Additive Manufacturing and Design Graduate Programs
Thomas Voisin
Wednesday, March 20, 2024;
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. (ET)
Zoom
Speaker: Thomas Voisin from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Hosted by: Jaclyn Stimely, juc52@psu.edu
Center for Neural Engineering
Structural, Functional, and Genetic Changes Surrounding Electrodes Implanted in the Brain
Wednesday, March 20, 2024;
12:15 - 1:15 pm
W306 Millennium Science Complex
Speaker: Erin Purcell, Associate Professor from Michigan State University
Hosted by: Rebecca Benson, rle4@psu.edu
Engineering Science and Mechanics
Engineering applications of simulation tools and their role in education
Wednesday, March 20, 2024;
3:35 PM - 4:25 PM
060 Willard Building
Speaker: Rajesh Bhaskaran from Cornell University
Abstract: Democratization of simulation will enable design engineers and other non-specialists to leverage the power of simulation earlier in the design cycle leading to superior products. To realize this vision, the educational ecosystem needs to better prepare students to combine the art of design with the science of simulation. I will present industry-inspired simulation examples in statics, dynamics and fluid dynamics using realistic geometries developed in collaboration with Ansys Inc. Examples include pressure vessel static behavior, wind turbine blade buckling, turbine vibration and turbulent flow over an airplane body. The simulations are implemented using industry standard Ansys tools. I will discuss the deployment of these examples in courses using online learning and how they enable exciting practical projects such as the aerodynamic design of an electric car and mechanical design of a bicycle. The pedagogical approach uses problem-based learning through hands-on simulations in Ansys, with the necessary theory taught just-in-time, focusing on concepts. A deep conceptual understanding of the underlying theory is necessary for students to approach simulations like an expert. The simulation tool serves not only as a problem-solving platform but also as a visual learning platform that helps students master physics better than through a conventional approach. I will describe how practical simulations can be incorporated into courses using best practices in pedagogy such as active learning. This type of training helps students graduate with real-world skills, empowered and excited to solve practical problems.
Biography: Rajesh Bhaskaran is the Swanson Director of Engineering Simulation in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University. His work seeks to promote the democratization of simulation through effective integration of industry-standard simulation software into engineering education. His vision is to create a new paradigm in engineering education by combining two disruptive technologies – simulations and online learning. He has helped introduce Ansys-based simulations into 17 Cornell engineering courses. More than 277,000 people from 173 countries have enrolled in his massive open online course on simulations at edx.org; this course was a finalist for the edX prize. He has developed two online Cornell certificates in finite-element analysis and computational fluid dynamics for working professionals to learn practical simulations using Ansys tools. He has been awarded the Dennis G. Shepherd Prize for Excellence in Teaching by Cornell University. He holds a B. Tech degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Iowa State University.
Hosted by: Bethany Illig, buh196@psu.edu
Additive Manufacturing and Design Graduate Programs
Marie Charpagne
Wednesday, March 27, 2024;
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. (ET)
Zoom
Speaker: Marie Charpagne from University of Illinois
Hosted by: Jaclyn Stimely, juc52@psu.edu
Chemical Engineering
Electric-Field Induced Motion of Neutral Polymer Molecules in Salt-Containing Mixtures
Tuesday, March 26, 2024;
10:35a - 11:35am
CBEB 001
Speaker: Nitash Balsara from University of California, Berkeley
Abstract
The term “solvation” generally applies to the immediate neighborhood of the working ion in dilute liquid electrolytes. In this limit, the neighborhood - approximately a sphere - is dominated by solvent molecules, whence the term solvation. The solvent that dissolves ions can either be a polymer or a low molecular weight solvent (liquid). In the case of polymers, the solvation shell comprises polymer segments that translate coherently with the working ion for a short while before they diffuse away to Brownian motion. The time scale for this coherent translation (solvation lifetime) was measured in a polymer electrolyte comprising poly(pentyl malonate) and a lithium salt (LiTFSI) by quasi elastic neutron scattering (QENS). We obtained a value of about 1 nanosecond. This measurement was enabled by a unique QENS signature of solvation lifetime, arising due to the presence of multiple chains in the solvation sphere. The experimental results are compared with molecular dynamics simulations without resorting to any adjustable parameters. The relevance of this to the transport of lithium ions in battery electrolytes is discussed using continuum theory, molecular dynamics simulations, and electrochemical measurements on mixtures of PPM and LiTFSI. We show that ion transport in PPM/LiTFSI mixtures is faster than that in the standard polymer electrolyte, a mixture of poly(ethylene oxide) and LiTFSI.
