Nicholas Gregorich from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering won first place at Clemson University’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition on November 8, 2019.
3MT is a research communication competition that challenges research higher degree students to present a compelling oration on their thesis and its significance in just three minutes in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience. Graduate students from all colleges at Clemson competed in preliminary rounds before all coming together for the finalist competition.
Nicholas won the PhD candidate category for his presentation, “Green Filtration for Cleaner Water.” He is advised by Dr. Eric Davis. Nick went on to represent Clemson at the March 2020 Conference of Southern Graduate Schools (CSGS) 3MT competition in Birmingham, Alabama.
Nicholas Gregorich attended the Conference for Southern Graduate Schools on March 6-7, 2020 at The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Here, he represented Clemson University in the regional 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. There were 54 schools in attendance for the competition, and Nick became a finalist and placed in the top 8. This is the furthest any Clemson student has achieved in the 3MT competition.
Pictured here are Associate Dean Dr. Dominy, Ph.D. student Nick Gregorich, and Assistant Dean Dr. Dumas.
Yomaira Pagán-Torres is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. Dr. Pagán-Torres received her PhD degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2011, under the supervision of Prof. James A. Dumesic. During her PhD studies, Dr. Pagán-Torres conducted a research internship with Dr. Esben Taarning at Haldor Topsøe in Denmark. Before her academic position at UPR, she worked for The Dow Chemical Company as Senior Engineer in the Feedstocks, Olefins, Chemicals & Alternative Technologies Research & Development group in Freeport, Texas. Her research focuses on the design and synthesis of novel heterogeneous catalytic materials with tailored active sites for the transformation of carbon resources, such as biomass, carbon dioxide, and methane to chemicals and fuels.
She will be presenting “Hydrodeoxygenation of Biomass-Derived Alcohols and Acids over Supported Metal-Metal Oxide Catalysts.” The abstract is as follows:
Lignocellulosic biomass, as an abundant source of renewable carbon, is a promising feedstock for the production of biobased chemicals. However, the highly complex structure and high oxygen content of biomass-derived molecules require the development of active, stable, and selective catalysts to promote selective C-O, C-H, and C-C bond cleavage. In this talk, we present catalytic strategies for deoxydehydration (DODH) and hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of carbohydrate-derived alcohols and acids to platform chemicals. In an example, we demonstrate the selective conversion of tartaric acid to succinic acid in >96% yield over heterogeneous catalyst comprised of a noble metal and an oxophilic metal. Our results suggest that the HDO of tartaric acid proceeds through two reaction pathways. One reaction pathway involves the DODH of tartaric acid to fumaric acid, followed by the hydrogenation of the C=C bond to succinic acid. Whereas, the other reaction pathway proceeds through the HDO of internal –OH groups to produce malic acid as a reaction intermediate. We also discuss the role of the noble metal, metal oxide species, and the catalyst support in the selective C-O bond cleavage of tartaric acid to succinic acid.
ChBE Undergraduate, Hayden Tharpe, was recently selected as a Clemson University Beckman Scholar to further her research for “Engineering a Highly Sensitive and Modular Reaction Cascade Biosensor.”
The Beckman Scholars program offers an intense and prolonged immersion in research to students under the guidance of one of fifteen faculty mentors in the College of Science and the College of Engineering, Computing, and Applied Science.
Hayden will receive funding from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation for 15 months of laboratory research. In addition to this prestigious award, Hayden is also a Department of Defense SMART Scholar Semifinalist and has been an undergraduate research assistant since summer 2019.
The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering welcomes Dr. Ashlee Ford Versypt, an Assistant Professor in the School of Chemical Engineering at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Versypt’s seminar titled, “Systems Biomedicine and Pharmaceutics: Multiscale Modeling of Tissues, Treatments, & Toxicology” will be held in 100 Earle Hall on February 6th from 2:00 to 3:00 pm.
The Systems Biomedicine and Pharmaceutics research lab at Oklahoma State University led by Dr. Ford Versypt focuses on developing and utilizing multiscale systems engineering approaches including mathematical and computational modeling to determine and understand the mechanisms governing physiological effects of various chemicals, e.g., pharmaceutical drugs, toxins, metabolites, and hormones, on human and animal tissues. We specialize in modeling the transport processes and chemical interactions related to both natural and engineered biomedical and pharmaceutical systems, particularly those that involve complex interactions between cellular populations and tissue microenvironments that lead to chronic tissue damage. We also develop and refine the computational software elements to support multiscale modeling of such systems. We draw from an interdisciplinary skillset in chemical engineering, pharmaceutics, physiology, applied mathematics, and computational science. In this seminar, vignettes of recently published work from the lab in four different lines of research will be highlighted including (1) the immune system interplay with tuberculosis granulomas, (2) metastatic cancer spread, (3) bumblebee behaviors in response to chronic exposure to pesticides, and (4) glucose-stimulated damage to kidney cells in diabetes and preventative pharmaceutical treatments. The latter area has recently been funded by an NSF CAREER award and exemplifies the integration of teaching, research, and outreach.
