Summer 2018 CHEE Class Notes | Chemical and Environmental Engineering

Marylyn Schumann Tobey

Class of 1961, BS in Chemical Engineering
gmt@tobeys.org

Gene and Marylyn Tobey visited Athabaska Glacier in Alberta, Canada.

Scott Mansfield

Class of 1962, BS in Chemical Engineering
smansfield7@mindspring.com

I wrote “Engineering Design for Process Facilities” several years ago. The book is a practical, step-by-step guide to all aspects of project management in the process industries from setting priorities to establishing budgets and schedules to dealing with personnel and equipment for engineers, project managers, company executives and designers.

Joe Flanagan

Class of 1962, BS in Chemical Engineering
Class of 1963, MS in Chemical Engineering
Class of 1968, PhD in Chemical Engineering

Here’s a photo taken at the Portland Yacht Club in April with Bob Damon, who was one of the original four staff members (White, Edwards, Damon and Carley) in UA chemical engineering.

Bob moved to industry in June of 1963. He and Dick Edwards were great friends. Dick and I were the first and second PhDs in the department, a distinction we genuinely "relish.”

Newton Don

Class of 1968, BS in Chemical Engineering
newtondon349@gmail.com

Phil and I had dinner with Malcolm Susan Goekler in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, in April. Malcolm and Susan had returned the day before from Auckland, New Zealand, via Houston and to Philadelphia.

Their flight, and many other flights out of Auckland, was delayed because of severe winter storms. For lack of hotel space in Auckland, they had spent the night sleeping in the airport. They had returned the morning of our dinner and spent the night in Wilmington so as to not risk driving home. It was a wonder that they did not doze off at dinner.

We had a lively and fun conversation at the restaurant in Rehoboth despite getting lost trying to find it. The waiter served me an entire bowl of anchovies when I said I’d like some with my Caesar salad.

On their vacation, Malcolm and Susan visited the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex. I suppose once an engineer, always an engineer.

Malcolm and I reminisce about our time at Arizona. We had mandatory summer session between our freshman and sophomore years in order to cram in 140+ semester units into 4 years. We worked throughout and were able to graduate without debt. Not so today. Malcolm remarked on the discrimination in the industry to women engineers.

Earlier at the house, Malcolm showed us his remarkable workshop where he builds working steam engines and his greenhouse of orchids. To see each other for the second time in 50 years was satisfying and felt like we had not been separated by so many years.

Paul Smith

Class of 1969, BS in Chemical Engineering
paultucson47@yahoo.com

My wife, Nancy, and I spent 17 days in Europe; first we traveled to France to see the cathedral at Reims (where the French kings were crowned) then visited the Champagne region, then went on to Paris to visit several friends.

After 6 days in France we flew to Dublin, Ireland, to begin a 10-day cruise around Ireland and to see the Isle of Man; Holyhead, Wales, where the Prince of Wales' castle is located in Carneferon; and finally, Liverpool, England, home of the Beatles.

Here are photos of the Palace of Versailles [at the top of the page] and the Beatles statue in Liverpool. I am not in any of the pictures as I haven't quite mastered the art of selfies.

Melissa (Thumberg) Young

Class of 2006, BS in Chemical Engineering
mayoungaz@gmail.com

This April, my husband, Chris, and I spent our fifth wedding anniversary in St. Lucia.

Besides lounging on the beach enjoying the beautiful views, our favorite activity was taking a boat out to the Pitones and experiencing the sulfur baths and waterfalls.

The one thing I made sure to pack was my Arizona Wildcats ball cap for good luck!

Cheryl Blomberg

Class of 2012, BS in Chemical Engineering

My husband and I went diving around the Marshall Islands, which are in the middle of nowhere in the Pacific Ocean, literally 2,000 miles from Japan, Australia and Hawaii.

This photo of the Palawan Wreck was taken at a depth of 130 ft.

Ishan Joshipura

Class of 2012, BS in Chemical Engineering
joshipiraishan@gmail.com

I have some good news to share. Two weeks ago I successfully defended my chemical engineering PhD thesis at North Carolina State University. My PhD advisor is professor Michael Dickey.

Attached is a photo from my defense with my parents, Dhiren and Smita Joshipura. My mother, Smita, is also a 2004 Arizona alum with an MS in library and information science.

I want to thank the UA Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering for providing the foundational education and opportunities that allowed me to pursue and complete a PhD.

I will be joining Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California this fall as a postdoctoral researcher working on additive manufacturing techniques using liquid metals.

Long Cheng

Class of 2017, PhD in Chemical Engineering
longcheng@email.arizona.edu

This photo was taken when I made a surprise visit to CHEE during a trip to California.

