Month: September 2018

The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering strives to make an impact on their community, whether helping to rebuild a nearby park, or sharing the excitement of engineering and science with local elementary, middle school, and high school students.

 Stone Academy “Science Fun Day”:   Dr. Scott Husson volunteered his time, knowledge, and resources to help plan Stone Academy’s 2018 “Science Fun Day” in Greenville.  Each year, the school spends an entire day doing science activities and experiments. Students rotate between stations that correspond to each grade level’s curriculum standards for the year. Students have fun doing hands-on science while reinforcing concepts from class.

Abernathy Park Rebuild:  Staff members Joy Rodatz, Diana Stamey, and Terri McAllister, along with Dr. Bruce and grad student Bipin Paruchuri, participated in the Abernathy Park Rebuild community service project in Clemson over Spring Break. They worked on teams with other volunteers to replace old boards on the boardwalk along Lake Hartwell.

PEER/WISE 2018 STEM Day and Girl Scout Days:   Through Clemson PEER/WISE 2018 STEM and Girl Scout Days, ChBE Outreach hosted approximately 70 middle school-aged students and 75 Girl Scouts, respectively. Graduate and undergraduate students demonstrated how chemical engineers make and use energy through chemical reaction activities such as electroplating and shooting hydrogen rockets.

Undergraduates Meredith Bailey and Adam Beitz were awarded SC Space Grant EPSCOR Fellowships this summer. Working in Dr. Blenner’s lab, they tested the impact of the PEX7, PEX11, and PEX16 genes in Yarrowia lipolytica on peroxisome size, number, and ability to produce PHA. The three different PEX genes were knocked out and over expressed to test the necessity of the genes for proper peroxisome formation and function. Y. liploytica readily accumulates lipids and is thus a promising microbe for bioproduction of lipid based chemicals, including products required for long term space travel such as Omega-3 fatty acids. They utilized the CRISPR Cas9 system to produce knockouts of every gene in the genome of Y. liploytica to determine which genes are essential for metabolism and growth and which were nonessential. Additionally, they worked to determine which genes were essential for metabolism of alternative carbon sources as glucose, the main sugar used in bioprocessing, will not be available in large quantities for long term space travel. Their project is laying the foundation for future researchers to engineer Y. liploytica to optimally produce Omega-3 fatty acids and other products to help enable astronauts to thrive during extended space exploration.

Silas and Sofia Wong both received their B.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering at Clemson University in 1995 and 1994, respectively. They met during the beginning of their undergraduate studies at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Silas received his B.S. in Biology at McGill in 1990, and Sofia was two years behind him. Silas acquired a job in South Carolina after his graduation from McGill, and he and Sofia got married. Two years after Sofia started at Clemson as a transfer student, Silas decided to join her to get his second B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering. They were both very grateful for the loans and grants which allowed them to be in school at the same time.

While obtaining their B.S. degrees at Clemson, Silas and Sofia came across several professors who impacted their lives, including Dr. Charles Barron, Dr. Doug Hirt, Dr. Charles Gooding, Dr. Amod Ogale and Dr. Bud Rice. However, the one they owe a lot of what they are today to is Dr. Mark Thies. While at Clemson, Dr. Thies was a hard, demanding teacher who emphasized quality, accuracy, and safety. Dr. Thies made sure you knew your material in class and in practice. He would often say, “teachers don’t fail you, you fail yourself.” This demand for quality and accuracy carries through to their careers today.

Sofia and Silas started out with Occidental Chemical, which eventually lead them to the Houston area. Once in Houston, Sofia moved to Exxon in 1997, while Silas started working with a Shell Oil subsidiary. Silas then worked with Grace in their Catalysis Division, and he is now a contract employee as they follow Sofia’s many moves with ExxonMobil. Sofia is presently the General Manager of the Nigeria Projects Organization in Lagos. She is primarily responsible for restoring the integrity of aging facilities, and developing new offshore opportunities to increase oil production.