Nitash P. Balsara is a chemical engineer with a bachelor's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, India, a master's degree from Clarkson University, and a PhD from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. This was followed by two post-doctoral appointments at the University of Minnesota and the Exxon Research and Engineering Company. In 1992, he joined the faculty of Department of Chemical Engineering at Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, New York. In 2000 he moved to Berkeley to join the faculty at the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of California and to join Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as a faculty scientist. He cofounded two battery start-ups with his students, SEEO and Blue Current.
Hosted by: Angela Dixon, adc12@psu.edu
Creating a New Circular Carbon Economy via Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage
Thursday, March 28, 2024;
10:35a - 11:35am
CBEB 001
Speaker: A.H. Alissa Park from UCLA
In order to meet the ever-increasing global energy demands while addressing climate change, the development of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies is one of the critical needs. In particular, there have been significant efforts to develop innovative CO2 capture materials and CO2 conversion technologies to create a new circular carbon economy based on renewable energy. The next-generation CO2 capture materials, which are often water-free or water-lean, have unique structural and chemical properties that allow their applications in a wide range of reactive separation systems. Nanoparticle Organic Hybrid Materials (NOHMs) are organic-inorganic hybrids that consist of a hard nanoparticle core functionalized with a molecular organic corona that possesses a high degree of chemical and physical tunability. It has recently been discovered that NOHMs have interesting electrolyte properties that allow the CO2 capture to be pulled by the in-situ CO2 conversion reactions. The development of these unique nanoscale hybrid materials will not only advance CO2 capture materials design but also introduce unique research opportunities in various sustainable energy and environmental fields. This seminar will discuss the challenges and opportunities of different CO2 capture and conversion pathways including Negative Emission Technologies (e.g., Direct Air Capture) that can allow the development of circular carbon and hydrogen economy using renewable energy.
About the Speaker
Ah-Hyung “Alissa” Park is the Ronald and Valerie Sugar Dean of UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and a Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to joining UCLA in 2023, she was the Lenfest Earth Institute Professor of Climate Change at Columbia University, where she also served as the Director of the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy. Her research focuses on sustainable energy and materials conversion pathways with an emphasis on integrated Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) technologies. Park received a number of professional awards and honors, including the Shell Thomas Baron Award in Fluid-Particle Systems and PSRI Lectureship Award from AIChE PTF, U.S. C3E Research Award, and NSF CAREER Award. She also led a number of global and national discussions on CCUS, including the Mission Innovation Workshop in 2017. Park is a Fellow of AIChE, ACS, RSC and AAAS.
