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CLASS PHOTOS
ENGR240, Fall 2007 (MEs, Class of 2010)
CHEG400, Fall 2007 (CHEs, Class of 2008)
ENGR240, Spring 2008 (BMEs, Class of 2009/2010)
CHEG472/672 (Advanced Materials), Fall 2008
ENGR240, Fall 2008 (CHEs, Class of 2010/2011)
CHEG400/410, Fall 2008/Spring 2009 (CHEs, Class of 2009)
ENGR240, Spring 2009 (BMEs, Class of 2010)
ENGR240, Fall 2009 (CHEs, Class of 2011/2012)
FACULTY PHOTOS
Halloween 2007: Gross & Wakabayashi
Class of 2007: Firstyear Faculty Members (Courtesy of Bucknell World)
Commencement 2008: Thompson, Wakabayashi, Kennedy, & Mordaunt
Halloween 2008: Wakabayashi, Vigeant, Gross, Csernica, & Raymond
Engineering Week Dinner 2009 (M.S. Thompson)
Departmental Photo, Spring 2008
CEE Magazine Department Faculty Photo, Fall 2009 (M.S. Thompson)
RESEARCH PHOTOS
Spring 2008: Team Tokyo
(Joe Kuterbach, PJ Hubert, Kat Wakabayashi, Chris Roman)
Summer 2008: Team AC
(PJ Hubert, Austin Murata, Eddie Gienger, Kat Wakabayashi)
Fall 2008: Team New AC
(Kat Wakabayashi, Erin Daugherty, Lindsay Alexander, Marc Henry, PJ Hubert, Austin Murata, Eddie Gienger)
Spring 2009: Team Spring09
(PJ Hubert, Austin Murata, Alex Fielding, Erin Daugherty, Lindsay Alexander, Eddie Gienger, Laura Cook, Ben Aldrich, Krishna Kathiresan, Kat Wakabayashi)
Summer 2009: Team GS
(Ben Aldrich, Kat Wakabayashi, Marc Henry, Krishna Kathiresan)
Fall 2009: Team New GS
(Alex Fielding, Cara Ziegler, Krishna Kathiresan, Marc Henry, Ben Aldrich, Kat Wakabayashi, Josh Clark, Ashley Ocvirk, Stephen Norton, Justin Honovich)
Scrapbook
Bucknell News Article, September 2008
Bucknell gets $281,561 grant
LEWISBURG, Pa. — The National Science Foundation has given a major research instrument grant to the College of Engineering at Bucknell University. The $281,561 grant will be used in the field of nanotechnology, specifically polymer nanocomposites. The primary investigators are Katsuyuki Wakabayashi, assistant professor of chemical engineering, and Michael Malusis, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. Polymer nanocomposites are hybrid materials created by dispersing a small quantity of high-performance, nano-scale filler particles in a polymer matrix. Innovative materials
These innovative materials are receiving considerable attention in both scientific and industrial communities due to the potential for enhanced engineering performance compared to unfilled polymers or conventional polymeric composites. However, nano-scale fillers are difficult to disperse in many polymers, including common plastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene. The research facilitated by this instrument grant will focus on improving filler dispersion for better performance. The new instrumentation includes a customized extrusion apparatus for fabricating polymer nanocomposites through a process known as solid-state shear pulverization. According to Wakabayashi and Malusis, this technique offers the potential for creating superior hybrid materials tailored for new industrial applications such as automobile tires and waste containment liners. Second instrument
"This is only the second such instrument installed at any university in the world and will be used to investigate unique and novel applications," Wakabayashi said.
"The instrumentation and associated research projects will expose Bucknell students to innovative nanotechnology and facilitate cross-disciplinary collaborations on and off the Bucknell campus," added Malusis.
Wakabayashi and Malusis envision fruitful collaboration with other universities in the country, including Colorado State University, Northwestern University and Pennsylvania College of Technology.
In addition, the instrumentation may be introduced in several engineering courses and laboratories at Bucknell, as well as the new Bucknell Engineering Summer Camp for local junior high school students. Contact: Division of Communications Posted Aug. 26, 2008
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Bucknell World Article, October 2007
Bucknell World: Professors eye green technologies
(Editor's Note: Bucknell's Web site is featuring some of the University's newest teacher-scholars. They are among the new faculty members highlighted in the Fall 2007 edition of Bucknell World.)
Katsuyuki Wakabayashi
Katsuyuki Wakabayashi, assistant professor of chemical engineering, is developing more environmentally friendly plastics, known as nanocomposites.
"Plastics are everywhere, especially in packaging," he says. “The waste is a huge problem, and people don’t always recycle."
Wakabayashi is developing biodegradable plastics derived entirely from natural materials. Bio-based polymers, which form the bulk of the nanocomposites, are too brittle or weak for some uses. Embedding tiny nanoparticles, such as clay, into the polymer can improve features such as rigidity, flexibility, and durability.
Conventional mixing processes cannot blend two bio-based materials into a homogenous product, so existing biodegradable plastics use either bio-based polymers or bio-based nanoparticles, but not both. Wakabayashi believes that a special processing technique he studied at Northwestern University will overcome that limitation and create natural, biodegradable nanocomposites robust enough for many applications.
Michael Gross ’03
Michael Gross ’03, assistant professor of chemical engineering, is developing solid oxide fuel cells that will someday generate electricity directly from biofuels. Fuel cells are cleaner and more efficient than combustion engines and are easily sized for applications ranging from a soldier’s backpack to a large power plant. Solid oxide fuel cells are unique in that they can use any combustible fuel, including gasoline or biofuels.
In solid oxide fuel cells, a cathode generates oxygen ions from air, an electrolyte transports them to an anode, and the anode causes a reaction. Gross is developing anodes.
“Currently, the most common anode material used is a composite that contains nickel,” he says. “Nickel is limited to using hydrogen and carbon monoxide as fuel because it’s not stable in hydrocarbon fuels.”
Gross is starting his research with hydrocarbon fuels because they and the infrastructure are currently available, but he expects to eventually move to ethanol or other biofuels.
Christopher Mordaunt
Christopher Mordaunt, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, studies combustion instabilities in gas turbines. Burning biofuels derived from plants such as switchgrass could reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on foreign energy supplies. However, combustion machines are sensitive to the type of fuel they burn.
"A lot of work needs to be done on the combustion characteristics of these fuels to determine what difficulties will be encountered in practice and how the combusters are going to react to differing fuels," he said. "It is a real-world, practical problem. Advanced combustion devices are susceptible to this combustion instability problem."
Mordaunt is also interested in how engines will act when burning liquefied coal. For example, liquefied coal might replace the kerosene-based jet fuel JP8. Using coal will not reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it could reduce the country’s dependence on foreign energy supplies.
We need to break the status quo,” Mordaunt says. “We need to start focusing on the fact that every little thing we do has a tremendous impact on our environment, and we need to think a lot about what we do before we actually do it."
From left, Christopher Mordaunt, Michale Gross '03, and Katsuyuki Wakabayashi.
Contact: Office of Communications
Posted Oct. 26, 2007
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