2005 News

December 19, 2005: ExxonMobil Chemical Co. Joins CEBC

CEBC is pleased to welcome ExxonMobil Chemical Co. as its newest company member. Representing ExxonMobil Chemical Co. on the Industrial Advisory Board is Dr. Sadi Mizrahi, Manager of Catalytic Process R&D. Sadi has been with the company for 26 years and is currently responsible for development of novel petrochemical process technology. Prior assignments were technical and supervisory positions in Mobil and ExxonMobil in refining and petrochemical R&D.

November 8, 2005: Tonya Peeples receives Distinguished Service Award

Dr. Tonya Peeples was recently awarded the "2005 Distinguished Service Award" from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Minority Affairs Committee. This award was for "sustained service and outstanding achievements that advance the goals of the Minority Affairs Committee. Among those goals is reducing the under-representation of minorities in the Institute, the chemical engineering profession, and engineering as a whole." Congratulations to Tonya for this recognition of her significant contributions to increasing diversity at all levels and helping students succeed.

July 15, 2005:  CEBC Associates Win Green Chemistry and Engineering Awards

Each year, the US Environmental Protection Agency sponsors the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards to promote innovations in green chemistry and engineering for pollution prevention. The 2005 awards were announced in conjunction with the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute's Green Engineering and Chemistry conference held in Washington, D.C. from June 20-24, 2005. This year, CEBC Postdoctoral Scientist Anindya Ghosh and CEBC member firm Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) were award recipients.

Anindya Ghosh was given the Kenneth G. Hancock Memorial Student Award for "Design, Synthesis and Application of Green Catalytic Oxidation Systems Using Fe-tetraamido Macrocyclic Ligand (Fe-TAML^®) Activators and Hydrogen Peroxide," work which was carried out during his Doctoral studies at Carnegie Mellon University under Prof. Terry Collins.

Researchers at ADM were awarded the Designing Safer Chemicals award for "Archer RC™: A Nonvolatile, Reactive Coalescent for the Reduction of VOCs in Latex Plants," and, in conjunction with the Novozymes company, were awarded the Alternative Synthetic Pathways award for "NovaLipid™: Low Trans Fats and Oils Produced by Enzymatic Interesterification of Vegetable Oils Using Lipozyme^®".

CEBC is privileged to be associated with individuals and organizations committed to the development of environmentally friendly processes and products. More information on the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge can be found on the web at http://www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/presgcc.html.

The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge was started in 1996, and gives awards annually to industry and government sponsors, academic investigators, and small businesses. CEBC member firms Dupont and Engelhard are also past award winners.

May 3, 2005: Gibson Elected To National Academy Of Sciences

David T. Gibson, Ph.D., professor emeritus of microbiology in the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

Gibson, who retired in 2004, was among 72 new members and 18 foreign associates from 14 countries elected May 3 to membership in the nation's most distinguished scientific organization.

The NAS election was held during the business session of the 142nd annual meeting of the Academy in Washington, D.C. Those elected this year bring the total number of active members to 1,976. Gibson was chosen in recognition of his distinguished achievements in original research.

Gibson is internationally known for his biocatalysis research. In particular, his discoveries have revealed how bacteria break down environmental pollutants, toxic chemicals and naturally occurring compounds. His pioneering studies focused on understanding the mechanisms of microbial enzymes that open aromatic rings -- molecular structures found in many compounds including dyes, pesticides and explosives.

"Dr. Gibson is a world leader in the field of biocatalysis. His election to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences is richly deserved for his many outstanding contributions to science," said Jean Robillard, M.D., dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine. "The research that Dr. Gibson has pioneered is fundamentally important to the biotechnology industry. It provides the means and knowledge to develop environmentally friendly and economically viable biocatalysts that can manufacture useful chemicals and agrochemicals and clean up environmental pollutants."

Gibson received a bachelor's degree and doctoral degree in biochemistry from the University of Leeds, England, and he did his postdoctoral research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He was on the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin for 21 years before joining the UI Department of Microbiology in 1988 as the Edwin B. Green Professor in Biocatalysis and Microbiology, the university's and the nation's first endowed chair in biocatalysis. As a professor emeritus, he continues to pursue research at the UI.

Over his long and illustrious career, Gibson authored and co-authored over 170 scientific articles and received numerous awards, including the 1997 Proctor and Gamble Award in Applied and Environmental Microbiology. He is a member of the American Society for Microbiology and the American Chemical Society and was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1994. He also is an elected member of the National Academy of Microbiology.

Gibson is the fifth current UI faculty member to have been elected to the NAS. Other UI faculty who are NAS members are Kevin Campbell, Ph.D., the Roy J. Carver Chair of Physiology and Biophysics and interim head of the department, UI professor of neurology, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator; Michael Welsh, M.D., HHMI Investigator and the Roy J. Carver Chair of Biomedical Research in the UI Departments of Internal Medicine and Physiology and Biophysics; and James A. Van Allen, Ph.D., emeritus professor and Regent Distinguished Professor, and Donald Gurnett, Ph.D., the Carver/James A. Van Allen Professor of Physics, both in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private organization of scientists and engineers. It was established in 1863 by a congressional act of incorporation, signed by Abraham Lincoln and is charged to act as an official adviser to the federal government, upon request, in any matter of science or technology.

Additional information about the institution is available on the Internet at http://national-academies.org. A full directory of NAS members can be found online at http://national-academies.org/nas.

STORY SOURCE: University of Iowa Health Science Relations, 5135 Westlawn, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1178

MEDIA CONTACT: Jennifer Brown, (319) 335-9917 jennifer-l-brown@uiowa.edu

Reprinted with the permission of Health Science Relations, University of Iowa

April 5, 2005: Katie Kollhoff wins Udall Honorable Mention

A KU undergraduate affiliated with CEBC has received a $350 Honorable Mention in the Morris K. Udall Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship Competition. Katie Kollhoff, majoring in Chemical Engineering and Spanish, works with Dr. Subramaniam on environmental and economic assessment of test bed systems for environmentally beneficial catalytic processes.

The Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation awards 80 merit-based scholarships of up to $5,000 and 50 Honorable Mentions of $350 to:

Katie plans to earn a doctorate in chemical engineering. She plans a career focused on zero-emissions in industry using the principles of green engineering to create or improve environmentally benign processes that will be economically viable and adaptable to current technology. She has worked as an intern with the City of Lawrence recycling division and as a calculus tutor. Katie received a Dane G. Hansen Scholarship for top students from northwestern Kansas and a Watkins-Berger scholarship for the top women freshmen entering KU. She is the daughter of Michael Kollhoff and Susan Kollhoff, both of Beloit, and is a graduate of St. Johns High School in Beloit.

Congratulations, Katie, we are very proud of you!