Hosted by: Angela Dixon, adc12@psu.edu
Additive Manufacturing and Design Graduate Programs
Calvin Stewart
Wednesday, April 3, 2024;
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. (ET)
Zoom
Speaker: Calvin Stewart from The Ohio State University
Hosted by: Jaclyn Stimely, juc52@psu.edu
Chemical Engineering
Myths and Challenges in Acid Catalysis within Small Voids
Thursday, April 4, 2024;
10:35a - 11:35am
CBEB 001
Speaker: Barrer Lecture - Enrique Iglesia from University of California, Berkeley
The sieving and confinement phenomena that confer remarkable functional diversity on solids with voids of molecular size also act to blur the chemical origins of the molecular transformations that they catalyze. The mechanistic conjectures imposed by such barriers to direct observation deserve reconsideration through theory and experiments of increasing precision and fidelity. This lecture focuses on acid catalysis, because it is ubiquitous in practice, but the myths and the challenges are evident for many reactions that occur within small voids. Selectivity and reactivity differences among heterosilicates that differ in void topology are frequently ascribed to their diverse acid strength, but such properties are, in fact, similar for these framework structures. Their different catalytic properties reflect instead confinement and sieving effects that favor specific transition states, and, in some cases, the preferential diffusion of certain molecules thought small apertures based on their size. Acid strength, a precise chemical property, can be estimated from theory for solids with well-defined structure, but cannot be measured. It influences turnover rates when the amount (and distribution) of charge differs between cationic transition states and their relevant precursors. In small voids, the consequences of acid strength are inextricably linked to those brought forth by host-guest interactions, through non-covalent van der Waals contacts that depend on their respective size and shape. The strong preference for terminal methyls in skeletal alkane isomerization within small voids, quaintly ascribed to “pore mouth catalysis”, merely reflects the preferential sieving of such isomers by apertures of molecular dimensions. Despite the prevailing paradigms, the selectivity towards more demanding reactions is not inherently preferred on stronger acids and very strong acids are not essential to activate H2 and CH4 reactants in alkene hydrogenation and alkane alkylation, respectively. The clarity that emerges from dissecting chemistry from transport (and binding from solvation) is enabled by an increasingly seamless theory-experiment nexus; it provides essential guidance in designing solids that exploit synergies between binding sites and their outer sphere environments.
Enrique Iglesia is a Distinguished Professor and the Vermeulen Chair (Emeritus) at the University of California at Berkeley. He holds degrees from Princeton and Stanford and doctor honoris causa from the Universidad Politecnica-Valencia and the Technical University-Munich. His research addresses the synthesis and structural/functional assessment of solids as catalysts for the production and use of energy carriers and chemicals with minimal environmental footprints. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Inventors. He has been recognized by ACS (Olah, Somorjai, Murphree awards), AIChE (Wilhelm, Alpha Chi Sigma, Walker awards), and chemical and catalysis societies worldwide (Emmett, Burwell, Boudart, Distinguished Service awards; Gault and Cross Canada Lectureships). He received the ENI Energy Prize, the Kozo Tanabe Prize, and the International Natural Gas Conversion Award. He served as Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Catalysis and President of the North American Catalysis Society. His teaching has been recognized by several awards, notably the Noyce Prize, the highest teaching award at Berkeley.
Hosted by: Angela Dixon, adc12@psu.edu
Engineering Science and Mechanics
Exploring high-affinity “Chemical antibodies”: From discovery to transformational applications
Wednesday, April 3, 2024;
3:35 PM - 4:25 PM
060 Willard Building
Speaker: Yong Wang from Penn State University
Abstract: Nucleic acid aptamers (aptamers) are single-stranded synthetic oligonucleotides with the ability to bind target molecules with high affinities and specificities comparable to antibodies. Thus, aptamers are commonly referred to as “chemical antibodies” or “synthetic antibodies” and have been widely studied in virtually all areas where antibodies are designed. However, it is time-consuming and labor-intensive to discover functional aptamers with good quality. This presentation will cover three topics: 1) discussing a new method recently developed in the lab – HAS for one-step aptamer discovery; 2) introducing the application of aptamers for the development of the biomimetic extracellular matrix (ECM); and 3) discussing potential applications of the biomimetic ECM such as protein delivery and regenerative medicine.
