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David Sholl, Professor and Chair, Georgia Tech School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering 

“Efficient Technical Writing For Fun, Profit, And Career Advancement”

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Michelle O'Malley, University of California - Santa Barbara

"Exploiting Anaerobes for Biomass Breakdown and Sustainable Chemistry"

Abstract:

Renewable chemicals derived from plant biomass (mainly composed of cellulose and lignin) are attractive alternatives to those made from petroleum. To produce chemicals from biomass, enzymes are used to break down cellulose into simple sugars, which are later fermented into value-added products. However, since cellulose is tightly bound within a network of crystalline cellulosic fibers and lignin, existing biomass degrading enzymes are not very efficient.

To develop new technologies to break down plant material into sugar, much can be learned by studying how microbes digest lignocellulose in biomass-rich environments, such as the digestive tract of large herbivores. Anaerobic fungi are native to the gut and rumen of these animals, where they have evolved powerful enzymes to degrade plant biomass. Our goal is to develop new experimental tools to engineer anaerobic fungi and anaerobic microbial consortia for lignocellulose breakdown and chemical production. To accomplish this goal, we isolated a panel of anaerobic fungi and associated microbes from different herbivores and screened for their ability to degrade several types of lignin-rich grasses and agricultural waste. By focusing on model anaerobic fungi from the Piromyces, Neocallimastix, and Anaeromyces genera, we have employed next-generation sequencing to discover thousands of new genes, revealing hundreds of novel cellulases.

Additionally, we have characterized key regulatory patterns for these cellulases, which depend on the environment of the fungus. Using this information, we are developing new genetic engineering strategies to manipulate gut fungi at the molecular level, along with ‘bottom-up’ strategies to synthesize microbial consortia for compartmentalized breakdown and bioproduction. 

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Dan Frisbie - University of Minnesota

“New Materials & Printing Processes for Flexible Electronics”

Currently there is great interest in developing manufacturing methods for integrating electronic circuitry into flexible and stretchable substrates for a spectrum of applications including roll-up displays, wearable biosensors, smart labels, and electronic skins (‘e-skins’) for robotics, for example. One fabrication strategy that has captured imaginations involves the use of digital or analog printing techniques to pattern electronically functional inks onto paper, plastic, rubber, or metal foils. However, “printed electronics” has a number of significant challenges, including spatial resolution, pattern registration, and printed circuit performance. In this talk, I will describe a multi-pronged approach to address these challenges that may bring roll-to-roll printed electronics closer to reality. To begin, I will show that innovations in materials allow the fabrication of printable, low voltage thin film transistors (TFTs), the key building blocks of flexible circuits, and that these can be incorporated into simple printed circuit demonstrations involving two dozen TFTs and an equivalent number of printed resistors and capacitors. The second half of the talk will describe a novel liquid-based fabrication approach that we term SCALE, or Self-Aligned Capillarity-Assisted Lithography for Electronics. The SCALE process employs a combination of digital printing and in-substrate capillary flow to produce self-aligned devices with feature sizes that are currently as small as 1 m. The talk will finish with a discussion of the new opportunities in flexible microelectronics afforded by liquid-based processing.

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Doug LeVan - Vanderbilt University

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Michael Baldea - University of Texas at Austin

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Lora Weiss - Georgia Tech Research Institute

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Tobias Hanrath - Cornell University

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Eric Shaqfeh - Stanford University

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Ive Hermans - University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Tribute to  C.J. “Pete” Silas

Speakers:

Dr. G. Wayne Clough
President Emeritus. Georgia Tech
Secretary Emeritus, Smithsonian Institution

Glenn Cox
Retired President, Phillips Petroleum Co.

Dr. Ronald Rousseau
Professor & Cecil J. “Pete” Silas Chair, ChBE

Introductions by:
Dr. Dennis Hess
Director of the Phillips 66/C.J. “Pete” Silas
Program in Ethics and Leadership, Professor
& Thomas C. DeLoach Jr. Chair, ChBE

Reception Immediately Following Outside Room G011

About C.J. "Pete" Silas:

C.J. “Pete” Silas, a Georgia Tech chemical engineering graduate (ChE 1953) and longtime supporter of the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE), died on Dec. 16, 2014. He was 82.

Silas, a former chairman and CEO of Phillips Petroleum Co., is the namesake of ChBE’s Phillips 66/C.J. “Pete” Silas Program in Ethics and Leadership. This annual lecture recognizes Silas’ outstanding professional achievements and commitment to doing business in an ethical, responsible manner.

Recruited to Georgia Tech with a full basketball scholarship, Silas joined Phillips as a trainee petroleum engineer after graduation in 1953. From 1968 to 1976, Silas led Phillips’ Europe-Africa division and directed much of the development of the Ekofisk operations in the Norwegian North Sea – one of the world’s largest offshore oil and gas complexes. In the process, Silas gained the respect of industry and political leaders in Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France.

In 1976, Silas returned to corporate headquarters in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, as vice president, gas and gas liquids. Two years later, he was elevated to senior vice president of natural resources. By 1980, he was an executive vice president, and in 1982, he became president and chief operating officer. In May of 1985, Silas was elected chairman and chief executive officer. He retired in 1994 at the age of 62 after a 41-year-career at Phillips.

Throughout his career and retirement, Silas was an active and generous participant of many boards and philanthropies. His many contributions to Georgia Tech include endowing the Cecil J. “Pete” Silas Chair in ChBE.

The Waldemar T. Ziegler Awards were established by the family and friends of the late Waldemar T. Ziegler to honor his lifelong commitment to academic excellence and research.

Ziegler was on the faculty of the School of Chemical Engineering from 1946 until his retirement in 1978, when he was named Regents’ Professor emeritus. He died in 1996, leaving behind a legacy of outstanding research in the fields of cryogenics and thermodynamics.

Two individual Ziegler Awards are presented annually to graduate students. The Ziegler Award for Best Paper began in 1998, and the Ziegler Award for Best Proposal began in 2005.

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2015 Speaker To Be Announced.

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Anup Singh - Sandia

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Bryan Pivovar - NERL

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Pratim Biswas - Washington University of St. Louis