Alumni

The Next Frontier for EV Batteries: Nanoscale Coatings

Susan Glairon — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 13:20:20 +0000

The Next Frontier for EV Batteries: Nanoscale Coatings Susan Glairon Fri, 09/20/2024 - 07:20

Paul Lichtey, �� Boulder alumnus (ChemEngr PhD'11), is the CEO of Forge Nano, an atomic layer deposition company which appears to have the most-developed technology to coat battery electrodes with metal oxides or nitrides. The technology improves both the energy capacity and the lifespan of lithium-ion batteries.

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Video: Sanjeev Redkar, Distinguished Engineering Alumni award recipient

Anonymous — Wed, 15 May 2024 15:22:40 +0000

Video: Sanjeev Redkar, Distinguished Engineering Alumni award recipient Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/15/2024 - 09:22

The College of Engineering & Applied Science honors outstanding alumni every year at the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Awards Banquet, which took place this year on April 26.

At the banquet, Sanjeev Redkar (PhD ChemEngr’94) was presented with the 2024 Distinguished Engineering Alumni award for his strong commitment to giving back to his community and teaching the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs, promoting innovation along the way. Redkar continues to be a loyal and engaged alumnus of chemical and biological engineering and the college, and his accomplishments as a scientist, manager and entrepreneur in pharmaceuticals has and will continue to leave major impacts in the industry.

"This recognition from the College of Engineering and Applied Science means a lot," said Redkar, the president, executive director and cofounder of Apollomics Inc. "My five years at �� have really molded me, gave me the values, the skills that have come steady in my entrepreneurial journey, my pursuit of developing new medicines for cancer. It’s a long journey, indeed, but everything started with the right kind of education and the programs here at ��."

Apollomics Inc. is an oncology-focused company developing therapeutics for difficult-to-treat cancers, harnessing the immune system and targeting specific molecular pathways.

Watch Now

Sanjeev Redkar (PhD ChemEngr’94) received the 2024 Distinguished Engineering Alumni award for his commitment to community service and educating future leaders and entrepreneurs while promoting innovation.

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2024 Distinguished Alumni Mentor of the Year Award: Ben Mousseau

Anonymous — Wed, 01 May 2024 18:09:49 +0000

2024 Distinguished Alumni Mentor of the Year Award: Ben Mousseau Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/01/2024 - 12:09

Susan Glairon

Throughout college and in the eight years since graduation, Ben Mousseau (ChemBio’16) has felt grateful for the mentors who guided him. Now a global supply manager at Tesla, Mousseau has been giving back to �� Boulder’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (ChBE) since 2019 by mentoring students through the department’s Alumni Student Mentor Program (ASMP).

This year Mousseau was honored with the 2024 Distinguished Alumni Mentor of the Year Award for his work with ChBE sophomore, Aslan DeWitt.

“I am very thankful for this award," Mousseau said. “I'm glad that I have been able to make an impact, and I’m always open to having discussions with other students.”

Each semester, the department facilitates connections between alumni and current students through its mentoring program. Students and their mentors meet several times over the semester to discuss professionalism, career advancement and perspectives on engineering.

DeWitt described Mousseau as a “phenomenal” mentor.

“Ben provides advice on a diverse range of topics and supports me through many opportunities," he said. “He is always open to answering my endless questions with a great deal of experience and patience.”

Dewitt also highlighted a tour of a Fresca Foods production line, arranged by Mousseau and led by �� Boulder ChBE alumnus, Ryan Maes (ChemBio’16). Fresca Foods is a manufacturing plant in Louisville, Colorado that produces juice, granola bars, crackers and cereal.

“It was extremely interesting to learn more about the potential career paths in chemical engineering and the problem solving involved,” DeWitt said. “I've gained insights into the possible avenues that chemical engineering can lead to.”

Mousseau answered several questions about his experience and the insights he gained as a mentor.

Do you currently utilize chemical engineering in your work?

After working as a process engineer at Corning, I have transitioned more towards a supply chain management role at Tesla over the last two years, moving away from day-to-day chemical engineering tasks. While I am not writing as many process development plans or conducting experiments, my work still involves chemical engineering. In my current role, we focus on new technologies and products related to glass, including specialty processes such as chemically-strengthened glass. The work involves understanding the ion exchange process and understanding the different coating layers. So although I am not performing chemical engineering tasks daily, my role remains heavily focused on chemical engineering principles applied to our products.

What motivated you to become a mentor for the ChBE department?

