volume 1, number 1

This past March, the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering proudly announced Benjamin Siu, a junior chemical engineering major, as the recipient of the highly prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. Ben is the only USA student this year to be a Goldwater awardee, one of only 240 for the academic year, of which only 51 are engineering majors. As an undergraduate research assistant, Siu studies under mentor Dr. Kevin West, associate professor in the department. Siu’s research focuses on the thermodynamics and processes of ionic liquids for usages in industry, and specifically examines high temperature reaction solvents and heat transfer fluids.

As a freshman, while working with Dr. Jim Davis in chemistry, Siu was a co-author on a journal article, “Multi-ion ionic liquids and a direct, reproducible, diversity- oriented way to make them.” Recently, Ben was 1st author on a second publication entitled “Thermally robust: triarylsulfonium ionic liquids stable in air for 90 days at 300°C”, which is focused on his current research. Siu modestly admits that he’s anticipating three more publications by the end of his undergraduate career.

When he’s not in the lab, Siu is involved on campus as a member of the USA honors program, and Tau Beta Pi and Omega Chi Epsilon engineering societies. Siu also serves as the current vice president and future president of AIChE, the university’s chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Last summer, Siu worked as a process engineer intern for Phillips 66, a multinational Fortune 500 company responsible for the processing and distribution of oil and gas across the world.

Chemical Engineering Student Benjamin Siu Wins Prestigious 2017 Goldwater Scholarship

After his 2018 graduation, Siu hopes to pursue a doctorate in chemical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Upon earning his Ph.D., Siu plans to go into research and development in chemical engineering. Specifically, he wants to work on environmental and sustainability projects for renewable energy.

Founded in 1986, the Barry Goldwater Scholarship was created by the U.S. Congress to award sophomore and junior undergraduate students who have completed academic research in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering. The University of South Alabama experienced a record-breaking year for the award with three out of the four university nominees selected as recipients.

Dr. Michael Doran, director of the honors program, stated, “USA has enjoyed a streak of several years now [with] multiple winners and Honorable Mentions for the Goldwater Scholarship yearly.” Many of these students have been from Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. In addition to Ben, deparment alumni Robert Mines (2015) and Arslan Ashad (2014) have also been Goldwater scholars.

In addition, this year Phiwat Klomkaew, a current junior in ChBE, was awarded Goldwater Honorable Mention, as was current senior, Mikayla Walters, in 2015.

New Special Topics Course Prepares Students for their First Job

In the fall semester of 2016, the Chemical Engineering Department offered a new special topics course, Industrial Chemical Process Engineering (ChE 490/590). This course, taught by Robert D’Alessandro integrates process safety into the curriculum and exposes students to the type of projects they may encounter in their first job. It is offered to senior undergraduate and graduate students studying chemical engineering.

D’Alessandro uses his experiences at Evonik Industries as a basis for instruction. In the course he introduces the complete conceptual engineering design of an entire process, including process flow diagrams. The students then use this information and subsequent lectures to complete a detailed engineering design for a processing plant over a several month period. The main work product is an industrial document called the Piping & Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID). In addition, the students become familiar with equipment specifications, process hazard analysis, and emergency relief system evaluation.

“The primary intention of ChE 490 is to teach students to use chemical engineering principles and fundamentals on industry applications and problems. The course focuses on the practical issues facing chemical process engineers working in a plant or in an engineering office. The course also emphasizes the integration of process safety and process design,” according to D’Alessandro.

In most university classes the problems are black and white with definite solutions that student can find in, or arrive at, using their textbook. In Industrial Chemical Process Engineering there are many solutions that could work, but some are better than others.

D’Alessandro says teaching this course is not very different from his time at Evonik where he mentored newly graduated engineers. Teaching is just another way to continue doing what he loves.

D’Alessandro is retired from Evonik Industries in Theodore, Alabama where he held the position of Director of Process Technology.