Prior to Nigeria, Exxon provided Silas and Sofia the opportunity to work and live in Alaska from 2009 through 2015, where they still consider home. They then returned to Houston for a year before moving to Singapore in 2016, and have been in Nigeria since early 2017. During this time, they managed to raise three wonderful children: Alex (21) is a senior chemical engineering student at Cornell University; Claudia (19) is a sophomore National Honors Scholar in the Bioengineering Department at Clemson; and Julian (11) is in Middle School in Lagos.

Their degrees from Clemson have provided Silas and Sofia the opportunity to live, work, and travel around the world. Realizing how important loans and grants were to their success in college and their careers, they want to Give Back to their alma mater and honor their mentor, Dr. Mark Thies. Therefore, they have created the Dr. Mark Thies Fellowship Endowment that will offer an academic scholarship to a deserving Graduate Student in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.

In May 2011, the Class of 1963 ventured back to the hallways of Earle Hall for a class reunion. At that time, some of them hadn’t been here since graduation day – 48 years earlier. This first reunion rekindled past friendships and stirred up plenty of memories of their days here at Clemson, and their hard work in Earle Hall. Since 2011, they have tried to come back every year, along with their wives, in order to keep in touch with each other and what is going on in the department. Now 55 years after their graduation day, experiencing successful careers, and raising wonderful families, they now have taken time to reflect on how it all started. They now want to leave an imprint of their footsteps for others to follow and make an impact on future Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering students’ lives. They want to Leave a Legacy with their new Class of 1963 Endowment. They have pooled their resources and created an endowment that will help enhance the educational programs in the department. Here are excerpts of their stories and their careers, as they reflect on what inspired them to create this new endowment . . .

James Rushton “Most of my classmates and I came from small towns and farms, and without our opportunity to attend Clemson, our lives would be much less interesting and successful. I grew up under the influence of Greenwood’s textile mills, and without my ChE degree, would most likely have ended up as a “lint head” working in a textile mill. Thank God for Clemson!” Rushton worked at a paper company in Brevard NC several years after graduation until landing a job at J.E. Sirrine in Greenville SC. After 13 years and taking many graduate courses, he decided to go for his PhD in 1976, pursuing his interest in pulp and paper processes. He moved his wife, Judi, and their three small children to Moscow, Idaho, so he could attend the University of Idaho, under the tutelage of Dr. Lou Edwards, the creator of the GEMS pulp and paper simulation program. He finished his Master of Engineering degree in Chemical Engineering at Clemson, while pursuing his PhD in Idaho. After graduation, he joined the Georgia Pacific Corporation as corporate leader of process simulation and spearheaded the use of process simulation as a means to design and optimize pulp and paper processes, teaching and creating simulation models at GP mills across the U.S. After retiring in 2003, Jim created a consulting business, Cambridge Oaks Inc., and continues to serve as a Process Simulation Consultant for the pulp and paper industry.

Wade Ponder “My family could not afford tuition and a dorm room, but my Father (who only completed 8th grade) said if I really wanted to go, I could commute. So I drove six days a week or 34,000 miles for my Bachelor’s degree. I also helped with expenses by driving an ice cream truck in the summer months. After I earned my Bachelor’s Degree in 1963, I got married, and my wife and I moved to Clemson so that I could work on my Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering, which I received in January 1965. I participated in funding the endowment to the Chemical and Biomolecular Department at Clemson University because of the successes I have had as a result of the dedication and service of the professors in that department. They prepared me for a career that turned out to be beyond my fondest dreams. To me, it is just a way to say “Thank You” for what the department prepared me to accomplish.” After earning his degrees at Clemson, Wade Ponder’s work experiences included teaching chemistry, working for a petroleum company, and working 36 years for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which provided opportunities to work with other engineers in England, France, Germany, Poland, and Brazil. He was one of a team of five chemical engineers at the U.S. EPA who developed, demonstrated, and commercialized flue gas desulfurization technology, that is now used worldwide to remove sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and other pollutants from power plant emissions. Later, he served as a Branch Chief at EPA and as an Assistant to the EPA Administrator for Research and Development in Washington DC.

