Message From the Department Chair: July 2019 Newsletter
Dear alumni and friends,
I hope the summer season is treating you well.
Thanks to those of you who submitted travel photos. You are an important part of the CHEE family, and we appreciate news of your adventures, professional milestones and life transitions.
It Takes a Village to Raise an Engineer
The Grand Spectrophotometer Challenge was a tremendous success. You more than doubled the $5,000 goal, allowing CHEE to acquire a spectrophotometer and a reverse osmosis system. Your commitment to improving the student lab experience goes above and beyond. Thank you immensely for your contributions.
CHEE also received lab-improvement funding from the UA to help address student growth.
“The combination of alumni gifts and UA funding will make it possible for every student to have more hands-on contact with the experiments,” said Greg Ogden, research professor and lab manager.
This summer CHEE is undergoing the most comprehensive lab upgrade in more than a decade, adding an elevator to the pit for ADA compliance, installing fume hoods, developing new experiment modules, and increasing the number of experiment stations.
CHEE’s second annual crowdfunding campaign will launch this winter.
From Core Concepts to Solving Problems
Several alumni recently asked me how engineering education has changed, what the department needs most, and what more they can do to help.
Engineering education is expanding. Applications complement traditional labs teaching core chemical and environmental engineering principles. Students apply fundamental knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems.
For example, an ethanol adsorption experiment modeled after applications for cleaning air in airplanes was added to a senior lab.
Several senior design teams worked on zero water discharge projects for cooling data centers or reducing disposal at water treatment centers. Another team developed organic synthesis for carbon dioxide to use on Mars to make fuel, sugar and food.
The growing focus on connecting fundamentals to real-world applications requires continual investment in our labs and other aspects of student education.
How Can You Help?
Donations help us continually improve the student experience.
Students also greatly benefit from contact with alumni. They are eager to learn about different industries and welcome your interaction and mentorship.
- Serve as a senior design mentor. This can be done remotely.
- Talk with students about your professional experiences.
- Recruit CHEE students at campus job fairs and on visits to the UA.
- Contribute class notes to stay connected!
Contact Holly Altman at haltman@email.arizona.edu for more information on donation and engagement opportunities.
2019 Homecoming
Save the date for Homecoming on Nov. 1 and 2. Please join us for the college’s Engineers Breakfast and tailgate. We hope to see you there!
Warm regards,
Anthony Muscat
Professor and Department Chair
Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering
The University of Arizona
muscat@email.arizona.edu