100th Anniversary Photo Gallery
A mix of photos from the past and present were chosen to illustrate our brochure celebrating the 100th anniversary of chemical engineering at the University of Rochester. Here's a closer look at them.
Top left: PhD students Xue Wei and Keith Savino at a fuel cell test station August 23, 2010. Top right: Connor Noel, left and David Yao work on their senior design project – a heat transfer fin study – in the refurbished lab in Gavett Hall, November 2014. Lower right: Erik Laurin, Sidney Royal and Stephen Tewksbury work on their senior design project – a tubular reactor that will be used for experiments in the junior chemical engineering lab in Gavett Hall. Lower left: Nicole Fannin (green hat) and Leah Flint work on their senior design project, developing a process to pre-treat concentrated wastewater from a Xerox toner plant so that it can be processed by regular sewage plants. Photos by Adam Fenster.
Cover Collage
Left to right: Former department chair, John Friedly, with Alumnus Edmund Hajim in 1988. Student works "under the hood" in refurbished undergraduate lab (November 2014). Professor Ching Tang was recipient of the Wolf Prize, considered second in prestige to a Nobel Prize, in 2011.
Left to right: View from the labs. The late Professor Richard Eisenberg created a lasting legacy when he endowed the summer internship program that bears his name, giving undergraduates an opportunity to conduct research one-on-one with faculty members. A view of the power engineering laboratory in Carnegie Lab when the University was still at the Prince Street campus.
Left to right: Branden Cole '16 demonstrates lab equipment to visiting high school students during a pre-college summer course, July 2014. Thach Chu '11 was recipient of the Florescue Family Foundation Scholarship. Graduate students Ming Hue and Barbara Woo do research in catalysis and solid state chemistry (undated photo).
Left to right: Robert E. Heeks was the department's first PhD recipient in 1957. His PhD thesis, "A Study of Dilatancy in Frit-Water Suspensions," was supervised by Professor Gene Su. 2014 Eisenberg summer research intern Jianfeng 'Ann' He '15 worked with graduate student Andrew Durney and Assistant Professor Hitomi Mukaibo on using electroosmotic flow as a means of fluid transport within micro needles. This could be a way to inject genetic material into algae cells, for example, to boost their effectiveness as a source of solar energy. The entrance to Gavett Hall.
Left to right: Students at a mobile station in the refurbished undergraduate lab, 2013. Senior technical associate Rachel Monfredo was the inaugural recipient of the Hajim School's Dottie Welch Student Enrichment Award in 2014. Rebecca Kelley and Allison Latham of the Class of 2014.
Left to right: 2014 Eisenberg summer research intern Garrett Meier '15 worked with Assistant Professor Alexander Shestopalov to study the effects of temperature and pressure on shaped-memory polymer stamps used in microelectronics. Professor Gene Su demonstrating instrumentation to Nick Borrelli (MS '60, PhE '63). Students operate a new double effect evaporator in Gavett Hall in 1941. Professor Howard Gardner is below them. Professor Orrington Dwyer was the department's second chair from 1947 to 1951.
Inside Collage
Left to right: Otto Wiele Cook received the first chemical engineering degree at the University in 1920 after serving briefly with the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I. He later managed cine processing at Eastman Kodak. Arun Soorakulanthakan and Bradley Kowalczyk, both Class of '15, prepare an experiment. Patrick Sullivan works on his senior design project – a continuous stir tank reactor – while monitoring a 35 percent salt solution, November 2014. (Photo by Adam Fenster.)
Left to right: Ralph Pike received the first master's degree in chemical engineering in 1939. He later worked for DuPont. Dan Napolitano '15 works on his senior design project, November 2014. A view of the Carnegie Lab building on the Prince Street Campus in the early 1900s.
Left to right: Clamps hold an experiment in place in the undergraduate lab. Ellen Sadri '13 served as chair of UR Biodiesel, a project designed by University of Rochester undergraduates to convert excess fryer oil from dining service centers into biodiesel to fuel shuttle buses. The project was given the Excellence in Innovations for Sustainability Award by the Association of College Unions International (ACUI) in 2010. Millard Ernsberger, a mechanical engineer, was one of the first two faculty members to teach chemical engineering at the University of Rochester.
Left to right: Professor Howard Gardner, the first faculty member trained in chemical engineering, brought the program instant credibility, helped secure its accreditation, and briefly served as first department chair before departing for private industry in 1947. Kathleen Stewart and Brandon Wilson, Class of '14, pose at commencement. Fuel cell.
Left to right: A view of the chemistry lab on the Prince Street campus circa 1900. This Rheometer, used for the mechanical analysis of gels, liquids crystals, structured fluids, and other soft materials, is part of the shared instrumentation offered by the department. Shelby Miller, the department's fourth chair from 1955-1967, helped the department come of age. During his tenure, faculty size increased from three to 12, and he played a key leadership role as the department increased its emphasis on graduate education and research, while maintaining its emphasis on undergraduate teaching.
Left to right: Dongmo Bian and Soyoun Kim in the newly renovated undergraduate lab, 2013. (Photo by Brandon Vick.) Andrew Giannetta and Jennifer Moon of the Class of '13. For several years after joining the department in 1947, Gene Su was one of only three chemical engineering faculty members, and “carried the lion’s share of the research load,” wrote John Friedly in his 75th anniversary book about ChemE.