A research article published in the International Journal of Mineral Processing with the first author, Mr. Biswajit Sarkar, has been recognized by the Indian Institute of Mineral Engineers (IIME) as the "Best Paper Published on Beneficiation." The article, "Study of Separation Features in Floatex Density Separator for Cleaning Fine Coal," is co-authored by A. Das and S.P. Mehrotra and was published in 2008. Sarkar is currently a CBE graduate student working towards his PhD under the direction of Dr. Paschalis Alexandridis.
President Barack Obama announced that Dr. Esther S. Takeuchi has been awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest honor awarded in the U.S. for technological achievement. Dr. Takeuchi is the first UB professor to receive this honor. She will receive her medal at a White House ceremony to be held October 7.
Takeuchi is often cited as the woman awarded the most patents in the U.S. -- more than 140 at last count, most of them related to her pioneering development of sophisticated power sources for implantable devices, now a booming multibillion-dollar business.
For more information, please go to: http://www.buffalo.edu/ubreporter/2009_09_16/takeuchi_medal
Dr. Paschalis Alexandridis has been named UB Distinguished Professor. The title UB Distinguished Professor is a rank above that of full professor and was created by the Office of the Provost to recognize full professors who have achieved true distinction and who are leaders in their field.
Alexandridis' research includes self-assembly and directed assembly of polymers, supramolecules and nanoparticles. Some of his awards include the National Science Foundation's Faculty Early Career Development Award, The SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the UB Exceptional Scholar Award for Sustained Achievement, among others.
Alexandridis joined the CBE Department at UB in 1997.
For more information, please go to: http://www.buffalo.edu/ubreporter/2009_0_11/ubdisting_profs
March Madness, a membership contest, was initiated by the national chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers to encourage a final round of new student outreach before the end of the academic year. The challenge was set forth for each school to achieve at least 50% national AIChE enrollment (the percentage is calculated by taking the total number of chemical engineers on record for each school and comparing it with the membership numbers at the end of the contest). With a lot of hard work from the Student Chapter leaders, UB was among the 59 March Madness winners! A special note of thanks went to Student Chapter President Jacob Weiner and Faculty Advisor Marina Tsianou.
Dr. Stelios Andreadis has been selected to receive UB's Exceptional Scholar: Sustained Achievement Award for 2009. This award was established in 2001 to recognize tenured faculty whose body of work over a number of years has garnered professional or public accolades beyond the norm for the discipline.
Stelios received the award at the UB Exceptional Scholar and Teaching Innovation Awards Reception held in the Kaveeshwar Gallery in Capen Hall on May 18, 2009.
Each year, the Society of Chemical Industry America International Group gives a $5,000 Perkin Scholarship to a student from a university selected by the Perkin Award winner of that year. Dr. Ian Shankland has been chosen as the Perkin Medal winner for 2008, and has chosen the University at Buffalo as the university and the Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering to be the department that the student is chosen from. The Perkin Medal Scholarship program has been established to recognize and reward outstanding performance and potential in the advanced study of applied chemistry or related sciences, and to broaden awareness of the Perkin Medal and contributions to society that this prestigious award represents. The student selected as the recipient of the 2008 Perkin Scholarship is Indrajeet Singh.
Left to Right: Michael E. Campbell, Chairman, SCI America International Group, Anuroop Singh, Indrajeet Singh, Dr. Ian Shankland, 2008 Perkin Medal Recipient at the Award Presentation in Philadelphia, PA.
Lye Lock, a PhD student working under the direction of Dr. Manolis Tzanakakis, has won an award for a poster she presented on her work on the expansion and pancreatic differentiation of human embryonic stem cells in bioreactors
at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA. This highly competitive award is presented to only three graduate students per year.
Retired Professor Sol W. Weller passed away on Sunday, August 24, 2008 at the Beechwood Continuing Care Facility in Getzville, NY. He was 90 years old.
Born in Detroit, Sol earned his PhD in chemistry from the University of Chicago. During World War II, he worked on the Manhattan Project.
Over the next two decades, he worked in chemical engineering, specializing in kinetics, coal liquefaction, the separation of gases by permeation, catalysts and standardization of catalyst-testing methods. He was responsible for several patents in his field.
In 1963, he became a professor of chemical engineering at UB, where he taught until 1988. While at UB, he held the C.C. Furnas Memorial Chair in Engineering in 1983. He also received two Fulbright Awards, the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1973, the Storch Award for coal research in 1981, Murphee Award for Industrial and Engineering Chemistry in 1982, and the Schoellkopf Medal in 1984.
Dr. Weller also taught and consulted in Madrid, Spain; Istanbul, Turkey; Oxford, England; and Haifa, Israel. He wrote many scientific papers, book chapters and encyclopedia entries during his career.
A talented amateur pianist, Dr. Weller and the former Miriam Damick, his wife of 62 years, hosted many musical events in their Williamsville home. Mrs. Weller passed away in 2006.
Dr. Weller is predeceased by a daughter and is survived by a daughter and two sons.
Stelios Andreadis, Professor of Chemical & Biological Engineering, has been elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering (AIMBE) as a result of his significant contributions to the field of Chemical & Biological Engineering. Stelios' areas of research include gene therapy, tissue engineering of skin and blood vessels, controlled protein and gene delivery.
Located in Washington, DC, AIMBE is the leading advocacy group for medical and biological engineering and is comprised of some of the most important leaders in science and engineering. Founded in 1991, AIMBE has earned a reputation as a prestigious public policy leader on issues impacting the medical and biological community. AIMBE is regarded by key legislators as the preeminent voice on the subject. Through the College of Fellows, the Academic Council, the Council of Societies and the Industry Council, AIMBE represents roughly 50,000 influential leaders.