News & Events

Welcome Dr. Kate Stebe as Department Chair and Richer and Elizabeth Goodwin Professor of Engineering and Applied Science

On September 1, Dr. Kathleen J. Stebe will take the reins as the new Department Chair in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Stebe joins the Department as the Richer and Elizabeth M. Goodwin  Professor of Engineering and Applied Science.  She is interested in non-equilibrium interfaces, with applications ranging from microfluidics to nanotechnology. One aspect of her program focuses on interfaces between fluids, and how surfactants can be used to influence interfacial flows.  Other aspects address tailoring of solid-liquid interfaces with applications ranging from patterned electrodeposition to capillary-driven assembly and ordering of nanomaterials.

Professor Stebe received a B.A. in Economics from the City College of New York.  After she earned a Ph.D. at the Levich Institute of the City University of New York, Professor Stebe spent a post-doctoral year in Compiegne, France. She joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, where she rose through the ranks to become a tenured Professor and to serve as the department chair.  She has been a Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies.  Professor Stebe has received the Robert S. Pond Excellence in Teaching Award at JHU, and the Frenkiel Award from the Division of Fluid Dynamics of the American Physical Society.

2008 Molstad Award Winners Announced

Addressing the topic of SNPScreen: High-Throughput Lung Cancer Genotyping Using the BioMark^TM Microfluidic Platform, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Seniors Larry Dooling, Divya Jayaraman, Tushar Khanna, and Keith Mangam achieved top honors as the 2008 Molstad Prize winners for the best Senior Design Project. They presented the project on Tuesday, April 22, as one of a dozen design groups. Their faculty advisor was Professor John Crocker. The department's faculty and industrial consultants, who had contributed expertise through the semester, participated in evaluating the projects and gathered for the traditional Senior Design photo on the steps of the historic Towne Building. The full day of presentations included a luncheon at the Sheraton University City hotel, where department alum, Dr. Kenneth Chan, related memories of the award's namesake, Professor Mike Molstad.

John Seinfeld Addresses Global Climate Change in 2008 John Quinn Lecture

"Global Climate Change" was the topic of the 2008 John A. Quinn Lecture in Chemical Engineering presented by Professor John H. Seinfeld, the Louis E. Nohl Professor in the Divisions of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Engineering and Applied Science at the California Institute of Technology. Humans have embarked on an environmental experiment of unprecedented proportions.  Dr. Seinfeld discussed the scientific foundation of global climate change and addressed, in particular, the role of aerosols in present and future climate.

John Vohs Wins the 2007 Catalysis Club of Philadelphia Award

John Vohs, the Carl V.S. Patterson Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, is the recipient of the 2007 Catalysis Club of Philadelphia Award. The award is given for outstanding contributions to the advancement of catalysis in scientific or technological areas or in organizational leadership.

Award nominators emphasized Vohs’ pioneering work in the application of surface science techniques to understand reaction mechanisms and site requirements on metal oxide single crystals. He demonstrated the use of High Resolution Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (HREELS) to obtain vibrational spectra of reactive intermediates on the surfaces of semiconducting and insulating metal oxides. This work, which continues to be highly cited today, was vital to making the connection between model single crystal surfaces and high surface area powder catalysts, especially in demonstrating mechanisms and site requirements from model systems that could be applied to complex materials. His HREELS and XPS work on vanadia, titania, and ceria-based materials helped to understand the surface properties of these materials and lead to applied research on oxygen storage processes which is of vital importance to solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). As a leader in this field, Professor Vohs contributed to the fundamental understanding of related reaction and transport processes, as well as strategies for preventing deactivation and coking in these devices. Moreover, he is one of a small but growing number of researchers who are demonstrating a new paradigm for design of new catalytic materials from atomistic understanding.

In addition to his research contributions, Professor Vohs has advised nearly 20 graduate students and about the same number of postdoctoral fellows during his 18 years at Penn, and served as Associate Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science from 1997-2001.

Merck Encourages Student Research with a Research Award to Helen Kyd

Dr. Joye Bramble of Merck (second from right) presents the 2006 Merck Research Award to Helen Kyd (center), CBE Sophomore, as Professors John Vohs (Chair), Scott Diamond (research advisor), and David Graves (Undergraduate Curriculum Chair) look on. Merck has awarded Ms. Kyd a $6000 stipend to carry on research in the laboratory of Professor Scott Diamond. She will be developing quantitative imaging tools to quantify malaria parasite transmission dynamics within a red blood cell population.  These studies will help serve as the basis of a high content screening (HCS) assay of a chemical library to discover novel inhibitors of specific steps of the malaria life cycle. The award is part of Merck’s effort to encourage undergraduate research in the bioprocessing field and recognizes the pharmaceutical company's long-standing relationship with Penn’s Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department. Many Penn graduates have taken jobs there and moved into positions of leadership within the company. Dr. Bramble received her Ph.D. from Penn’s Chemical Engineering Department in 1989. This is the third year that Merck has presented this award.