After college, I was fortunate to have really good managers and excellent mentors in and outside of the companies I worked for. As a mentor, I want to offer the same level of support and guidance to students, including discussing the various engineering career paths, recommending classes based on the student’s interests and addressing other areas that may not be fully covered during school.

What do you hope to impart to the next generation of chemical and biological engineers?

As a mentor, I hope to provide students with a better understanding of career opportunities. �� has an amazing chemical and biological engineering program. As I work with chemical engineers across my career, I believe �� has one of the best programs in the country. It can be difficult, however, for students to understand how some of the classes correlate to different job opportunities. I hope to provide students with insight to internships and to help them explore the different career paths for chemical engineers.

Also, chemical engineering is a lot of work. I want to emphasize with students the rewards of completing the degree — the interesting work and opportunities that come with it. Additionally, I want to offer advice on effective communication and job interview preparation, the soft skills you learn over time. I want to share some of the lessons I learned with them.

How has the engineering and professional world changed since you graduated, and what new challenges do you see up-and-coming engineers facing?

In the eight years since I graduated, instant communication has progressed, and there is definitely more of a global collaboration across different companies.

Today’s pace of work demands quicker solutions, and it can be challenging to meet the expectations of non-engineers who often expect rapid answers. So being able to understand and prioritize projects to meet your goals and the organization’s goals is more challenging now than eight years ago.

What are some things you’ve learned from your students as a mentor?

I always enjoy catching up on ��’s research. What happens in the labs provides insights into potential technology or products. Understanding cutting-edge research or ideas is always interesting, and I enjoy getting feedback from �� students on these topics.

How would you pitch your fellow alumni on becoming mentors?

I have encouraged my friends to mentor because I find mentoring very rewarding. I’m very grateful for the opportunities I have had, and I believe in helping students set themselves up for success.

I ask my friends to think back on their own experiences, when we were juniors or seniors entering the workforce and had no clue what to expect from our first jobs. While everyone takes the same courses, we didn’t understand the range of career opportunities. Sharing insights on different paths—like quality engineering versus process engineering—can be very helpful for students. If we had received more mentoring or advice back then, it would have provided us with better clarity.

Many of my friends changed jobs within the first year or two after graduation because their chosen career path wasn’t what they thought it would be. Having feedback before committing to a career path could have been beneficial.

ChBE’s Alumni Student Mentoring Program is very good, and I hope to see it continue to grow among both students and mentors.

Chemical and biological engineering alumni interested in becoming mentors can fill out this short form. Current ChBE students seeking a mentor can use this form. Mentor/mentee matches are arranged during the fall semesters.

Ben Mousseau (ChemBio’16) is grateful for the mentors who guided him. Now a global supply manager at Tesla, Mousseau has been giving back to the ChBE department by mentoring students through the department’s Alumni Student Mentor Program.

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2024 Distinguished Alumni Mentor of the Year Award: Ben Mousseau

Thad Sauvain: 2024 Alumni Engagement Medal Award recipient

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 19:23:46 +0000

Thad Sauvain: 2024 Alumni Engagement Medal Award recipient Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 02/19/2024 - 12:23

Thad Sauvain has served as the president of the ChBE’s External Advisory Board. He has participated in various alumni activities, including panel talks, guest lectures, career fairs, mock interviews, mentoring and supporting senior design project support. He's also facilitated Chevron's funding for several college initiatives.

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�� Boulder engineering grad builds world-leading materials science company

Anonymous — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 21:55:14 +0000

�� Boulder engineering grad builds world-leading materials science company Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/31/2023 - 15:55

Susan Glairon

Paul Lichty’s journey from PhD student to running one of the world’s top atomic layer deposition (ALD) companies was shaped by his time at �� Boulder. Today, Lichty (MechEngr BS‘06, ChemEngr PhD‘11) is the CEO of Forge Nano, overseeing the development of the Thornton, Colorado-based company’s cutting-edge nano coating technology.

Nano coating, applying a thin protective layer at the nanoscale (with particles about one billionth of a meter in size) on various surfaces greatly improves the durability, performance and lifespan of coated objects and unlocks material characteristics not found in nature.

“The analogy we use is M&M's — their candy shells prevent the chocolate from melting in your hand,” Lichty said. “We coat materials at a very small single-atom level, and that allows the underlying material to not melt or corrode.”

ALD technology is most utilized for the semiconductor industry, however, Lichty said Forge Nano stands out globally as the sole company that has extended ALD beyond the semiconductor domain. Its technology is most notably used to optimize battery characteristics including range, safety and cycle life, with significant implications for longer range electric vehicle batteries that require less frequent charging.

