On Monday, April 8, ExxonMobil’s Decie Autin presented a check for $408,355 to Georgia Tech. This is the largest matching gift to date. Her visit included lunch with students associated with ExxonMobil, research overviews, and a meeting with Women In Engineering. The day concluded with a check presentation and reception at the Alumni House.

On Friday, March1, 2013, School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering faculty and staff congregated for dinner to honor the School’s recent achievements. Among the many accomplishments, 15 faculty members were recognized for awards they received during the past year. 

Michael Filler
· NSF CAREER Award and the Dreyfus Foundation Award in Environmental Chemistry 
· 2013 Georgia Tech sigma Xi Young Faculty Award
 
Clifford Henderson
· Semiconductor Technology Council Intel 2012 Outstanding Researcher Award in Lithography 
· 2013 Epstein Award, AIChE Program Committee
 
Dennis Hess
· The Electrochemical Society Edward Goodrich Acheson Award 
 
Christopher Jones
· American Society for Engineering 2013 Curtis W. McGraw Research Award 
· 2013 Paul H. Emmett Award in Fundamental Catalysis
· Georgia Tech 2012 Outstanding Achievement in Research Program Development 
 
Yoshiaki Kawajiri
· 2012 W. David Smith, Jr. Graduate Publication Award Computing and Systems Technology Division, AIChE
 
Paul Kohl
· 2013 Georgia Tech Sigma Xi Award for Sustained Research
 
Hang Lu
· Georgia Tech (Sigma Xi) 2012 Faculty Best Paper Award 
 
Sankar Nair
· 2012 FRI/John G. Kunesh Award from the AIChE Separations Division 
 
Athanasios Nenes
· Georgia Tech 2012 Outstanding Faculty Research Author Award 
 
Carsten Sievers
· Young Scientist Award at the International Congress on Catalysis in Munich (June 2012)
 
Jacqueline Mohalley-Snedeker
· Georgia Tech 2012 CETL Innovation in Laboratory Instruction Award 
 
Mark Styczynski
· Georgia Tech 2012 CETL/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award 
 
Amyn Teja
· Visiting Chair of Excellence at the Universitat Rovira I Virgili, Tarragona, Spain (2012)
 
Ajit P. Yoganathan
· Robert A. Pritzker Award at the 2012 BMES Annual Meeting
 
Younan Xia
· 2013 ACS National Award in the Chemistry of Materials by the American Chemical Society 

Despite the rainy weather and difficult traveling conditions caused by Hurricane Sandy, more than 100 people attended the Georgia Tech reception following the AIChE Annual Meeting on October 29 at the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. The reception recognized recent ChBE faculty awards while also giving attendees a chance to catch up since last year’s meeting. During the remainder of the week, the AIChE Annual Meeting featured various lectures and forums, and further details about the event can be found here. 

Faculty Awards:

Michael Filler: NSF CAREER Award and the Dreyfus Foundation Award in Environmental Chemistry

Martha Grover: Outstanding Young Researcher, AIChE CAST Division

Clifford Henderson: 2012 Intel Outstanding Researcher Award in Lithography, Intel & Semiconductor Technology Council

Dennis Hess: The Electrochemical Society Edward Goodrich Acheson Award

Yoshiaki Kawajiri: W. David Smith, Jr. Graduate Publication Award Computing Systems Technology Division, AIChE

Carsten Sievers: The Young Scientist Award at the 2012 International Congress on Catalysis

Amyn Teja: Visiting Chair of Excellence at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Sankar Nair: FRI/John G. Kunesh Award, AIChE Separations Division

Younan Xia: 2013 ACS National Award in Chemistry of Materials

This group is intended to connect and engage School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech alumni, students, faculty, researchers, and staff.

As a member of the ChBE@GT community, we encourage you to contribute by posting job opportunities, asking and answering questions, inviting others to collaborate on research, engaging in professional discussions, and sharing news, events, and promotions relevant to the ChBE@GT community.

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Georgia-Tech-School-Chemical-Biomolecular-4416129?home&gid=4416129&trk=anet_ug_hm

Georgia Institute of Technology graduate programs continue to earn high marks from U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings.

The Institute’s College of Engineering ranked No. 4 for the eighth consecutive year and all eleven of the programs within the college are ranked in the top 10 including industrial engineering (No. 1), biomedical (No. 2), civil (No. 3), aerospace (No. 4), electrical (No. 5), nuclear (No. 5), environmental (No. 6), computer (No. 6), mechanical (No. 6), materials (No. 7) and chemical (No. 10).

“All of Georgia Tech’s graduate engineering programs are ranked in the top ten in the nation.  We’re proud that our College of Engineering is not only one of the best in the U.S., but also the largest, preparing nearly 3,000 graduates each year,” said Georgia Tech President G. P. “Bud” Peterson.  “We commend our outstanding faculty, staff and students who helped make this a reality.”

The Georgia Tech College of Management full-time MBA program ranked No. 32, while the Institute’s part-time MBA program ranked No. 28.