Lawrence Murdoch “My choice of chemical engineering and Clemson has provided me excellent opportunities throughout my career. The department was recognized for its quality, which was a result of the dedication of Dr. Littlejohn and the entire faculty. For this reason, I wish to repay the department and help in maintaining the quality and reputation that continues to exist. Because of Dr. Littlejohn’s excellent reputation and contacts, I received several offers to continue graduate studies. As a result, I attended Iowa State University and was well prepared for my studies and for receiving my MS in Chemical Engineering. Even though much of my career was in management, the chemical engineering knowledge, discipline, and work ethic developed during my Chemical Engineering education at Clemson was key to my success.” Larry Murdoch was employed for 50 years, starting in chemical plant production, and soon thereafter moved to the engineering and construction industry. During this period, the varied industries served and the global range of his responsibilities always brought interesting and challenging opportunities.

Jerry Richardson “Chemical engineering was hard- very hard. Chemical engineering taught us to think for ourselves. It taught us to face any problems with the total confidence that we could solve them. I worked mostly in the polyester film industry, so I never did classical chemical engineering. Instead I worked on advanced technology to make ultra-thin films, which went into a variety of industrial uses. The work I am most proud of was working on a team to develop a computerized film thickness system to automatically control the thickness profile of thin films to very tight tolerances. It was the first industrial use of computers according to Hewlett Packard. I received a US patent for that work 46 years ago. My degree afforded me the luxury of meeting and working with and becoming friends with some of the most intelligent engineers in the USA, Germany, and Japan. The most important thing that my Clemson experience did for me is what it is doing for me now – Chemical engineering gave me a great gift – “the love of learning.” I retired at age 58. That was 21 years ago. I have spent the past years, giving away most of what I earned, learning many new things, and putting my new knowledge to work. I started three new careers and two companies since retiring. To paraphrase another one of my classmates, I am extremely grateful for what Clemson has done for me. They made me what I am today and is why I give to Clemson. My choice of chemical engineering and Clemson has provided excellent opportunities throughout my career.”

John Cromer “I also have benefited personally and financially from my Chemical Engineering degree from Clemson. My career has afforded me the opportunity to interact with many extraordinary individuals, many of them engineers. The one goal we all shared was to solve or eliminate problems that came our way. During the last few years, several of us from the ChE class of ‘63 have been returning to Clemson each spring for a reunion. I have taken two wonderful revelations from those reunions: My ‘63 classmates stand high on my list of extraordinary people. The list now includes many more of the Clemson Family, especially the ChBE Department staff. I never thought much about a Clemson ChE Class of ‘63 legacy. Last year at our reunion, the group did what we do best, problem solve. We proudly came together to agree on our class legacy and establish an Endowment. In closing I would appeal to all Clemson Alumni to consider establishing similar class Endowments to cement their Clemson Legacy, which lives on long after we’re gone. It’s a great way to give back to the institution that has contributed so much to who we are.”

Cliff Hattaway “I never had a problem obtaining a worthy job with an Engineering degree from Clemson. Back in 1963, I was one of the first ChEs to be offered a job with Gulf Oil in Port Arthur, Texas, prior to entering the Army. Later, it didn’t hurt to have been a Captain in the US Army back in the sixties. I retired from Phillips 66 back in 1994, where I had several different jobs. Besides receiving my Chemical Engineering degree in 1963, I also received a masters in business from the University of Virginia. Basically my employers always figured that a ChE could do anything from Marketing and Engineering to Financial Accounting.”

Alfred Tolson “My Clemson Chemical Engineering Degree first earned me a job. I had five (5) job offers upon graduation. When I started working, I found I was well prepared for the transition to the real world of chemical manufacturing. There was solid knowledge of chemical engineering principles plus practical skills that had resulted from the Unit Operations Laboratory, Plant Design, a Senior Thesis Project, and Senior Seminar experience. My professional career was spent with one company, Tennessee Eastman Company, later Eastman Chemical Company (with a two-year interruption for military duty.) I basically worked up through the ranks in a manufacturing division as an individual contributor, area supervisor, group leader, development section head, to department superintendent of three (3) different departments: one development and support and two manufacturing. There were also a few staff assignments sprinkled in along the way. I did get my Professional Engineers License, which we were encouraged to do at Clemson. Some of our class started gathering annually at Clemson for a few days about six years ago. We were impressed with the welcome and attention we received from the Department. Along the way, realizing what our degrees had meant to us in our careers, someone in the group suggested that we do something to give back to the Department. That something, with the help of the Clemson Staff, became the Chemical Engineering Class of 1963 Endowment. I suggest to all other classes to reconnect with the Department and maybe be inspired to find a way to give back.”