Susan Glairon sat down with Lichty to explore the impact of �� Boulder on the growth of Forge Nano and his life today.

How did you go from PhD student to CEO of one of the world’s top ALD companies?
While attending �� Boulder for my undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, I learned Professor Alan Weimer's lab in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering was doing some really cool stuff with renewable energy. I asked Al if I could work in his lab, and he hired me. I stayed for a year after graduating and then I pursued a PhD in chemical engineering to keep working on my research. So I went to �� for a very long time!

Within Al's group, we had several focuses. One was “atomic layer deposition” (ALD), which is what we do at Forge Nano; other projects concentrated on solar energy for production of green hydrogen and biofuels.

As a PhD student, I helped start a biofuels company called Sun Drop Fuels. After I graduated, I worked for Sun Drop helping with the R&D group and learned a lot about entrepreneurship. Sun Drop raised a lot of money. It had a really interesting technology, but suffered from gasoline prices dropping from $4 per gallon to $1.75, or whatever the low was, which killed off a whole crop of biofuel companies.

At the same time we had also developed and patented an idea for scaling up the ALD process and established a separate company, Forge Nano. While working at Sun Drop, I spent nights and weekends in my garage building a prototype of the ALD reactor and running chemical processes. Eventually we started winning some grants and getting development customers. I jumped to full time to become the CEO of Forge Nano, and I've been here ever since.

How exactly did you grow the company?
We're at about 100 employees now, but getting a company going always takes longer than you’d like. We bootstrapped the whole thing for about four years working on it part time. My partner, David King (ChemEngr PhD ‘08) and I got it going to a point where we could work full time. We then grew to about eight employees, just selling development services and equipment, hustling the entire time. Then one of our customers decided they liked what we were doing, and that's when we raised our first funding round. Ever since we started taking on investments, we've been able to grow. Just recently we closed on another financing round, $50 million led by Korea’s Hanwha with participation from Orion Infrastructure Capital (OIC), Catalus Capital, Ascent Funds, and existing investors and that's going to help us build a battery factory that integrates our technology. So we have many irons in the fire.

When you were in Professor Al Weimer’s lab, did you envision Forge Nano would get this big?
I joined Al's lab because I wanted to do something that helps humans transition from unsustainable energy sources; I never envisioned starting an ALD company. But once I understood that our ALD technology allows for the best materials engineering that humans are capable of—because we do it at a single atom—I realized we could change lots of products to make them safer, cheaper and more efficient. For instance, with batteries we can achieve a 20 percent increase in range, enhance safety and prolong their lifespans so that people will be able to buy electric cars and not have range anxiety.

It's difficult to think of anything else I could have done that would have as big an impact as this company.

What other products utilize this nano coating technology?
The biggest and most well-known commercial application is in the semiconductor industry, and a lot of sensors and chips have this ALD process on them. Our company is the only one in the world that's taken ALD outside the semiconductor space. Now we have commercial products in solid state lighting and phosphors, magnetics, energetics and medical devices. We end up doing work in all kinds of cool and crazy applications where they just need better materials design.

Some customers buy the systems and coat their products at their factories — we have about 90 coating machines installed globally. But if a company doesn't make enough product to justify buying a system, we can toll coat and upgrade their product on our equipment, and then ship it back to them. We probably have the largest ALD coating facility in the world.

It seems like pursuing your PhD in chemical engineering at �� was life-changing.
It was! I met a lot of really smart and hard working people at �� who helped push me. My wife is also an alumna — we met at �� Boulder.

I was on �� Boulder’s student council for five years, which is probably longer than almost anybody. My campus involvement provided me with not just technical experiences, but organizational leadership. There's plenty of opportunities at �� Boulder if you look. A lot of universities now have venture groups where they help students and faculty get companies started. That didn't exist at �� when we did this 12 years ago, but it does now.

I alway tell people, regardless of how the football team is doing, �� Boulder engineering is always one of top-10 funded engineering colleges in the country. It's an excellent place to get your degree and can be a springboard to much more.

What is your vision for the future?
We're a company that can upgrade almost any physical product you can imagine. We're going to keep trying to grow the company and change the world until it stops being fun. And then we'll figure out what else to do.

As the CEO of Forge Nano, Paul Lichty (MechEngr BS‘06, ChemEngr PhD‘11) now spearheads the advancement of the company’s cutting-edge nano coating technology.

