-accredited by ABET in Fall 2011
Our undergraduate program was successfully re-accredited this year by ABET. Our evaluator was particularly impressed by the innovative distance mentoring process in our process design class, by our alternative product design course, and by the quality of our undergraduate advising process. Read more »
Alumni Events
Michigan Homecoming Weekend 2011
We had a great time at the annual Homecoming Alumni Luncheon. View our homecoming weekend photos and video interviews with alumni! Read Message from the Alumni Board »
Alumni Highlights
Andre Taylor (PhD '05), assistant professor at Yale University, was selected to receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). White House Press Release »
Kyle Allison (BSE '06), currently a graduate student at Boston University, won first place and a $15,000 prize in the annual Collegiate Inventors Competition.
Read more »
Kalyan Handique's (PhD '00) new startup company, DeNovo Sciences, won first prize overall and $500,000 recently in the Accelerate Michigan Competition. Read more »
Article below is about Dr. Handique's 1st startup venture.
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) presented its Award for Service to Society to Peter Lederman (BSE ChE '53, MSE '57, PhD '61). Warren Seider (MSE '63, PhD, 1966) won its F. J. and Dorothy Van Antwerpen Award for Service to AIChE. AIChE press release (PDF) »
More alumni news »
Student Honors
Mohammad Fallahi Sichani, a member of Jennifer Linderman's research group, won the College's Richard and Eleanor Towner Prize for Outstanding research. Read more»
Peter Valdez and Nick Garza (Savage lab) won 1st place in the poster competition at the 3rd Annual Michigan Green Chemistry Conference
Did you catch these stories in the Michigan Engineer?
Little Big Future
Nick Kotov's research
Pond scum: The future of fuel?
Phil Savage's research
Double Feature
ChE Alums Kalyan Handique & Sundaresh Brahmasandra
Student Entrepreneurs
The College of Engineering's Center for Entrepreneurship (CFE) has helped launch new courses & programs focusing on this topic and has assisted many students launch their own ventures through mentorship, grants, and networking opportunities. Scott Fogler's course on problem solving and troubleshooting, ChE 405, is a core course in the undergraduate entrepreneur program. Article about course from 2007 »
Feedback From You!
 We would like to hear from you!
Do you have suggestions about news items and stories you would like to see in our newsletter? Please send your suggestions to Sandy Swisher at cheme@umich.edu.
Thank You!
Sandy Swisher
ChE Newsletter Editor
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