1953 alumnus Bob Carnahan, metallurgical and materials engineering, has offered a comment on the Pat Paulsen wine now being auctioned. Read his comments in “Pat Paulsen’s Son Offers to Sign the Wine” in the From the Email Bag section of TechAlum Newsletter, June 4, 2012.
Associate Professor Joshua M. Pearce (MSE/ECE) published an article, “Limitations of Nuclear Power as a Sustainable Energy Source,” in Sustainability.
The Graduate School is pleased to announce that two students have earned fellowships from The DeVlieg Foundation, which supports graduate students pursuing research in engineering, wildlife and biology at Michigan Tech. One of the recipients for Spring 2012 is Patrick Bowen, PhD candidate, Materials Science and Engineering.
Associate Professor Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) coauthored an article, “Expanded microchannel heat exchanger: design, fabrication and preliminary experimental test,” in the Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers-Part A: Journal of Power and Energy, 226, 532-544 (2012).
On Wednesday, May 9, faculty, staff members and guests gathered at the Rozsa Center for an awards dinner recognizing employees who have 25, 30, 35, and 40 years of service to the University, as well as retirees. Among those recognized for 25 years of service is Professor Stephen A. Hackney.
Read more at Tech Today.
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering is pleased to announce that Professor Steve Kampe has agreed to serve as department chair. The President, Provost, incoming Dean, and Dean Tim Schulz are all excited about Steve’s appointment, and all are confident that his leadership will be a great asset for the department, college, and university.
College of Engineering Dean Tim Schulz would also like to thank the Department Chair Search Committee–Paul Bergstrom, Miguel Levy, Beth Ruohonen, Paul Sanders, Doug Swenson, and Cal White–for managing a process that resulted in the hire of a candidate of Steve’s caliber.
Steve’s duties will begin on July 1, 2012.
Common Kitchen Ingredient Helps Clean Drinking Water
If clean water is that easy, why are so many people, especially young children, dying from diseases contracted by drinking unclean water? There is a major obstacle to effective use of SODIS: if the water is muddy or murky, pathogens can hide in the shadows of the particulates, avoiding the death-rays of the sun.
But Brittney Dawney, a student at Queen’s University of Ontario, and Joshua Pearce, associate professor at Michigan Technological University, believe this problem can be solved with an everyday item from the kitchen shelf: table salt.
Read more at Treehugger, by Christine Lepisto.
Recipe For Safer Drinking Water? Add Sun, Salt And Lime
“Basically, you need to be able to read a newspaper through it. That means it’s clear enough for the UV radiation to penetrate and kill the pathogens. If you can’t see through it, it just won’t work,” explains Joshua Pierce [sic], associate professor of materials science and engineering at Michigan Tech.
Read more at NPR, by Gretchen Cuda Kroen.
This Guy Is Making Dirty Water Safe To Drink By Using A Common Kitchen Ingredient
According to Michigan Tech, “nearly 80 percent of disease in developing countries is linked to bad water and sanitation” and diarrhea kills 4,000 children a day in Africa.
Read more at Business Insider, by Michael Kelley.
A gram of salt helps treat murky water
The salt binds to contaminants in the water and clumps them together so they can be removed, after which the water is usually clear enough that it can undergo a low-tech, cheap and widely available cleansing method called solar water disinfection.
Read more at CBC News.
Dr. Yun Hang Hu’s group has immediate openings for qualified graduate students interested in completing PhD program. Emphasis of those positions will be in one of the following areas: graphene and other nano-structured materials for solar cells, metal-organic frameworks and Li-N based materials for hydrogen energy, nano-structured materials, CO2 conversion into novel solid materials, and catalysis for clean fuel production. Motivated students, who are interested in working on those areas, are encouraged to apply.
See Prof. Yun Hang Hu Research Group.
Research programs in Professor Hu’s laboratory use chemical and physical approaches towards the synthesis and the characterization of advanced materials for energy applications, including:
- Graphene for solar energy
- Synthesis of novel solid materials and liquid fuels from CO2
- Hydrogen storage materials
- Low-pressure Induced Amorphization (LPIA) of solid materials
- Structures and properties of nano-structured materials
- Heterogeneous catalysis
Lab equipment for research in advanced materials and catalysis in energy include:
- In-Situ High Temperature – High Pressure FTIR with Diffuse Reflectance Accessory
- On-line GC-MS for TPD and TPR
- On-line GC for Catalytic Reactions
- On-line GC for Hydrogenation and Dehydrogenation
- Adsorption Instrument for BET and Pore Size Distribution
- UV-Vis Spectrophotometer with Diffuse Reflection Accessory
- Elemental Analysis Instrument
- FTNIR for both Solid and Liquid
- Electrochemical Workstation
- Solar Simulator and Solar Cell Performance Test Unit
From the Email Bag in TechAlum Newsletter, part of the famous College Bowl team of 1964 was Byron Boyd, son of legendary metallurgy professor Gil Boyd.
Jaroslaw Drelich and Yun Hang Hu have been promoted from associate professor with tenure to professor with tenure.