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Senior capstone design course marks 25 years of real-world problem solving with industry partners

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Senior capstone design course marks 25 years of real-world problem solving with industry partners Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 02/28/2022 - 00:00

Jonathan Raab

Chris Stanton, Sara Horton and Sherri Zeller presented their findings from the 1999 course.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the revamped and retooled Chemical Engineering Design Project course — a class (re)designed to provide seniors with practical problem-solving experience and foster stronger ties to industry.

Industry liaisons — often department alumni — work with seniors on chemical process, design and economic analysis in the context of real-world projects. Students provide bi-weekly letter reports, two midterm oral presentations, a final 45-minute presentation at the liaison’s facility and a written final design report based on their experience.

“When we started, the course was in disarray and many students were apparently complaining – enough that the external advisory committee recommended that the department do an about-face and move away from the standard AIChE capstone problem,” Melvin E. and Virginia M. Clark Professor Alan Weimer said. “They recommended bringing in industry projects. In all honesty, this had a lot to do with hiring me on as a professor after I spent 16 years in industry.”

Weimer — who still teaches the course — saw an opportunity to modify the existing class, opting to connect students with industry professionals and to provide assignments that would lead to real-world outcomes that students could draw upon in job interviews. Since the course’s conversion to an industry-facing model, over 100 organizations have participated, including private companies and government laboratories.

“We were the first department in the college to use external liaisons and industry projects, providing students with relevant learning opportunities,” Weimer said. “Most of the industry liaisons are now past students. It was difficult getting started in 1997, but now we routinely have alumni volunteering to give back to the department and to be involved in our students' education. We have had as many as 35 different projects in one semester.”

New vision, new opportunities (and new software)

The first industry liaison, Dena Lund (ChemEngr’89), now the president of Anvil Corporation, collaborated with Professor Weimer in the spring 1997 course. Lund recalled her own senior design project as a difficult, confusing experience. When Weimer approached her to develop a new, industry-focused, project-based approach, she was excited to participate.

Weimer had recently received brand-new, Windows-based thermodynamic modeling software, which he had laying around his office. Lund had a burst of inspiration.

“’How about if I design a project around the software and a couple of student teams can learn how to use it and make a recommendation back to the department on its value?’” she asked. Weimer approved the idea, and the student recommendations led to the department adopting the software.

“Seeing students work in teams on real-life projects with industry professionals is energizing,” Lund said of her time as a liaison. “They get to be creative, apply all their skills, collaborate and gain experience with real-world work. The presentation sessions prepare them to showcase their efforts and respond to live questions. The other students get exposure to all the different projects and learn about a variety of engineering applications.”

Because Lund has such confidence in the course’s efficacy, she has sought out and hired several department graduates who have completed the class.

“By the time these students graduate, they are prepared to contribute,” she said.

Lund’s involvement with the program was her way of giving back.

“I was an engineer because of the department, and I have enjoyed a successful career and raised a family,” she said. “Helping students with that extra effort, by being a liaison and giving some guidance and reinforcement of skills was my way of helping students transition to a career in engineering in a way that was better than my experience.”

Megan Glenn and Sarah Spaustat during student presentations for the 2000 course sponsored by Roche Colorado.

Course graduates to industry liaisons

Ann Colwell (ChemEngr’97) is a former student who transitioned to industry partner. She now works as a venture executive at ExxonMobil.

“Over the course of my career, the tools and valuable insights that I was able to develop through this course provided me the foundation for success and a passion to stay involved as an industry project sponsor,” Colwell said. “While engineering students go on to many different types of careers, it is inspiring to see the students innovate solutions that exceed the design basis for their projects, including opportunities to apply concepts for safety and energy efficiency.”

Colwell said that within the course’s project teams, she sees emerging engineers developing an attention for detail and a desire to test boundaries in a process that connects them to the industries of which they will soon be a part.

"Courses like the senior capstone design class provide a foundation that ensures the students entering our industries today are equipped to transform and evolve sustainable energy solutions for the next 100 years,” she said.

Bill Perry (ChemEngr’98) is the owner and operator of Myrmix Pharma Solutions. Perry completed the course as a student and returned to teach a section after extensive project management experience in industry.

“Every year, I am impressed by the students’ ability to prepare effective slides and present in a clean, polished manner,” Perry said. “Their presentation skills reflect the experiences they have had not only in the senior design course, but throughout the department’s curriculum.”

Perry said one of the course's strengths is how it encourages students to make critical decisions on whether or how to limit the scope of their projects.

“Deciding where to make simplifying assumptions and where to dive deeply into a technical assessment is a real-life challenge they will face in their careers as engineers,” he said. “This is the most valuable project management skill the students learn from the senior design course.”