Biography: Dr. Wang is a professor in Biomedical Engineering (BME) and currently holds the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Cell Medicine. Dr. Wang received a BS degree in Environmental Chemistry from Jilin University in 1995, and a MS degree in Chemical Engineering from the Chinese Academy of Sciences 1998. Dr. Wang got his Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University in 2004. After two years of postdoctoral training at the Duke University Medical Center, Dr. Wang took a faculty position at the University of Connecticut in 2006. Dr. Wang was early promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 2011 and was approved for promotion to Full Professor at Penn State in 2016. He received a CAREER Award and an INSPIRE Award from NSF. Dr. Wang is Fellow of AIMBE. Dr. Wang enjoys different sports. Now Dr. Wang spends most of his leisure time playing soccer with his son.
Hosted by: Bethany Illig, buh196@psu.edu
Additive Manufacturing and Design Graduate Programs
Stephen Chmely
Wednesday, April 10, 2024;
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. (ET)
Zoom
Speaker: Stephen Chmely from Penn State
Hosted by: Jaclyn Stimely, juc52@psu.edu
Chemical Engineering
Cellulosic Biofuel 2.0
Thursday, April 11, 2024;
10:35a - 11:35am
CBEB 001
Speaker: Lee Lynd from Dartmouth College
Cellulosic biofuels fell short of expectations a decade ago but are likely needed as part of the sustainable energy transition. Perspectives will be offered pursuant to configuring Cellulosic Biofuel 2.0 for success, including:
•The need for cellulosic biofuels as key components of the sustainableenergy transition, with an emphasis on negative emissions.
•Selected technologies with potential to enable cost-competitive conversionof cellulosic biomass to fuels for light and heavy duty vehicles.
•Graceful land use strategies, in particular for avoiding land competitionand enhancing the cost effectiveness and sustainability of food and feedproduction.
•Deployment, entrepreneurial, and policy strategies informed by cellulosicbiofuels 1.0.
Lee Lynd is the Paul and Joan Queneau Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Adjunct Professor of Biology at Dartmouth College; Visiting Professor, Sao Paulo Excellence Chair, and Director of the Advanced Second Generation Biofuel Laboratory at the University of Campinas (Brazil); Team Lead for Consolidated Bioprocessing at the US Department of Energy Bioenergy Science Center; and Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Terragia Corporation. Past leadership positions include Executive Committee Chairman of the Global Sustainable Bioenergy Initiative, Co-Leader of the Role of Biomass in America’s Energy Future Project, Co-Founder and Director of Mascoma and Enchi Corporations, and Biofuel Industry Representative on the Advisory Committee to the Executive Office of President Clinton on Reducing Greenhouse Emissions from Personal Vehicles.
Hosted by: Angela Dixon, adc12@psu.edu
Engineering Science and Mechanics
Novel approaches to capturing CO2 from the air & ocean
Wednesday, April 10, 2024;
3:35 PM - 4:25 PM
060 Willard Building
Speaker: Katherine Hornbostel from University of Pittsburgh
Abstract: The latest climate change projections indicate that we will need over 10 Giga-tonnes per year of negative emissions by 2050 in order to stay below 1.5°C global temperature rise. Direct air capture (DAC) and direct ocean capture (DOC) are two promising negative emissions technology areas that need further innovation before they’re cost-effective options. In this talk, I discuss three of my current research projects: two DAC projects and one DOC project.
My first DAC project takes a novel approach to scaling up DAC technology by coupling it with natural gas power plants. This coupling allows natural gas plants to operate with near net-zero CO2 emissions, and also gives DAC a platform for rapid scale-up with access to free electricity, steam, and pressurized air. Our preliminary project results indicate that we can make the power plant operate with near net-zero CO2 emissions using a reasonably sized DAC system.
My second DAC project involves developing a novel hybrid solid sorbent called a core-shell metal-organic-framework (MOF). The beauty of this hybrid sorbent is that the shell can block water from entering the core so that the core can focus on binding CO2 instead of water. My project team has computationally screened many core-shell MOF combinations and synthesized a few of the most promising combinations. We’re currently working to test these synthesized MOFs under air conditions and to simulate the breakthrough times for CO2 and water for different bed and pellet designs.
