Message from the Chair - Fall 2023

Photo, left to right: David Mier Salazar (PhD student), Isaiah Hernandez (junior ChEE), Catherine O’Brien (junior ChEE), Macy Winn (junior ChEE), Laura Dunham (senior ChEE), Hannah McCollum (senior ChEE), Kim Ogden (Professor & Department Chair), Peyton Meyer (top, senior ChEE), Madison Hoff (bottom, senior ChEE), Suchol Savagatrup (Assistant Professor) and Greg Ogden (Research Professor).

Dear alumni and friends,

Season’s greetings and best wishes to you and your families for the new year! 

We Couldn’t Have Done it Without You!

Thanks to your generosity, we surpassed our goal in the “Safe Lab for Dangerous Reactions” crowdfunding campaign. Fifty-four alumni and friends donated $17,510 to help the department purchase equipment and develop a new safety lab for undergraduates. 

The bomb calorimeter is being ordered, while CHEE’s lab instructors build the new lab over the coming months. Chemical engineering seniors in the class of 2025 will be the first to reap the benefits, heading out into the workforce with state-of-the-art safety training. We will keep you informed of our progress.

If you’d like more information about this project or future lab improvements, please contact me.

CHEE Faculty Prepare to Contribute to Expanded Semiconductor Efforts

Arizona Commerce Authority funding will outfit the UA’s Micro/Nano Fabrication Center with state-of-the-art equipment and support the development of innovative teaching tools to train students at the UA and partner institutions to work with the technology. 

Among the goals of this project is boosting the production of semiconductor chips in the U.S. – a Biden administration initiative to prevent supply chain shortages in the future – with expected expansion to more research and development activities in the semiconductor manufacturing area.

Farhang Shadman, Regents Professor and director of the National Science Foundation Semiconductor Research Corporation Engineering Research Center (ERC) is working with a group of CHEE faculty on an approach to their involvement. “Given the expertise and activities of our faculty, we are poised to contribute significantly to the project’s success,” he said.

CHEE faculty have been involved in the ERC, a multi-university and multidisciplinary program managed by the UA, since its inception in 1996. The purpose of the center has been to develop safe, sustainable materials and processes for semiconductor manufacturing and study nano-scale manufacturing solutions. CHEE is currently developing a program for continuation of the ERC and its new phase, including collaboration with the new workforce development program. 

Professional Development Abounds at AIChE Annual Meeting

Several CHEE faculty and members of the UA’s American Institute for Chemical Engineers (AIChE) student chapter traveled to the AIChE annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. 

Suchol Savagatrup, assistant professor and the AIChE advisor, considers this the best professional development opportunity of the year. “Students get to expand their view of chemical engineering outside our department, consider graduate schools, and learn about potential employment opportunities,” he said. Faculty learn about current research and vet potential faculty candidates.