Center for the

Environment

2004-2005 Annual Report

Clarkson University

Message from the Co-Directors

The Power of Partnerships

The Clarkson Center for the Environment and its affiliated faculty of nearly 50 researchers who span disciplines from engineering and the sciences to liberal arts and business have again been nationally recognized for excellence in scholarship and innovative research programs by peers, foundations, and federal and state agencies. Co-directors Philip K. Hopke and Thomas M. Holsen This past year, Center faculty members published their environmentally related research in scholarly publications contributing to 85 peer-reviewed journal papers and two books. In addition, Center-related research projects received approximately $4 million in external grants and contracts; of that the nationally recognized Center for Air Resources Engineering and Science received $2.3 million. Numerous faculty have received individual recognition and awards, as noted on the following pages. In its latest rankings, U.S. News & World Report 2005 ranked our environmental engineering and health graduate programs 24th in the nation. That figure reflects Clarksons ongoing commitment to developing innovative and successful educational programs and initiatives. The graduate Environmental Science and Engineering degree administered through the Center continues to grow and attract students from around the world. Our K-12 Project-Based Learning Partnership programs completed their fifth year, placing 12 graduate and five undergraduate students into nine local middle and high school classrooms. Each summer, an NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates program brings 10 students from across the U.S. to Clarkson to work with Center faculty affiliates. At the Clarkson Center for the Environment, we understand that building partnerships that transcend disciplines, as well as borders, is the best way to address todays multifaceted global environmental and energy-related problems. By collaborating with other experts from around the world, Clarkson faculty researchers are working on the front lines to find solutions to these complex problems. In forming strategic alliances with private industry and state and federal government agencies at home, we ensure that promising technology developed in our laboratories can be commercially adapted and applied to our world today.

Table of Contents
International Partnerships Address Global Energy and Environmental Problems
Clarkson scientists and engineers are working in partnership with agencies, governments and universities around the world to find solutions to complex environmental and energy-related problems ......................................................................... 2

Energy and the Power of Partnerships

Clarkson researchers are forming strategic alliances with state and local government agencies, private industry, and public sponsors to address energy-related issues at home ............................................................................................................. 4

Clarkson Hosts 2005 Research and Education Conference of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors
The four-day conference brought some 250 of the worlds preeminent scientists and environmental engineers to Clarkson for workshops, oral and poster presentations, and networking opportunities. .............................................................................. 6

Faculty and Student News and Achievements

During the past year, Clarkson faculty and students have been recognized for accomplishments across a spectrum that ranges from national and international honors to significant research grants and public-policy appointments .................... 8

Clarkson Center for the Environment

Co-Directors: Thomas M. Holsen Philip K. Hopke

Front Cover: Clarkson Prof. Pragasen Pillay and research assistants, M.S. student Luke Dosiek (left) and Ph.D. student Lotten Mthombeni, use specialized equipment to measure losses in motor lamination steel. Their work is part of a three-year project, Improved Design of Motors for Increased Efficiency in Residential and Commercial Buildings, which is funded by the Department of Energy.

MAJOR SPONSORS
Environmental Protection Agency Philip K. Hopke Co-Director, Clarkson Center for the Environment Director, Center for Air Resources Engineering and Science Bayard D. Clarkson Distinguished Professor Chemical Engineering and Chemistry Thomas M. Holsen Co-Director, Clarkson Center for the Environment Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering ExxonMobil GE Foundation National Science Foundation NYSERDA NYSTAR Xerox