My DOC project investigates using a membrane seawater/solvent contactor to remove CO2 from seawater. I study two different membrane designs for this project: hollow fiber membranes and encapsulated solvents. My team has modeled and performed lab-scale demonstrations of both designs. Our preliminary results indicate that CO2 separation from seawater is possible but that it will only be cost-effective if we can locally lower the pH on the seawater side. Current work is focused on how to integrate DOC with desalination to make it more cost-effective.
Biography: Dr. Katherine Hornbostel is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. Her current research areas include membrane modeling for carbon capture, sorbent modeling for direct air capture, and developing novel membranes for direct ocean capture. Dr. Hornbostel received her BS and MS in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech in 2010 and 2012, respectively. She then received her PhD in mechanical engineering from MIT in 2016. Her PhD thesis research under Dr. Ahmed Ghoniem involved modeling solid oxide fuel cells for power production from coal syngas. Dr. Hornbostel was a postdoc research fellow at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, where she developed a model for encapsulated solvents for power plant carbon capture. Dr. Hornbostel spoke about her postdoc work on Freakonomics Radio Live and also received press for her breast pump invention that she created after having twins in grad school. Dr. Hornbostel was also recently named a Scialog: Negative Emissions Science Fellow, and recently received the Carbon Capture Future Star Award from the CCS&T Elsevier journal.
Hosted by: Bethany Illig, buh196@psu.edu
Mechanical Engineering
Shock-Wave / Boundary-Layer Interactions: Unsteady Physics and Flow Structure Interaction
Tuesday, April 9, 2024;
3:35 p.m. - 4:35 p.m.
135 Reber Building
Speaker: Noel Clemens from University of Texas at Austin
Bio:
Dr. Noel Clemens holds the Clare Cockrell Williams Centennial Chair in Engineering in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin. He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst in 1985, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 1986 and 1991, respectively. From 1991 to 1993 he was a post-doctoral fellow at the Combustion Research Facility at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, CA. Dr. Clemens began as an Assistant Professor at UT in 1993 and was promoted to full professor in 2005. He served as the Aerospace Engineering Department Chair from 2012 to 2019. He received the Presidential Faculty Fellow Award in 1995, the College’s Faculty Excellence Award in 1997, the award for “Outstanding Teaching by an Assistant Professor” in 1998, the ASE/EM Department Teaching Award in 2000, the Lockheed Martin Award for Excellence in Engineering Teaching in 2011, and the AIAA Aerodynamic Measurement Technology Award in 2022. He is a Fellow of both the AIAA and APS, and he served as Editor-in-Chief of Experiments in Fluids from 2009 to 2012.
Abstract:
Shock wave / boundary layer interactions (SBLIs) are an important phenomenon in high-speed flow that occur in supersonic and hypersonic aircraft inlets, aircraft control surfaces, missile base flows, nozzles, and rotating machinery. These interactions are often associated with severe boundary layer separation, which is highly unsteady, and exhibits high fluctuating pressure and heat loads. The unsteady motions are characterized by a wide range of frequencies, including low-frequency motions that are about two orders of magnitude lower than the integral-scale fluctuations in the upstream boundary layer. The low-frequency motions are particularly problematic for aircraft structures as they can excite high-amplitude vibration of thin panels, which can lead to fatigue and failure. In this seminar, we will discuss some recent experimental research on SBLIs induced by compression ramps where we (i) explore the physics that drive the low-frequency unsteadiness, and (ii) investigate how the low-frequency forcing by an SBLI drives the flow-structure interaction (FSI) of thin panels. The discussion will focus on the physics of SBLI unsteadiness and FSI derived from high-speed pressure-sensitive paint, high-speed particle image velocimetry, and digital image correlation.
Hosted by: Mechanical Engineering, lnr108@psu.edu