Jake Carrier (ChemEngr’13) is a senior process engineer at DCP Midstream.

John Ritchie, John Brown and Melissa Haugum from the course in April of 2001.

“The course exposed me to real-world design considerations and made the academic concepts less abstract,” Carrier said. “Through the networking opportunities afforded by the course, I was able to get my first job in consulting, which was a career path I had no knowledge of and had not considered. This ended up being a great jumping off point for me that could not have happened without this course.”

As a liaison for the course on behalf of DCP Midstream, Carrier gets to provide industry connections and mentorship to current students.

“Engineering is an apprenticeship, and my goal is to provide the students with some of the skills needed to transfer their academic knowledge into the practical,” he said. “In an increasingly lean profession, it is incredibly important to provide this mentorship to young engineers to ensure that the knowledge gained over many years is not lost.”

Carrier’s focus is on helping students break complex problems down to first principles of chemical engineering, encouraging creativity and cleverness in how they approach their projects.

“Congratulations to Professor Weimer on 25 years of helping to better prepare young engineers for a career in industry,” Carrier said. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without your help and guidance – truly.”

Tunkie Saunders (ChemBioEngr’18) is a senior chemical engineering manager at Redwood Materials.

“Senior design was fundamental to my growth and career trajectory as an engineer,” Saunders said. “Before the class, chemical engineering was a collection of theories and textbook problems. Going through the class ties the curriculum together.”

Saunders said that practical problems — the design of a plant or a new process, for example — forces students to deal with real-world design implications.

“The hardest engineering decisions take place at a higher level, where the interconnectedness of a unit operation, plant and the world around us takes shape,” he said. “The open-ended nature of the class is a significant shift from solving textbook problems, where only one answer exists and is the sole source of truth. You are now pitted against the unknown and must integrate creativity, decision-making and all you’ve learned.”

After Saunders completed the course at the end of his senior year, he found himself with a stark choice: join an established company or a startup.

“Thanks to senior design, I knew I had the foundation to make the jump and join a startup, where dealing with open-endedness and fast timelines is part of the job,” he said.

Adriana Robinson (ChemEngr'21) is an associate process design engineer with Chevron's TEMA Branch.

"Professor Weimer's senior design capstone class allowed me to network with a great company, learn directly from industry professionals and get exposure to design topics that I hadn't had much experience with in my classes," Robinson said.

"It challenged me to gain new skills, learn how to align with client-company expectations and lead a team successfully from project start to completion — something that has prepared me to face my new career path with confidence."

Alison Peters (ChemBioEngr’21) is a research associate at KBI Biopharma, Inc. Peters said that alongside internships, the Chemical Engineering Design Project course is the best way for students to gain perspective and experience on industry.

Professor Weimer

“The soft skills I picked up in the class have proven to be invaluable,” Peters said. “In my role as a research associate for a contract pharmaceutical lab, my daily tasks involve performing independent research, collaborating with teammates, seeking advice from supervisors, presenting progress to clients and writing and reviewing technical reports. Design was intentionally set up to give students real-life experience performing these kinds of tasks in cooperation with real-life chemical engineering companies, while reinforcing the chemical engineering curriculum.”

Peters said that her course experiences were invaluable in job interviews and helped prepare her for her first industry position.

“When I was asked to provide the department with feedback to improve the course, my only answer was: ‘I wish courses like this were available to underclassmen, too!'”

"I want to thank all of the hundreds of liaisons who have given their time over these 25 years to a unique capstone experience for our students," Weimer said. "The development of this course required getting over a high activation energy back in 1997, but it was well worth it as I see these graduates leave with valuable professional skills. I know that they put in an incredible amount of work and I am really proud of what they achieve.”

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Wu receives CEAS Outstanding Dissertation Award

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 17:49:37 +0000

Wu receives CEAS Outstanding Dissertation Award Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/08/2021 - 10:49

Jonathan Raab

Haichao Wu (right) with Daniel Schwartz. Photo provided by Wu.

Haichao Wu of the Dan Schwartz Group is the winner of the College of Engineering and Applied Science’s 2021 Outstanding Dissertation Award for “Nanoparticle Tracking to Probe Transport in Porous Media.” This award is a recognition of the quality and excellence of Wu’s research as well as his presentation of the dissertation.

Porous media — materials containing pores — are used in processes such as food processing, water treatment, pharmaceutical production and more. There are currently no universal models that can predict mass transport due to the complexity of porous media and the coupled dynamic mechanisms at work during the process.