D’Alessandro worked at Evonik for 23 years and is proud of his career. He loves that Evonik feels they have a responsibility to the community and that they work hard to keep their site and the environment clean and safe.

He also teaches two courses for the American Institute of Chemical Engineers on Inherently Safe Process Design. These courses are for experienced engineers seeking knowledge on advanced topics. These courses are held around the country and last three days.

D’Alessandro is from the Bronx, New York and graduated with a B.S. in engineering from Fordham University in the Bronx and a B.S in chemical engineering from Columbia University in Manhattan. He received a M.S. in chemical engineering from Manhattan College.

Teaching is not a job for D’Alessandro; it is a pleasure. If he could give chemical engineering students any advice it would be, “While at university, don’t underestimate the value that your chemical engineering fundamentals will have once you are a practicing engineer.”

Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Brooks Rabideau

Dr. Brooks Rabideau recently joined the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of South Alabama as an Assistant Professor. His research area involves molecular dynamic simulations of complex systems, with an emphasis on ionic liquids. In the fall he taught the junior level Transport Phenomena I (fluids) course, and this spring he is teaching graduate transport.

USA is one of the leading institutions in the United States in ionic liquids research. Rabideau will work with fellow researchers to characterize the properties and behavior of novel ionic liquid system. His current research studies molecular simulation to understand how modifications in chemical structure can influence properties of ionic liquids with application to biomass dissolution and separations.

He previously participated in the Tailor-Made Fuels from Biomass program, which is an initiative by the German Federal Government to develop a complete process for converting waste biomass into combustible biofuels. He used molecular simulations

dissolved biomass and how modifications to their chemical structure could lead to improvements in the overall process.

Rabideau said he is very excited to provide additional understanding of ionic liquids. He also enjoys teaching as well as research, and values the natural

curiosity of his students. He enjoys testing his students’ physical intuition before revealing the main concepts, noting that their intuition is usually correct.

He said the most difficult part of teaching is when the semester ends.

“You form a lot of connections with the students through the class that you teach and want to see them continue to grow,” Rabideau said. “Hopefully, I’ll see some of these students again in later semesters.”

Rabideau’s advice to incoming freshmen is, “Find out where your interests lie. College is a great opportunity to learn about new fields and explore new ideas. Be sure to take advantage of those elective classes.”

Rabideau earned his B.S. in chemical engineering from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. Before coming to USA, he completed two post-doctoral research fellowships at the RWTH Aachen University and Université Paris-Est, Institut Navier.

to understand how ionic liquids, or molten salts,

2016 - 2017 Scholarships Alabama Power Scholarship – Landon Heavner Hargrove Scholarship - Arianjel Hernandez Raburn Scholarship – Albaraa Mando Mitsubishi Scholarship – Jennifer Arrington Parish Scholarship – Jimmie McGehee Chevron Scholarship – Jeremy Hurst Goldwater Scholarship - Benjamin Siu Tau Beta Pi Fellowship - Mikayla Walters Reece/Rose Miller Scholarship – Gerald Duck Keith Harrison Scholarship – Caleb Barlow Laura Prine Scholarship – Ashley Koichi

Stallworth Scholarship – Johnathan Anderson Stallworth Scholarship – Lauren Bassler Huddleston Scholarship – Troy Orwin Dhawan Scholarship – Amanda Brown Dhawan Scholarship – Christopher Jordan Dhawan Scholarship – Katherine Frangos Dhawan Scholarship – Kevin Cooper Dhawan Scholarship – Mattie McGill

Congratulations Scholars!

“Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.” Albert Einstein

In memory... William Crews Askew Sr. Harold Vernon Rodriguez Professor of Engineering 1940 - 2017 Professor of Engineering 1932 - 2016

The University of South Alabama Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

150 Jaguar Drive, Shelby Hall 4134 Mobile, AL 36688

Ph: (251) 460-6160 southalabama.edu/colleges/engineering/chbe/

This newsletter created by Tideline Agency, managed by communication seniors.