Georgia Institute of Technology announces that it will receive funding through Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative created by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that enables researchers worldwide to test unorthodox ideas that address persistent health and development challenges. Dr. Mark Styczynski, assistant professor in the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, will pursue an innovative global health research project, titled “Pigment-Based, Low-Cost, Portable Nutrition Status Tests.”

Grand Challenges Explorations funds scientists and researchers worldwide to explore ideas that can break the mold in how we solve persistent global health and development challenges. Styczynski’s project is one of 108 Grand Challenges Explorations grants announced in November 2011 as part of Round 7 of the program.

“We believe in the power of innovation—that a single bold idea can pioneer solutions to our greatest health and development challenges,” said Chris Wilson, Director of Global Health Discovery for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Grand Challenges Explorations seeks to identify and fund these new ideas wherever they come from, allowing scientists, innovators, and entrepreneurs to pursue the kinds of creative ideas and novel approaches that could help to accelerate the end of polio, cure HIV infection, or improve sanitation.”

Projects that are receiving funding show promise in tackling priority global health issues where solutions do not yet exist. This includes finding effective methods to eliminate or control infectious diseases such as polio and HIV as well as discovering new sanitation technologies.

To learn more about Grand Challenges Explorations, visit www.grandchallenges.org.

Styczynski’s project proposes to create portable, low-cost, bacteria-based genetic circuits to measure blood micronutrient levels without requiring sophisticated instrumentation to perform or read the test. These circuits would provide an inexpensive, rapid method to diagnose nutrition levels, such as vitamins and minerals, in the field.

“Sophisticated equipment is not easily operated in the field, which means that samples must be sent to regional labs for nutritional analysis, resulting in delays of potentially life-saving treatment,” Styczynski says. “We are looking to enable more point-of-care diagnostics using synthetic biology to eliminate the long wait and enable more rapid diagnosis and treatment of those with deficiencies.”

Styczynski received his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2007. He joined the faculty at Georgia Tech in 2009 after a postdoctoral appointment at the Broad Institute, a world-renowned genomic medicine research center located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In a post-disaster environment, getting potable water to areas cut off by destroyed roads and infrastructure can be both time-consuming and ultimately fatal for many. A group of Tech students and alumni has developed a system to address those logistical issues in the wake of disaster, and earned $40,000 from Startup Chile to further develop its idea.

The team of students and alumni making up Tubing Operations for Humanitarian Logistics (TOHL) will relocate to the South American country for six months as part of a program initiated by the Chilean government to encourage entrepreneurial activity in its country.

TOHL makes use of coil tubing typically used in oil fields and employs a helicopter to drop and arrange tubing from above, creating a way for water to reach remote places following a disaster. The tubing, measuring about an inch in diameter, stays above ground and the process can result in getting water to a community within 48 hours. It’s durable enough to be used for up to 100 years with oil, though this application shortens its life span. Using a helicopter to unspool the tubing removes the obstacle of roads or paths that may be blocked, washed out or destroyed.

Tech alumnus Benjamin Cohen will be the first team member to head to Chile in March, with fellow alumnus Apoorv Sinha and students Melissa McCoy and Travis Horsley joining in May.

“Chile is the perfect place for us [to test TOHL],” said McCoy, a fourth-year chemical and biomolecular engineering major. The country’s recent earthquakes and forest fires provide the team with an opportunity to test its system in a place that has experienced the disasters that TOHL aims to address.

“Right now we want to show that it works, and from that try to partner with [non-governmental organizations] and have the pipe get water to a community that needs it,” McCoy said. They hope to complete a pilot test by April or May and be able to sign on the company’s first customers while in Chile.

TOHL is not the first global health initiative by Tech students to participate in Startup Chile; last June, Tech students and alumni, in conjunction with students from Emory University, were chosen to participate in the program for their solar sanitation endeavor, Sanivation.

The TOHL team will convene with more than 200 other entrepreneurs from around the globe during the third round of the incubation program.

The Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, India (IIT KGP) awarded Dr. Amit Roy, MS ChE ’71, PhD ChE ’76, the 2011 Distinguished Alumnus Award. India Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh presented the award to Roy at the 57th IIT KGP Convocation last fall.

Roy, president and chief executive officer of the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, has spent more than 30 years fighting the global war on hunger. His weapon against the formidable problem is NPK, which sounds a lot more intimidating than what the acronym represents—nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and potassium (K)—the essential elements of fertilizer. These three nutrients combine with about 20 other secondary or “trace” minerals, such as copper, iron, manganese, zinc, and boron, to form the right combinations of nutrients required for plants to grow, flourish, and produce viable feedstock.

“About half of the world’s population is alive today because of increased food production fueled by mineral fertilizers,” Roy says, who joined the IFDC in 1978 as a chemical engineer and special projects engineer. Over the years, Roy has earned respect as one of the world’s leading experts on fertilizer technologies and solutions. In 1992, he was promoted to his current position of president and CEO of IFDC. 