“To address this issue, I have developed refractive index matching imaging systems, combined with single-particle tracking methods to directly visualize the single-particle motion within a variety of porous materials,” Wu said. “I have elucidated the fundamental particle transport mechanisms in porous media, which provided important insights for various application scenarios, including reducing membrane fouling and deploying nanomotors for biomedical applications.”

Wu’s experience as a graduate student in the Dan Schwartz Group helped prepare him for a research career in a number of significant ways.

“The research training in the Schwartz group helped me develop critical thinking and problem solving abilities, which ultimately helped me to evolve as an independent researcher,” Wu said. “The inspiring discussions with my advisor Dan and other labmates have motivated me to think bigger, smarter and bolder, and made me more dedicated to address urgent and important problems in the chemical engineering field.”

Glenn L. Murphy Endowed Professor Daniel Schwartz mentored Wu through his PhD candidacy.

“It was a great pleasure to have a student like Haichao, who is such a creative, curious and fearless researcher,” Schwartz said. “His dissertation was notable for including both fundamental and applied research, and he was required to develop a wide range of abilities, from the synthesis of nanomaterials to super-resolution imaging to computational simulations.”

Schwartz said that Wu was a positive presence in the group and department, as he often provided advice, support and mentorship to his fellow students and researchers, and frequently volunteered for student activities.

“He was a joy to mentor because he is sincerely eager for feedback and constructive criticism,” Schwartz said. “If I didn’t provide it spontaneously, he actively sought it out. I feel very lucky to have served as his advisor.”

Wu earned his PhD earlier this year and has since joined the Aizenberg Biomineralization and Biomimetics Lab at Harvard University as a postdoctoral fellow, where he is working on machine learning-aided materials design and investigating transport phenomena in various materials.

“In the future, I hope to work in academia as I enjoy doing research and teaching, and hope to motivate future generations to tackle difficult but important research problems as my advisor Dan taught me,” Wu said.

As a researcher, he is particularly interested in membrane fouling, as that is one of the primary barriers to maintain high performance in separation processes.

“I am interested in understanding the fundamental fouling mechanisms, developing anti-fouling membrane materials and optimizing the separation processes,” Wu said. “Eventually, I hope to combine these three perspectives to develop next generation, high performance and energy efficient separation processes."

Wu credited several people with helping him achieve this recognition during his time at �� Boulder.

“Firstly, I want to thank my advisor, Dan Schwartz,” Wu said. “He is always extremely supportive, and his unwavering and inspirational guidance will have a long-lasting impact on me. Secondly, I want to thank my friends who accompanied me through my graduate studies, which made my time in Boulder enjoyable and memorable. Lastly, I want to thank my parents for their tremendous encouragement and support throughout my life. Their role in making this happen cannot be emphasized enough.”

Wu will be honored at the College of Engineering and Applied Science Recognition Ceremony on Thursday, December 16.

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Saunders named in Forbes Under 30 list for leading the green energy transition

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 19:04:18 +0000

Saunders named in Forbes Under 30 list for leading the green energy transition Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 12/06/2021 - 12:04

Tunkie Saunders leads metallurgy development at Redwood Materials, a Nevada-based company, founded by JB Straubel, that is building a lithium-ion battery recycling process, devised by Tunkie, to extract lithium selectively from old batteries, in a pure form.

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Alumnus Lim earns C&EN Talented 12 recognition for pursuing commercialization of CO2 as a feedstock for commodity chemicals

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Oct 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Alumnus Lim earns C&EN Talented 12 recognition for pursuing commercialization of CO2 as a feedstock for commodity chemicals Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/06/2021 - 00:00

Jonathan Raab

Chern Hoi Lim

Chern-Hooi Lim (PhDChemEngr’15) is the founder and CEO of New Iridium, a spinoff company created by research conducted in part in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. He was recently selected for C&EN’s Talented 12, a program that honors young chemists and chemical engineers who are bringing innovation and entrepreneurship to bear on pressing global issues.

“Working with Chern was always incredibly exciting because he continually came up with innovative ideas, developed new collaborations and figured out how to solve complex and important problems,” said Professor Charles Musgrave, Lim’s former advisor. “I’m not surprised at all that he has continued on the meteoric trajectory he set as a graduate student, and that he was selected as a C&EN Talented 12 recipient.”

Lim sat down for an interview to discuss his work, research and ongoing benefits of his education at �� Boulder.

Would you tell me a little about your discovery that led to the formation of your company and getting published in Science as a student?