I work at a pharmaceutical research company conducting routine and non-routine analyses of in-process materials, drug substance (including control substances) and their metabolites, impurities and unknowns in drug substance, finished goods, and bio-samples for pharmaceutical companies using HPLC-DAD and UPLC-MS/MS in compliance with cGMP and GLP regulations.

And, per clients’ requests, I also need to

perform research on analytical techniques
transfer existing methods from client(s)
develop analytical strategies
write and validate analytical methods
investigate methods when testing results are abnormal/do not meet corresponding specifications, etc., to meet clients’ analytical objectives and, sometimes, improve methods provided by clients for better analytical performance.

I am also in charge of routine calibrations and maintenance on scientific instruments, such as HPLC-DAD and UPLC-MS/MS, to ensure normal operation and proper working order (troubleshoot malfunctions when needed by isolating and identifying mechanical/electrical issues).

Ryan Petronella

Class of 2017, BS in Chemical Engineering
ryan.petronella94@gmail.com

I was fortunate to spend my 24th birthday out in Zion National Park with my friend Matt. We climbed Moonlight Buttress back in April, with perfect conditions and little traffic on the route.

Esteban Jimenez

Class of 2018, BS in Chemical Engineering
estebanj.1180@gmail.com

Not many travels for me. I started working at Intel in Chandler mid-June, so my summer was relatively short.

I did go to Galveston, Texas, for a week to visit my girlfriend, so I attached the only picture we took there.

My new job seems overwhelming at first, but I am learning a lot very quickly and it is ultimately pretty rewarding.

It is definitely interesting to be done with school for the foreseeable future and entering a new stage in my life.

Joseph Schlosser

Class of 2018, BS in Chemical Engineering
Class of 2018, BS in Environmental Engineering
jsschlosser@email.arizona.edu

My summer started out eventfully! The day of the CHEE convocation I performed an aerials piece with the Circus Academy of Tucson. One week afterwards I walked a highline rigged near Windy Point on Mount Lemmon.

I was accepted into the PhD program at the University of Arizona, and received the University Fellowship and the Harvill Fellowship, which will fund my graduate studies. Armin Sorooshian has graciously accepted me into his atmospheric sciences research group.

This summer, I’m working as a graduate research assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory on a project related to atmospheric sciences. I am continuing aerials, and practicing salsa and swing dancing during my time at LANL. I picked up both activities up during my undergraduate internship at LANL last summer. I am also enjoying many hiking adventures.

Future Alumni! Class of 2019 Summer Interns

Julie Frieb

Class of 2019, BS in Chemical Engineering
juliedaffron@email.arizona.edu

The photo is of a deactivation furnace where we explode unused, defective or prototype inflators. It sounds like a microwave popping gigantic metal popcorn kernels!

I am a process engineering intern at Autoliv, the world’s largest automotive safety company, with operations in 27 different countries. Autoliv has been on the fortune 500 for the past 20 years.

I work at the Promontory Facility in northern Utah. We produce gas generant that goes into driver, passenger, side-impact and side-curtain airbags. This facility produces more igniter material and gas generant annually than any other pyrotechnic facility in the world.

I work in the spray dry department, which deals with the manufacturing of the pyrotechnic material. One of my main tasks for the summer is proposing alternatives for the slurry pumps we currently use. Our slurry is not only corrosive and abrasive, but we operate at very unique pressures and flowrates, as well as at high temperatures, which makes pump selection difficult.

One of my side projects is installing an auger feed screw to more effectively deliver powders into the mix tanks and, in addition to spray dry, I have headed up a project to give our waste water treatment facility a facelift. I collected data, drafted a request for proposal, communicated with contractors on a daily basis, and coordinated site visits.

I have really enjoyed my time at Autoliv. Everyone has been incredibly welcoming, patient and eager to answer my questions. My supervisors assign me projects that not only benefit the company, but that also give me valuable experience and benefit me as an engineer.

Northern Utah is gorgeous and there are endless outdoor possibilities. It is an easy drive to Salt Lake City, Boise and Yellowstone National Park. Since coming here, I have been to my first MLS soccer game, saw my first air show, and enjoyed the US’s oldest family-run amusement park.

Lindsay Marie Vermeire

Class of 2019, BS in Chemical Engineering
lvermeire@email.arizona.edu

This summer, I am working as an equipment engineering intern at NXP Semiconductor. The focus of my project is to characterize clean times on a sub-atmospheric chemical vapor deposition toolset using infrared spectroscopy.

My proposal for changes to the current process will save the company time and resources by optimizing the cleaning of multiple tools. These results will also address the issue of contamination from over cleaning.

This project is a wonderful learning opportunity as it incorporates hands-on chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering experience simultaneously.