Dr. Ashlee N. Ford Versypt holds three degrees in chemical engineering: a B.S. from the University of Oklahoma and an M.S. and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. During graduate school, Dr. Ford Versypt was awarded the Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF) and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. In 2013, Dr. Ford Versypt was recognized as the Frederick A. Howes Scholar in Computational Science, which is awarded annually to a recent alumnus of the DOE CSGF for outstanding leadership, character, and technical achievement. In 2012-2014, Dr. Ford Versypt was a postdoctoral research associate with Richard Braatz in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Currently, Dr. Ford Versypt is an assistant professor in the School of Chemical Engineering at Oklahoma State University (OSU). She is a member of the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center and the Stephenson Cancer Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, the Interdisciplinary Toxicology Program at OSU, and the Oklahoma Center for Respiratory Infectious Diseases. She is the Chair-Elect for the American Society for Engineering Education Chemical Engineering Division. Dr. Ford Versypt is active in engaging the public in science through leading more than 60 outreach events for K-12, collegiate, and lay audiences. She has received a number of awards for her research and teaching including the NSF CAREER Award, ASEE Midwest Section Outstanding Service Award, AIChE 35 Under 35 and the OSU College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology Excellent Teacher Award. She has mentored 7 graduate students and 34 undergraduate students at OSU since 2014. Her research is currently funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology.
Professor Amod Ogale received the prestigious University Research, Scholarship, and Artistic Achievement Award (URSAA) from President James Clements. The award recognizes Clemson University faculty whose work has been acknowledged at the highest levels nationally and internationally. URSAAA winning faculty are lifetime appointees and participate in a yearly celebration of faculty achievements.
Dr. Amod Ogale, Dow Chemical Professor of Chemical Engineering, has served on the Clemson faculty for over 33 years. He also serves as the Director of Center for Advanced Engineering Fibers and Films (CAEFF). Prof. Ogale was honored with Clemson URSAA Award for being inducted as a FELLOW of three different professional societies for his life-time achievements and contributions to the American Carbon Society (ACS), Society for Advancement of Materials and Process Engineering (SAMPE), and Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). He has also won the Graffin Lecturer Award from ACS, and the SABIC Composites Educator Award from SPE.
He has taught 12 different undergraduate and graduate courses, graduated 41 PhD and MS students, and mentored 8 post-doctoral research associates. Prof. Ogale has published over 150 refereed papers and been the principal investigator or co-investigator on over 50 research grants worth over $ 40 million.
Sagar Kanhere won the Best Poster Award at the Society of Plastics Engineers ACCE Automotive Composites Conference, Novi, MI, September 2019 for research entitled, “Petroleum Pitch-based Carbon Fibers With Modified Transverse Microstructure And Enhanced Properties,” co-authored by Dr. Victor Bermudez, Caroline Christopher, Dr. Sam Lukubira, and Professor Amod Ogale.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), through University of Delaware, has awarded Clemson University’s Center for Advanced Engineering Fibers and Films (CAEFF) $ 2 million for carbon fiber research.
The project, led by Professor Ogale, is developing high-performance, cost-competitive carbon fibers for composite feedstock/manufacturing processes.
Back in November Dr. Scott Husson ran the Moab Trail Marathon! The marathon was held in Moab, Utah and is listed as a Trail Runner Magazine “Bucket List” Race.
The Moab Trail is described as unique and wild. The canyons around Moab are unlike anywhere in the world, and this course conquers some of the most spectacular. Runners travel through narrow canyons with spectacular vertical walls on both sides and along the rim-tops of deep canyons with spectacular vistas every direction. The terrain changes frequently to keep the miles clicking and includes narrow single-track, rugged jeep trails, sandy washes, ‘Moab-style slickrock’, a short section of dirt road, a few sections of no-track, a very old mining trail and a couple sections of fixed line traverse. Views will take your breath away, and include the spectacular red rocks of “Behind the Rocks Wilderness” and “Amasa Back” area, also view the sheer vertical walls of Pritchett, Hunter and Kane Creek Canyons and views into Canyonlands National Park.
Dr. Husson trained for 5 months in preparation for the marathon, mostly running trails at Paris Mountain State Park in Greenville. Even then, he described the course as really challenging. He was thankful for every rest station along the course! Dr. Husson ran the race with four friends and everyone in their group was able to finish the course. Dr. Husson says that now he’s taking things easy and thinking about what’s next!
Nicholas Gregorich from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering won first place at Clemson University’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition on November 8, 2019.
Nicholas won the PhD candidate category for his presentation, “Green Filtration for Cleaner Water.” He is advised by Dr. Eric Davis. Nick will go on to represent Clemson at the March 2020 Conference of Southern Graduate Schools (CSGS) 3MT competition in Birmingham, Alabama.
3MT is a research communication competition that challenges research higher degree students to present a compelling oration on their thesis and its significance in just three minutes in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience. Graduate students from all colleges at Clemson competed in preliminary rounds before all coming together for the finalist competition.