Enoch (Chip) Hurst “My ChE degree opened the door into a much wider world, totally different from my agrarian upbringing. I started Clemson with the class of ’63, but was withdrawn for a year to serve in my National Guard unit because of the Berlin Wall military deployment in 1961-62. While I returned and graduated with the class of ’64, I have always returned to join the more active class of ’63 at reunions. I did eventually get a masters degree in finance from UNC-Charlotte and a Professional Engineering Certificate. I worked in industrial settings for 32 years and retired at age 56 from Bridgestone-Firestone at the same time as my French-teacher wife. My wife and I sold the house, gave our possessions to our three children, and backpacked around the world for 5 years. We settled in Florida, where I taught math online for awhile, and now I am writing my first book. I am currently in my 79th year and expect to publish 3 non-fiction books this summer. My wife and I cruise a few times a year with friends, and I am scheduled to play tennis and golf six times a week if it is not raining. We spend three to four weeks a year with our three kids (all are Clemson grads) and six grandkids (future Clemson grads). We are living the dream!”

In 1961, Dr. Stephen Melsheimer started his academic career as a Chemistry major at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. However, the Chemistry curriculum did not motivate him, and his grades began to suffer. After his fall sophomore term, Dr. Melsheimer decided to give Chemical Engineering a try and switched his major. It was there in Chemical Engineering that he met his mentor, a professor by the name of Dr. Dale von Rosenberg, who taught the equivalent of ChBE 2110 – Mass and Energy Balances. Dr. von Rosenberg had a rather gruff, caustic manner and was a rigorous grader. As LSU had an “open door” admissions policy, and the first ChBE course is always a challenge, many sophomore ChE students (nearly 50%!) would fail or drop However, he was very interested in his students, especially those who worked hard. This inspired Dr. Melsheimer, who earned an “A” and his subsequent GPR took a significant turn for the better. He took the balance of his sophomore ChE classes in summer school and caught up with his peers as a junior in ChE. After another successful term in his Fall junior term, he received a $250 scholarship (big money in those days!) This scholarship was a big relief, as LSU tuition at that time was $76 per semester and his dorm cost only about $120. Interestingly, his dorm room was located under LSU’s Tiger Stadium, and directly adjacent to LSU’s ChemE building. This scholarship made a world of difference and helped lay the foundation for Dr. Melsheimer’s future career. After receiving his Bachelors in Chemical Engineering in 1965, he decided to pursue a PhD – and, followed his mentor, Dr. von Rosenberg, who had moved on to Tulane University.

After completing his doctorate, he interviewed for a faculty position at Clemson, and was delighted to accept the position of Assistant Professor when offered by Professor C.E. Littlejohn. He and his beautiful wife Patsy, who he met when they were high school seniors in his hometown (Plaquemine, La), moved to Clemson in January, 1969 – a bitterly cold winter, especially for South Louisiana natives! Patsy recalls wondering what her husband had gotten her into! Thus, began the building of his career as well as their family here at Clemson. Needless to say, he and Patsy quickly fell in love with Clemson, and in short order their family had expanded to include three daughters – Gretchen, Wendi and Kirsten.

