Current graduate students

ABSTRACT:  Microalgae have received a great deal of attention as a platform for biofuel production due to their photosynthetic nature. However, the over emphasis on the production of lipids for biodiesel synthesis can limit the productivity of algae cultures and undervalues the potential applications for the significant quantities of protein and carbohydrate fractions present in this biomass. Currently, the commercial prospects for microalgae biofuels are primarily inhibited by their low cell densities and the high cost of current lipid extraction processes.

ABSTRACT: In this work, the issue of stability for two-phase incompressible flow in homogeneous porous media out of the Darcy regime (i.e. when inertia must be taken into account) is considered. The development is based on a macroscopic model derived by upscaling the pore-scale Navier-Stokes equations, assuming that the inertial correction is quadratic in the filtration velocity, as widely admitted with the classical Darcy-Forchheimer model. 

"Adhesion, Friction & Lubrication of Surfaces & Liquid Films and their Relation to Diverse Phenomena Such as how Geckos Climb on Walls and Ceilings, Surface Damage, and Sensing" by Professor Jacob Isrealachvili, Chemical Engineering, University of California Santa Barbara, United States

An invitation to all grad students, visitors, staff and faculty in Chemical Engineering (and their families).

It would be appreciated if you could bring a salad or dessert to the barbeque.

Please RSVP here.

ABSTRACT:  The regulation of intracellular water activity is a necessary characteristic of many physiological functions in all living organisms. The high water transport rate across cell membranes is due to a type of water channel protein, aquaporin. The unique selectivity, high water transport capability, and low activation energy of aquaporins have garnered strong scientific interests with many studies concentrating on the fabrication of biomimetic membranes based on the reconstitution of aquaporins into self-assembled amphiphilic lipid or polymer bilayers.

ABSTRACT: The bottom–up approach is considered a potential alternative for low cost manufacturing of nanostructured materials [1]. It is based on the concept of self–assembly of nanostructures on a substrate, and is emerging as an alternative paradigm for traditional top down fabrication used in the semiconductor industry. We demonstrate various strategies to control nanostructure assembly (both organic and inorganic) at the nanoscale.