The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering welcomes Dr. Heather Kulik, an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Kulik’s seminar titled, “Accelerating the computational discovery of catalyst design rules and exceptions with machine learning” will be held in 100 Earle Hall on Thursday, November 21st from 2:00 to 3:00 pm.
Over the past decade, first-principles computation has emerged as a powerful complement to experiment in the discovery of new catalysts and materials. In many cases, computation has excelled most in distilling rules for catalyst structure-property relationships in well defined spaces such as bulk metals into descriptors or linear free energy relationships. More development is needed of computational tools for them to show the same promise in emerging catalytic materials such as single-site metal-organic framework catalysts or single atom catalysts that have increased promise of atom economy and selectivity. In this talk, I will outline our efforts to accelerate first-principles (i.e., with density functional theory, or DFT) screening of open-shell transition metal catalysts with a focus on challenging reactions (e.g., selective partial hydrocarbon oxidation). We have developed tools that not only automate simulation but can be autonomously driven by decision engines that predict which simulations are most promising to be carried out. We also develop neural network machine learning models to accelerate prediction of catalyst reaction energetics and properties at a fraction of the cost of DFT. Paired with new estimates of when such models are reliable, I will show how we rapidly evaluate properties of 10k-100k catalysts in a fraction of the time that conventional first-principles simulation would require. We use such tools to accelerate the identification of design rules and exceptions to expectations when applied to the wider space of emerging single-atom and single-site catalysts.
Clemson University Ph.D. student Allison Domhoff and Eric Davis, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, use an electron microscope to analyze nanometer-sized particles.
CLEMSON — Clemson University Ph.D. student Allison Domhoff has received a $25,000 Hitachi High Technologies Electron Microscopy Fellowship to support research aimed at making energy grid-scale batteries more efficient and cost-effective.
Domhoff, a chemical and biomolecular engineering student, is working to develop nanocomposite materials for batteries that support energy generation at large wind and solar farms. The technology could reduce the cost of renewable energies, thus making them more prevalent in utility portfolios.
“These are like extremely large car batteries, 15 or 20 feet tall. They would store energy produced by wind and solar farms so during the night or when winds aren’t blowing, you could still harvest energy,” said Eric Davis, Domhoff’s faculty adviser and an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering.
Electron microscopy allows Domhoff to research nanometer-sized particles in the battery’s membrane so she can manipulate its surface chemistries to improve battery life and performance.
Domhoff has presented nationally at meetings of the American Chemistry Society (ACS) and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). She received a prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation and is one of 10 finalists for the national AIChE Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research Award, which will be announced in November.
Domhoff, who expects to graduate in May, hopes to continue her research in the private sector. She earned her undergraduate degree at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh before attending Clemson for Ph.D. studies.
“Clemson has all of the big-school funding and resources, but it’s a relatively small department so you get the one-on-one mentoring and collaboration,” she said.
Allison Domhoff receives the fellowship during an award ceremony. From left: Douglas Hirt, associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences; Phil Bryson, vice president and general manager of the Nanotechnology Systems Division at Hitachi High Technologies America Inc.; Domhoff; and Tanju Karanfil, Clemson University vice president for research.
Hitachi High Technologies America Inc. established the fellowship in 2014. Domhoff is the sixth recipient.
Hitachi High Technologies helped establish the university’s Electron Microscope Facility in the mid-1990s. It has steadily grown with Hitachi’s support and is housed at the Advanced Materials Research Laboratory (AMRL) in Anderson County about 15 minutes from Clemson’s main campus.
“Ms. Domhoff is clearly performing groundbreaking research and it appears likely that her work will be highly impactful. We at Hitachi are very happy that the electron microscopes at AMRL have been able to play an integral role in enabling Allison’s research,” said Phil Bryson, vice president and general manager of the Nanotechnology Systems Division at Hitachi High Technologies.
In the past year, the Electron Microscopy Facility at Clemson as added some of Hitachi’s most advanced microscopes.
“Our longstanding relationship with Hitachi has provided Clemson faculty and students with one of the nation’s premiere microscopy labs in which to learn and conduct research,” said Tanju Karanfil, Clemson vice president for research.
The facility is also used by the private sector for product development in the state’s automotive, aerospace, medical, electronics, textile and energy industries, among others.
“Our partnership with Hitachi has created a truly unique facility in the Southeast, which has greatly benefitted not only research and education at Clemson, but also product development and innovation in the private sector that will fuel the South Carolina economy,” said Electron Microscope Facility director Laxmikant Saraf. “I greatly appreciate Hitachi’s support.”
Douglas Hirt, associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences, thanked Hitachi High Technologies America Inc. for supporting the college’s students.
“These fellowships help enable our students to conduct cutting-edge research with the help of some of the best electron microscopes in the world,” Hirt said. “I congratulate Allison on winning this year’s fellowship. It is a well-deserved honor and a reflection of the quality of work she is doing under the guidance of Dr. Eric Davis.”
