Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

5 Cullen College students honored by ASIE

Posted on December 18, 2020
Ankur Agrawal.

The American Society of Indian Engineers and Architects (ASIE) has awarded five scholarships for 2020 to students attending the University of Houston's Cullen College of Engineering. Each student received a monetary award, ranging from $1,000 to $2,000, to further their studies.

ASIE Scholarship Winners 2020

President’s Medallion to be awarded to Brookshire

Posted on December 17, 2020
William A. Brookshire.

As part of the University of Houston’s virtual university-wide commencement ceremony tonight, the prestigious President’s Medallion will be awarded posthumously to the late William A. Brookshire.

The medallion is awarded at the sole discretion of UH President Renu Khator to deserving individuals or organizations. In addition to Brookshire, the John M. Quinn Foundation – whose namesake was a well-known attorney and philanthropist who died in 2009 – will also be awarded a medallion.

Attitudes About Climate Change Are Shifting, Even in Texas

Posted on December 17, 2020
New research from UH Energy and the Hobby School of Public Affairs found most Americans , including most Texans, believe climate change is real and are willing to pay more for low-carbon products. [Photo: Pexels.]

Longstanding skepticism among Texans toward the climate movement has shifted, and attitudes in the nation’s leading energy-producing state now mirror those in the rest of the United States.

About 80 percent of Americans – almost 81 percent of Texans – say they believe climate change is happening, according to new research by UH Energy and the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs. Slightly lower percentages said they believe the change is driven by human activities.

UH's Henderson earns national Educational Leadership award

Posted on December 10, 2020
Dr. Jerrod A. Henderson.

A professor at the University of Houston's Cullen College of Engineering has earned another national distinction, as his work in providing unique learning experience for students was recognized by the Career Communications Group's U.S. Black Engineer and Information Technology magazine, and the Council of Engineering Deans of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Chakrabarti earns artistic honor for crystal art

Posted on November 19, 2020
Rajshree Chakrabarti, a graduate student in the Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Department, was honored for “Colour of Life,” her entry for the British Association for Crystal Growth's 2020 Crystal in Art competition. The piece showcases Protoporphyrin IX.

The artistic work of a scientist at the Cullen College of Engineering has been recognized with a third place finish in the British Association for Crystal Growth's 2020 Crystal in Art competition.

University of Houston Partners with AuraVax Therapeutics on COVID-19 Vaccine

Posted on October 12, 2020
Navin Varadarajan, M.D. Anderson Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, has created a nasal vaccine for COVID-19 and a company to market it in partnership with the University of Houston.

The University of Houston has entered into an exclusive license option agreement with AuraVax Therapeutics Inc., a Houston, TX based biotech company developing novel vaccines to help patients defeat debilitating respiratory diseases such as COVID-19. Under terms of the agreement, AuraVax has the option to exclusively license a new intranasal COVID-19 vaccine technology developed by Dr. Navin Varadarajan, M.D. Anderson Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.

Faster swimming bacteria could help with spills

Posted on October 8, 2020
Narendra Dewangan, a graduate student of Dr. Jacinta Conrad, has completed work with the Conrad Research Group on how faster swimming bacteria could be used to help with removal of pollutants.

A new paper and research from the Conrad Research Group of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Houston’s Cullen College of Engineering looks at how bacteria could be used to help with removal of pollutants, like in oil spills and wastewater treatment.

Rapid tests for COVID-19 now, other diseases later the goal for Kourentzi

Posted on September 30, 2020
Dr. Katerina Kourentzi, Research Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, is developing a saliva-based lateral flow assay rapid test for COVID-19 detection. The test strips for the assay are designed using the Biodot XYZ3060 Dispensing Platform.

The development of point-of-care tests – and as of late, for COVID-19 – has been the primary focus of Dr. Katerina Kourentzi, Research Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in the William A. Brookshire Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Houston's Cullen College of Engineering.

Grabow heading UH portion of team for $2M NSF Distributed Chemical Manufacturing Project

Posted on September 29, 2020
Dr. Lars C. Grabow, Dan Luss Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Cullen College of Engineering, received a NSF grant to continue studies on small-scale reactors and catalysts.

A partnership between researchers at the University of Virginia and the University of Houston has continued to flourish, and expanded to another professor at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, after the National Science Foundation chose their Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) proposal – the development of dynamically operated, smaller scale reactors that can process distributed feedstock – for a $2 million award.

UH chemical engineering grad offering ‘Idea Lab’ for kids

Posted on September 4, 2020
Shiv Bhakta, a 2017 magna cum laude UH alumnus with degrees in chemical engineering and economics, has opened an Idea Lab Kids franchise in Cypress with fellow graduate Gurjinder Toor.

Like many others, Cullen College of Engineering alumnus Shiv Bhakta had his plans for 2020 changed by the coronavirus pandemic, but he has attempted to make the best of the situation with a new, philanthropic educational endeavor that uses his passion for STEM.

UH Announces Funding for Carbon Management Projects

Posted on September 3, 2020
Projects funded by the Center for Carbon Management in Energy will tackle new ways to reduce carbon emissions. Photo: Getty Images.

Projects Focus on Ways to Speed Transition to Low-Carbon Future

The Center for Carbon Management in Energy at the University of Houston has awarded $275,000 in research funding for projects focused on carbon management and the energy transition.

The projects cover a range of projects, from converting carbon to fuel and other useful products to a proposed new wireless monitoring system for carbon capture storage.

Breaking Molecular Traffic Jams with Finned Nanoporous Materials

Posted on August 10, 2020
3D finned zeolite catalysts enhance molecule access to the interior of the particle (graphic created by J.C. Palmer).

Thousands of chemical processes used by the energy industry and for other applications rely on the high speed of catalytic reactions, but molecules frequently are hindered by molecular traffic jams that slow them down. Now an entirely new class of porous catalysts has been invented, using unique fins to speed up the chemistry by allowing molecules to skip the lines that limit the reaction. 

College honors 17 with yearly Faculty and Student Excellence Awards

Posted on June 18, 2020
Dr. David Shattuck of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Dr. Joseph W. Tedesco, Elizabeth D. Rockwell Dean of the UH Cullen College of Engineering, announced that 17 students and faculty members had been selected as recipients in the 2019-2020 Faculty and Student Excellence Awards, which recognize teaching and research achievements.

Showing Promise: UH Researchers Explore Care Options for COVID-19

Posted on June 11, 2020
UH engineering professor Navin Varadarajan (L) and pharmaceutics professor Xinli Liu (R) are collaborating on development and testing of a COVID-19 inhalation vaccine.

Not since the middle of the 20th century, amid the polio epidemic, have vaccines or drug treatment been so widely anticipated as those for COVID-19. In 1955 when the polio vaccine was licensed, the health outlook for millions of children improved and normal life resumed. Still, not all pandemics have found such resolution.

Rimer receives NSF grant for zeolite work

Posted on June 8, 2020
Dr. Jeffrey Rimer, the Abraham E. Dukler Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, has received a $446,364 grant from the NSF to study zeolites.

The complexity and mystery of zeolites – porous aluminosilicate crystals – was what first attracted Dr. Jeffrey Rimer, the Abraham E. Dukler Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, to his current field of research.

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Radio Program

Engines of Our Ingenuity, written and hosted by engineering prof. John Lienhard, airs in Houston on KUHF-FM 88.7 M-F 7:35am and 3:55pm. The series is broadcasted by over 30 NPR affiliates nation-wide.