About the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC)

IFDC was established in 1974 on the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Reservation in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to address global food security challenges through improved use of fertilizers and related technologies. Originally founded as a private, nonprofit corporation, IFDC now holds the designation of a “Public International Organization,” which was granted in 1977 through a presidential decree by Jimmy Carter, Cls ʻ46. This designation allows IFDC to receive widespread support, cooperation, and backing of the world community for which it was created and has contributed greatly to the organization’s success over the years.

Technology developed by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University for delivering drugs and other therapeutics to specific locations in the eye provides the foundation for a startup company that has received a $4 million venture capital investment.

The Atlanta-based startup, Clearside Biomedical, plans to develop microinjection technology that will use hollow microneedles to precisely target therapeutics within the eye. If the technique proves successful in clinical trials and wins regulatory approval, it could provide an improved method for treating diseases that affect the back of the eye, including age-related macular degeneration.

The technology was developed in collaboration between the research groups of Mark Prausnitz, a Regents’ professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Henry Edelhauser, a professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at Emory School of Medicine. Research leading to development of the technology was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“We expect that targeting drug delivery within the eye will be helpful because we should be able to concentrate drugs at the disease sites where they need to act, and keep them away from other locations,” said Prausnitz. “This could reduce side effects and possibly also decrease the dose required.”

Prior to this development, drugs could be delivered to the retinal tissues at the back of the eye in three indirect ways: (1) injection by hypodermic needle into the eye’s vitreous humor, the gelatinous material that fills the eyeball, (2) eye drops, which are limited in their ability to reach the back of the eye, and (3) pills taken by mouth that expose the whole body to the drug.

The technology developed by Georgia Tech and Emory uses a hollow micron-scale needle to inject therapeutics into the suprachoroidal space located between the outer surface of the eye — known as the sclera — and the choroid — a deeper layer that provides nutrients to the rest of the eye. Preclinical research has demonstrated that fluid can flow between the two layers, where it can spread out to the entire eye, including structures such as the retina that are now difficult to reach.

By targeting this suprachoroidal space using microscopic needles, the researchers believe they can reduce trauma to the eye, make drugs more effective and reduce complications. The new delivery method could help advance a new series of drugs being developed to target the retina, choroid and other structures in the back of the eye.

“This is a significant advance in the field of ophthalmology,” said Edelhauser. “Until now, it has been difficult to target drug delivery to specific locations within the eye. This new microneedle technology enables precise drug targeting to the suprachoroidal space and other locations within the eye.”

In research reported in the January 2011 issue of the journal Pharmaceutical Research, the Georgia Tech-Emory team demonstrated for the first time that this technique can be used to deliver nanoparticles and microparticles to specific parts of the eye. In later research, they also showed that microneedle injections into the suprachoroidal space rapidly resulted in concentrations of drugs and particles that could be maintained for several months.

Between two and three million eye injections are made each year, many of them to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The researchers believe that the microneedle-based technique could be useful for treating both AMD and glaucoma, as well as other ocular conditions related to diabetes.

The $4 million in funding for Clearside Biomedical will come from Hatteras Venture Partners, a venture capital firm based in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Hatteras focuses on seed and early-stage investments in companies developing products in biopharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic and related human health areas.

“Clearside Biomedical represents an ideal fit for Hatteras Discovery as the platform technology is highly innovative, based on elegant science and the lead product is expected to be in clinical trials in the United States in less than 18 months,” said Christy Shaffer, Ph.D., venture partner and managing director of the Hatteras Discovery Fund.

So far, the technique has been tested only in animals. The Hatteras funding will allow the company to conduct additional efficacy and safety testing needed to seek regulatory approval. The company’s first product is expected to address macular edema and retinal vein occlusion.

Clearside was formed with the assistance of Georgia Tech’s VentureLab program, which helped obtain early-stage seed funding from the Georgia Research Alliance. Georgia Tech VentureLab also helped the founders connect with the company’s president and CEO, Daniel White, a veteran ophthalmic entrepreneur. Before joining Clearside, White was a co-founder of Alimera Sciences, an Atlanta company that is developing ophthalmic pharmaceuticals.

Two researchers from the Prausnitz lab who have been involved in development of the ocular drug delivery technique will also join the company. They are Samirkumar Patel, a postdoctoral researcher and Vladimir Zarnitsyn, a research scientist.

Research leading to the development of the technology has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The content of this article is solely the responsibility of the principal investigators and does not necessarily represent the official view of the NIH.

Henry Edelhauser, Samirkumar Patel, Mark Prausnitz, Vladimir Zarnitsyn, Emory University and Georgia Tech have financial interests in Clearside Biomedical and its ocular platform. Edelhauser, Patel, Prausnitz and Zarnitsyn own equity in Clearside and the terms of this arrangement have been reviewed and approved by Emory University or Georgia Tech in accordance with their conflict of interest policies.