It was a cross-department, collaborative effort. At that time, when I was a PhD student in the Musgrave Group, we initiated a collaboration with Garret Miyake in the Department of Chemistry. [Miyake later took a position at Colorado State University, where Lim served as a postdoc.] In the Musgrave lab, we mainly ran computational simulations of chemical reactions to gain deep fundamental insights of chemistry, but we would not do traditional laboratory experiments. Garret on the other hand was doing experimental science.

Garret was very interested in light-driven processes, particularly in controlled polymer synthesis. He was going after big problems and wanted a photocatalyst that could accomplish his reactions. I ran hundreds of simulations that predicted what compounds could absorb light and catalyze the reaction Garret was interested in. Within six months, we had very good hits that led to the Science publication.

This highlighted the power of theory-driven discovery because we could crank through a lot of calculations, down-select on the computer to pick some targets and synthesize. Our startup, New Iridium, seeks to commercialize those photocatalysts. We are heading in the direction of using CO2 as a feedstock that could decarbonize the chemical industry.

How does it feel to receive the C&EN Talented 12 recognition?

When you’re running a startup, it’s great to have recognition. I also feel extremely honored as my work was recognized through this award. Our company was previously a finalist for the Ray of Hope Prize from the Institute of Biomimicry as well. Three-hundred startups competed around the world and made it to the top 10.

Please tell me a little about your presentation for the conference.

It’s about my journey—from Malaysia to the U.S., first in Philadelphia to get my undergrad degree at Drexel, and how I transitioned to �� Boulder to get my PhD and postdoc, and the journey to start a company.

How does New Iridium fit into that journey?

Greenhouse gas and global warming is a threat to humanity and a big topic today. There is actually lots of interest in the investment community for clean technology. However, using CO2 as a feedstock for commodity chemicals means that, in most cases, people have to pay a premium. We seek to enable a greener and cheaper process. The startup has to be practical with targets, and this is where the business comes in, where our technology meets business.

What problems are you addressing? What motivated you to pursue this line of research?

I chose �� Boulder because CO2 research in combination with computational chemistry really piqued my interest. Initially, my startup was not involved with CO2 because at that time there was not really momentum in this area. I had to find an area where the company could be profitable, so initially we were in the pharmaceutical space applying our technology, which is a platform technology, so we use the same catalyst that can produce pharmaceuticals or turn CO2 into something useful. It’s a matter of application.

I would like to give a shout-out to the Venture Partners entrepreneurship program at �� Boulder, the tech transfer folks involved with that program. They introduced the notion of doing customer discovery and interviews. It’s data-driven, getting feedback from the marketplace. We talked with people and they told us this is what they want, and we give people what they want. We talked to folks in major chemical companies and a number of venture capital groups, and people are putting more and more money and momentum toward the CO2 market.

Where do you plan on taking New Iridium? What problems is it uniquely poised to address?

In the next five years we want to have a profitable large scale chemical process where we can use CO2 feedstock in the commodity chemical space, enabling both greener and cheaper solutions. However, to make the most impact out of CO2, ultimately we need to get to the fuel space, turning CO2 into usable fuel. For example, our targets can be methanol and ethanol. Ethanol is used today in our pump when you go get gas. We are looking for a direct conversion of CO2 to ethanol, one that is cheaper and has the most impact. By turning CO2 back into fuel, we are closing the carbon cycle. Fundamentally this is what photosynthesis is doing: balancing the carbon.

Carbon capture is part of the value chain and ecosystem. The problem is after they capture and concentrate CO2 from the atmosphere, what do you do with it? We are trying to address the chemical process to turn CO2 into something useful.

How did your time as a student in the Musgrave Group shape your career and research interests? How else did it influence the direction of your life?

What I learned from the Musgrave Group is the deep understanding of how chemistry happens. It’s a very useful tool, but one that is underappreciated. I wanted to take that knowledge to the next level. I want to prove our ideas with experiments. I went from the Musgrave group as a PhD candidate to the Miyake group as a postdoc, where I learned new skillsets and did experimental science. What I learned from Musgrave was solving problems. With the Miyake group, I picked up new skills. From there I developed an interest in entrepreneurship.

Do you have any other fond memories of your time at �� Boulder and the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering?

Even though I run New Iridium in Ft. Collins, I live close to Boulder, I still visit often. I really miss my time at the department and lots of fun things—I miss biking and hanging out with all the folks. My experience, where I am today—Boulder is a big part of it, shaping me, my perseverance to accomplish things, to be opportunistic.

Do you have any advice for current ChBE students?

