With Another Win, Cullen College Goes Six for Six in 2012 CAREER Awards
Jeffrey Rimer, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, has won a 2012 CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation to conduct catalysis research. Rimer received the five-year, $400,000 grant to expand his efforts to improve zeolites, a class of catalysts used in the petroleum and chemical industries to create a range of different products, from ion-exchange additives in detergents to gasoline and alternative fuels. By using molecules to control the thickness of these crystalline materials, he expects to create zeolites that are far more efficient than those currently available.
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Cooling System Research Wins NSF Support
It sounds like the setup to a bad joke: How many engineers does it take to boil water? Actually, to do so as efficiently as possible, it takes two (plus their research teams). The two in question are Dong Liu and Paul Ruchhoeft, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, respectively, with the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering. The pair recently won a $300,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to develop a highly efficient pool boiling technology that can be used in cooling systems for industrial, energy and other applications.
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Catalysis Research Could Drive Down Biofuel Costs
While the benefits of biofuels are clear, the economics of their production hinder their widespread use. A professor with the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering, however, has won a grant to conduct research that could make biofuels competitive with oil based fuels like gasoline and diesel. Lars Grabow, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, was awarded the two-year $100,000 grant from the American Chemical Society's Petroleum Research Fund to better understand catalysts that remove sulfur from crude oil through a process known as hydrodesulfurization (HDS). He will use what he learns to help create new catalysts for the production of transportation fuels, including biofuels.
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Engineering Research Gives Undergrads an Academic Boost
For undergraduates seeking an enriched academic experience, spending a summer conducting research opens a world of opportunities. Students from the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering who are on the track to graduate school, or to the engineering industry post-graduation, benefit by participating in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program.
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Two Longtime Engineering Faculty Retire
The Cullen College of Engineering celebrated the careers of two long-serving faculty members this month, hosting retirement receptions for electrical engineering's Donald Wilton, a professor with the college for the past 29 years, and mechanical engineering's Larry Witte, a 45-year faculty member of the Cullen College. Read Wilton | Read Witte