Three Voiland graduate students have each recently won a Kokes award, which will partially fund their travel to present their work at the 24th North American Catalysis Society meeting this coming summer in Pittsburgh, PA. Approximately 100 students worldwide receive this highly competitive award. The students who won are Fanglin Che (working with Dr. Jean-Sabin McEwen), Yan Li (working with Dr. Yong Wang), and Rebecca Long (working with Dr. Yong Wang).

The Richard J. Kokes Travel Award program of NACS aims to encourage undergraduate and graduate students to attend and participate in the North American Catalysis Society biennial conference. It provides funding to waive the student conference registration fee, and includes accommodation at the Omni William Penn Hotel in a room shared with another Kokes awardee and a modest travel allowance. The Kokes award is sponsored by the North American Catalysis Society. In addition, significant support will be provided by government agencies such as NSF and US-DOE. This is a very competitive award with almost 200 excellent applications submitted for the 100 awards granted.

A recent manuscript co-authored by Dr. Yong Wang, doctoral graduate student Yan Li, and recent Voiland graduate Zhehao Wei was chosen as a “Featured Article” by the Journal of Catalysis for February 2015. The article will be featured prominently on the Journal of Catalysis’ website and will be available for free to the public for 3 months following publication of the respective issue. The title of the paper is, “Elucidation of the roles of Re in steam reforming of glycerol over Pt–Re/C catalysts.”

View the paper at the Journal of Catalysis ↗

Last month Chemical Engineering PhD student Sujala Sultana won the “Best Oral Presentation” award in the 2015 William R. Wiley Research Exposition for the category of Engineering and Physical Sciences. Sultana’s advisor is Dr. Haluk Beyenal. She will receive a $1,000 scholarship as part of the award.

The title of Sultana’s presentation was, “Electrochemical Scaffold for Acinetobacter baumannii Biofilm removal.” In this work, she has developed an electrochemical scaffold system that is capable of continuous controlled delivery of hydrogen peroxide via oxygen reduction reaction and thus remove A. baumannii biofilm from infected porcine dermal explant. This research offers a foundation for a future alternative antibiotic free wound dressing for the multi-drug resistant A. baumannii biofilm infections.

PULLMAN, Wash. – Demand on neck muscles increases 3-5 times when using tablet computers compared to sitting with the head in a neutral position, according to recent research by Anita Vasavada at Washington State University. The lowest demand on the neck was when the tablet was in a high propped position.

The paper was published in February in the journal Ergonomics.

View full story at WSU Today ↗

A number of Voiland undergraduate students performed exceedingly well at the recent Showcase for Undergraduate Research and creative Activities (SURCA).

Congratulations to the following winners:

• Samantha Grover received the Crimson Award for “Molecular, Cellular, and Chemical Biology.” She was mentored by Dmitri Tolkatchev and Alla Kostyukova.
• Zane Duke received a Grey Award for “Engineering and Physical Sciences.” He was mentored by Anita Vasavada.
• Samuel Byrd received a Grey Award for “Engineering and Physical Science.” He was mentored by Howard Davis.
• Megan Caruso received a Novice Award in “Molecular, Cellular and Chemical Biology.” She was mentored by Monica Hin.

View full story at WSU Today

By Tina Hilding, Voiland College of Engineering & Architecture

Washington State University professor Xiao Zhang has received a prestigious National Science Foundation award to junior faculty for his work in converting tough plant material to liquid fuels.

He is developing an innovative chemical pathway to convert lignin to open chain hydrocarbons similar to those that make up jet fuel. The results will lead to new processes for producing sustainable fuel and improving economic and environmental sustainability of biorefinery operations.

“This is a potentially transformative technology, which can lead to large scale utilization of lignin,” said Zhang, assistant professor in the Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering at WSU Tri-Cities.

Read entire article at WSU News ↗

Washington State University has been selected to participate in an innovative program to build entrepreneurship into undergraduate engineering education.

WSU is one of 25 U.S. institutions and one of only two schools in the Northwest selected by the NSF-funded National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter) to join the Pathways to Innovation Program. The program helps institutions incorporate innovation and entrepreneurship into undergraduate engineering education.

View full story at WSU Today ↗