Dream big! Don’t be afraid, take risks. Not just taking risks, but knowing that in taking risks, you have the responsibility, and to work on big problems. Because the time is too short. Even five years as a PhD candidate will fly by. If you want to make a big impact, work on big problems.

Is there anything else you would like to share, or people you would like to thank?

Professor Charles Musgrave is the first person to thank. I want to thank him for accepting me as a student. At that time he didn’t have a position open, but he created one so I could work in his group. It was awesome.

Also, thanks to all the people at the Venture Partners program, especially Sally Hatcher and Bryn Rees. They were a big part of kickstarting my entrepreneur career.

Lim hails from Batu Pahat, Malaysia. He now lives in Superior, Colorado.

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Outstanding Mentor Award 2021: Sam Goodman

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Outstanding Mentor Award 2021: Sam Goodman Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 09/27/2021 - 00:00

Jonathan Raab

Sam Goodman

Each semester, the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering facilitates connections between alumni and current students through the Alumni Student Mentor Program. Students and their mentors meet several times over the course of the semester to discuss professionalism, career advancement and perspectives on engineering.

Sam Goodman (ChemEngr’16) was selected as one of two Outstanding Mentor Award winners for the Spring 2021 semester for his work with sophomore Abigail Hutabarat.

“I found my mentor to be really easy to talk to, and I was comfortable to ask him about more life advice things, like how to navigate college or how to live alone,” Hutabarat said. “I always enjoyed my talks with him and I felt like I learned a lot from him. He was able to give me insight into things that I wasn't aware existed, and I was really interested to hear about all of the other ‘not-engineering’ things he's able to do.”

Goodman answered a few questions about his time as a mentor.

What motivated you to become a mentor for the department?

I've had a string of quality mentors all throughout my life. From high school to graduate school, I wouldn't be where I am now without all the help I've received from others who took the time to work with me. My motivation to flip to the other side of the mentoring equation boils down to wanting to give back and help others in the same way that I've benefited. Plus, it's nice to have some connection to �� Boulder even though I'm thousands of miles away.

What do you hope to impart to the next generation of chemical and biological engineers?

One of the main themes I try to impart on my mentees is the benefit of remaining flexible. It's easy for engineers to almost pigeonhole themselves into one specific industry or path. But that can blind you to other opportunities both in your professional and personal life. There are myriad careers outside of the normal tracks—mine included—that I think students should be open to at least learning about. One of the best pieces of advice I received was to do as many things and live in as many places as possible to figure out what I'm really passionate about, and that's a lesson I'll always try to impart.

How has the engineering and professional world changed since you graduated, and what new challenges do you see up-and-coming engineers facing?

I think the chemical engineering profession might be in the early stages of a pretty fundamental transition. Our field really started and developed along with petrochemicals. With climate change and the need to wean ourselves off fossil fuels, a lot of the bedrock chemical industries might not be so relevant in the next decade or two. Engineers will have to be flexible not only to help that transition manifest but adapt to a changing baseline of what is expected of their skill set.

What are some things you’ve learned from your students as a mentor?

Whether it's economic, familial or some other touch point, students are facing different kinds of challenges than my peers and I were back in our school days. It's good to have that information as it keeps you grounded, preventing you from falling into the "back in my day" trap. The world is certainly changing, and it's good both to know how that's impacting the next generation of engineers and to have a person attached to that information instead of just aggregate statistics.

How would you pitch your fellow alumni on becoming mentors?

Beyond the altruistic desire to give back to the university and those coming up behind you, I think there are two ways it really benefits the mentors. The first is that you get to think through the same issues the students are facing, which might impact your own professional life. If your mentee is asking about different career paths and where they can get more information or contacts to learn more about them, you might rethink your own position and where you want to take your career in the next five or ten years. Secondly, mentoring a student coming out of the department means you have another quality person in your network. You never know where they might end up or how having a personal connection with them might benefit you down the line.

Join the Alumni Student Mentor Program

Sam Goodman (ChemEngr’16) was selected as one of two Outstanding Mentor Award winners for the Spring 2021 semester for his work with sophomore Abigail Hutabarat.

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Do you currently utilize chemical engineering in your work?

What motivated you to become a mentor for the ChBE department?

What do you hope to impart to the next generation of chemical and biological engineers?

How has the engineering and professional world changed since you graduated, and what new challenges do you see up-and-coming engineers facing?

What are some things you’ve learned from your students as a mentor?

How would you pitch your fellow alumni on becoming mentors?

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���������� Boulder engineering grad builds world-leading materials science company

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Outstanding Mentor Award 2021: Sam Goodman

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�� Boulder engineering grad builds world-leading materials science company