John W. Van Zee - US grants

Proposal No.: 9732345 PI: Amiridis University: U of SC Columbia ABSTRACT Funding is requested in this proposal for the establishment of a REU site in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of South Carolina. The objective of the proposed site would be to provide chemical engineering undergraduate students with research experience obtained from projects exploring Novel Technologies in Pollution Prevention. This is considered one of the core competence areas of the Department of Chemical Engineering at USC with ten faculty members having active research programs associated with it. Each student will be assigned a faculty member as his/her research mentor. It is further anticipated that due to the significant interactions among the faculty the students will be grouped into larger research teams in three areas: Catalytic, Separation and Electrochem Technologies. In addition to the individual research projects, the proposed REU program will include several group activities for the participants. The goal of these activities will be to enrich the participants' educational and research experience and facilitate collaboration and long-term relationships between them. The proposed group activities include tours of industrial sites, a weekly seminar series, and workshops on ethics in science and engineering and graduate studies, welcome and farewell symposia, and social activities. Exclusively non-USC undergraduate students will participate in the program. Special emphasis will be placed on recruiting minorities from designated "target" schools. It is expected that the program will have a long-term impact on the participants: it will encourage them to continue their studies and seek research careers in chemical engineering; it will assist them to realize the employment and research opportunities available in chemical engineering aspects of environmental research; and it will provide an enriching experience by exposing them to a non-classroom faculty-student inte raction.

DMR-9732227
Amiridis

The University of South Carolina will establish a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site in its Department of Chemical Engineering. Undergraduate students will be recruited from universities and colleges in the Southeast, including minority institutions. Students will participate in research on the theme of "Novel Materials for Power Sources", including fuel cells, supercapacitors and electrode materials. In addition, students will attend weekly seminars and tours, and workshops on ethics in science and engineering and on graduate studies in chemical engineering.
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The REU site, with a regional focus whereby high quality undergraduates will be recruited from the Southeast, and with and emphasis on underrepresented minorities in science and engineering, will provide a research experience on an emerging technology to students who would not normally have access to a research environment.
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The University of South Carolina operates a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site in its Chemical Engineering Department. The objective of the REU Site is to provide chemical engineering undergraduate students with experiences in areas related to materials research. Undergraduates are offered research projects in three areas: inorganic materials as catalysts and adsorbents, materials for power sources, and polymers. Ten students are recruited nationwide every year for a ten-week summer research experience. In addition to participating in individual research projects, students attend weekly technical seminars and career workshops, visit industrial sites and participate in group social activities.

This award provides continued funding for a 5-year REU Site for Novel Technologies for Pollution Prevention, at the University of South Carolina at Columbia, under the direction Dr. Michael D. Amiridis. This 10-week summer program will provide 11chemical engineering undergraduate students, from other institutions, with research experiences obtained from projects focusing on the development of new technologies with positive environmental impact. Each student will be assigned a faculty member as her/his research mentor. It is anticipated that the students will be grouped into larger research teams in the following areas: Catalytic, Separation, and Electrochemical Technologies. In addition, the students will tour industrial sites, attend weekly seminars, workshops on graduate studies and ethics in science and engineering, and participate in a final symposium as well as social activities.

This planing grant plans to expand the research on Fuel Cells by creating an NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) for Fuel Cell Research. This center builds on the strength of electrochemical engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of South Carolina. The center provides an opportunity to focus research, nationally and perhaps internationally, to benefit commercialization of an environmentally friendly technology with a $10 billion US economic potential.

The vision for the Center is to be recognized internationally for developing mathematical models useful for PEMFC design; producing experimental data and techniques that provide an understanding of PEMFC stack performance; studying hydrogen storage materials, devices, and their interface with PEMFCs; and developing new catalysts development for reforming hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels and the oxygen electrode.

Fuel cells have the ability to provide environmentally friendly power with at $10 billion U.S. economic potential. Our nations' leaders have recently announced that fuel cell development is now a major thrust of the government with a primary goal of large scale commercialization. A research center addressing this goal is important in that the center will provide benefits to the industrial community by providing an avenue for leveraging risks in a cooperative environment and by developing the technology to keep the U.S. as a leader in fuel cell development. A planning grant (EEC-0200471) has established the feasibility and viability of establishing an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) for Fuel Cell Research at the University of South Carolina-Columbia.

The research projects for the proposed center will address such issues as hydrogen storage, catalyst development, computational fluid dynamics of fuel cell processes, mathematical model development for fuel cell design, laboratory testing of fuel cells, and fuel cell characterization

0243726 Amiridis

This award supports the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of South Carolina (USC) for the establishment of a three-year Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site in Japan. Students will be assigned an individual research project to work in the Fall Semester with faculty research mentors at Osaka University, Sophia University (Tokyo), and Kyoto University in collaboration with USC faculty. In addition, two USC U.S. graduate (Ph.D.) students will also travel to Japan together with the REU group and serve as mentors to the students while also doing research in Japan. Research projects will be on topics such as the catalytic role of supercritical water in organic reactions; molecular simulations of gas permeation through organic membranes; shock tube studies of the thermal decomposition of hydrocarbons; the synthesis of molecular composites; emission control during the pyrolosis of coal; and synthesis of nanoporous materials using copolymer gel templates. In addition to the individual research projects, the REU program will include group activities to enrich the participants' education and research experience and facilitate collaboration and long-term relationships with Japanese collaborators. Group activities will involve technical, social, and cultural events such as tours of industrial research facilities and participation in local community festivals. Students will be recruited from chemical engineering programs throughout the United States. USC will also focus on recruiting students from underrepresented groups at institutions such as North Carolina A&T State University; Florida A&M University-Florida State University College of Engineering; and the University of Puerto Rico. This REU Site is co-funded by the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering and the NSF Directorate for Engineering.

Full Center Proposal for a Center for Fuel Cells (CFC)

0856055 University of South Carolina (USC); John Van Zee
0855929 University of Connecticut (UCONN); A. F. Anwar

The purpose of this proposal is to renew and expand the Center for Fuel Cells (CFC) as an NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center. This proposal is based upon USC?s successful completion of five years of operation of the CFC, as a single university site; and the commitment by five companies to join a research site at the University of Connecticut. USC will be the lead research site for CFC. The proposed Center will promote collaboration between universities and their industry partners and solve problems related to commercial implementation of fuel cells. The PIs list five focus areas to help advance the technology and commercialization of Fuel Cells. The addition of UCONN expertise in solid fuel cells would add to the expertise at USC in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells. The renewed and expanded Center will be successful because it builds on existing strengths developed during the first five years of operation. The Center will also educate and train researchers for industry and government.

The broader impact of the proposed center includes the importance of finding alternative fuel cell sources to fossil fuels. The proposed Center will encourage collaboration, and the research will expose students and faculty to state-of-the-art research projects of value to the industry. Students will have opportunities for industrial internships with members. The educational activities and the research participation in the Center activities will provide a diverse workforce for an innovative technology that will be part of a new economy. Over 30% of the student participants will be women or under-represented minorities. Faculty in the CFC will work with REU students to present their work at national meetings with the goal of obtaining recognition for these students.