Dr. Melsheimer’s first semester teaching included a Unit Ops lecture class (two sections!) plus an Analog Computing Lab (4 sections!). Over the next few years he taught almost every undergraduate course, and began his research career, focusing on process control and membrane separations. He was promoted to full Professor in 1975. During his tenure in Chemical Engineering, Dr. Melsheimer was the advisor for our AIChE student chapter from 1973 to 1978. He started the Shrimp Boil in 1971, still an annual tradition for our AIChE chapter. And you can still see him at our current Shrimp Boils, ensuring that everything is cooked to perfection. His professional duties included serving as Clemson’s Faculty Senate President (1981-82), chairing the university SACS accreditation review committee (1989-91), and numerous other college, university and professional assignments. His research and professional activities led to over 27 publications and numerous presentations. He served as the Interim Department Chair from 1986 through 1987. Then, in 1993, he was promoted to Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies for the College. As Associate Dean, he had a special focus on international programs for engineering students, and was instrumental in setting up Chemical Engineering’s Vienna, Austria, summer study abroad program. He was also instrumental in creating the College’s EPIC International Co-Op program and numerous study abroad opportunities including the summer study abroad program in Trier, Germany. The study abroad opportunities for our ChBE students continue today, notably including a summer program in Denmark. Dr. Melsheimer continued to serve as Associate Dean for the College until his retirement in 2008.

Because the scholarship he received as an undergraduate at LSU made such an impact on his life, his career, and his family, Dr. Melsheimer and his wife Patricia want to Pay it Forward. They have recently established The Stephen and Patricia Melsheimer Endowment. Their endowment will provide a scholarship to a worthy top rising junior, with a possibility of a renewal during their senior year. The goal of this scholarship is to recognize, reward, and encourage the student’s success by relieving them of the financial burden of their tuition, so they can concentrate on their classes and their future.

The ChBE Department would like to congratulate Dr. Mark Blenner and Dr. Sapna Sarupria, who have both received Tenure and been promoted to Associate Professor.

The Blenner Research Group uses biotechnology to solve pressing challenges in sustainable production of chemicals, nutraceuticals,

biopharmaceuticals, and biological sensors. Ph.D. and undergraduate students in the group have worked on problems of importance to basic scientific knowledge, as well as various stakeholders at the Department of Defense and NASA, and to the biotech and rending industries. In addition to teaching students to be critical thinkers through research, Dr. Blenner has taught upper level courses in reaction engineering, mass transfer and separations, and biomolecular engineering. Receiving tenure is an honor that will allow him to add a new focus on mammalian cell biomanufacturing, and allow him to contribute more to departmental leadership.

Sarupria’a group uses and develops computational tools to study a broad range of materials and phenomena that impact industries ranging from water purification to commercial aviation. The Sarupria group uses molecular dynamics simulations to study proteins, polymers and water at interfaces. In addition, the research group develops and uses advanced sampling techniques to study processes that are beyond the reach of straightforward molecular dynamics simulations. Using such techniques, they are studying heterogeneous ice and hydrate nucleation. Other research projects include the development of advanced sampling methods and software, multiscale modeling of fouling on water filtration membranes, and enzyme immobilization on polymer membranes. Dr. Sarupria teaches molecular modeling and statistical thermodynamics to graduate students and thermodynamics to undergraduate students.

The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering welcomes Dr. Daniel Linder, an assistant professor of biostatistics and data science at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, as a part of the ChBE 2018 Fall Seminar series. Dr. Linder’s research interests are in developing statistical methods for dynamical systems and Bayesian methods for high-dimensional data analysis. He is also interested in sampling techniques for study designs that improve statistical power.

His seminar, titled “Statistical inference in a class of biochemical reaction networks,” will take place on Thursday, September 20 from 2:00-3:00pm in Earle 100.

Statistical inference in stochastic dynamical systems from observed noisy trajectory data is notoriously difficult, primarily due to intractable likelihoods. Such inference methods often require sampling from the dynamical process at parameter values in an attempt to approximate the likelihood. In his seminar, Dr. Linder will discuss methods we have developed to tackle these kinds of challenges; for instance, ones based on algebraic statistics, regularization approaches and synthetic likelihood. Dr. Linder will present results from the method on real data sets, one from a regeneration experiment in the zebrafish, and if time permits, another from the plague outbreak at Eyam, Derbyshire England from 1665-1666.