International Partnerships Addressing Global Environmental Problems

Clarkson scientists and engineers are working in partnership with agencies, governments and universities around the world to find solutions to complex environmental and energy-related problems from improving air quality across Asia to mitigating ecological damage from oil spills in the worlds oceans.
Predicting patterns for deepwater oil and gas spills
As exploration goes ever deeper into the worlds oceans to satisfy our global thirst for energy, the production of oil and gas from extremely deep wells is increasing dramatically. Understanding how gas or oil accidentally released at extreme depths of 2,500 feet or more would spread and where and when slicks would surface is important to mitigate the environmental impact, says Clarkson University Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering Poojitha Yapa. Yapa and a team of Clarkson researchers have developed the Clarkson Deepwater Oil and Gas model (CDOG), a computer model that closely simulates the behavior of oil or gas from a well blowout in very deep water. The four-year project was sponsored by the U.S. Minerals Management Services and a Deep Spill Task Force consortium made up of more than 20 oil companies. Singapore, Brazil, Japan, Spain and Kuwait have sought Yapas expertise to simulate what would occur following accidental spills at levels ranging from surface releases to those at extreme ocean depths. Graduate student Margaret A. Knuth uses a transducer to measure wave action in a wave tank as part of a study on the freeze-up of sea water into pancake ice fields. Prof. Yapa and the Clarkson Deepwater Oil and Gas model (CDOG). With the presence of ice, global climate is affected because the water drastically reduces interaction with the atmosphere. Also as saltwater freezes, it becomes more dense and sinks to the sea floor taking with it oxygen, carbon dioxide, and organic material. These changes alter the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which affects global ocean circulation, climate changes, rainfall and temperature. Working with a team of international collaborators, Shen recently completed a five-year, NSF-funded sea ice study. Earlier this year, Shen presented her research findings at the 20th International Symposium on Okhotsk Sea and Sea Ice in Mombetsu-City, Hokkaido, Japan.

Understanding and managing serious, far-reaching environmental problems such as global warming; ozone depletion; and air, soil and marine pollution requires a cooperative approach that transcends borders, explains Philip Hopke, Bayard D. Clarkson Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry and director of the Center for Air Resources Engineering and Science (CARES) at Clarkson. Thats why Clarkson researchers are teaming up with other experts around the world to understand and evaluate todays environment and energy problems. It is important to be part of the dialogue to ensure that sound scientific information will be brought to bear on future management and policy decisions, says Hopke.

have been distributed to the 15 participating organizations in the various countries where they are sampling weekly for fine and coarse particles and analyzing their samples. Along with supervising the construction of the samplers, Hopke provides advice on data analysis, source apportionment, and relevant policy issues based on his extensive experience working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Effective Policy-Making for Global Pollution and Emissions Reduction

Air Pollution Over Southeast Asia

Science and Engineering has been administered through Clarkson University since 2000. Each year 15 U.S. undergraduate students are selected from universities across the country to conduct an 11-week research project at Dalian University of Technology and Ocean University of China in Qingdao.

u Clarkson Jean Newell Distinguished Professor in Engineering Pragasen Pillay and Professor of Anthropology Daniel Bradburd and four electrical engineering students participated in a 10-week, NSF-sponsored research program in South Africa last summer. Under Pillays direction, students were involved in renewable energy research, focusing on increasing system efficiency. Bradburd coordinated the anthropology and cultural activities.

u A collaboration between Clarkson Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering Stefan Grimberg and Jan Roloef van der Meer (University of Lausanne, Switzerland) will result in the development of whole-cell biosensors to detect the biodegradation of phenanthrene in contaminated soils. As part of the collaboration students from each of the institutions will spend several months at the collaborators laboratory to learn specific experimental techniques unique to the project.

There is growing concern over the health effects of air pollution in megacities around the world. One of the areas of rapid urbanization and growth is southeastern Asia. The Menz is a nonresident scholar at the Center for International Climate and Environmental International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been working to help fill the information Research in Oslo, Norway, and is currently participating in three CICERO projects, all gap on the composition of the atmospheric of which deal with the issue of climate aerosol in the region by supporting a change. One project, Re-engaging the International graduate student David Ogulei works in the CARES lab with a time of flight coordinated research program involving U.S. in Climate Policy, looks at how global mass spectrometer. countries from Pakistan on the west to climate agreements might be designed to the Philippines on the east, New Zealand encourage greater participation from major on the south, and Mongolia on the north. sources of greenhouse gases. Given the Hopke, who has been actively involved in emphatic withdrawal of the United States IAEA since 1993, is currently acting as a from the Kyoto Protocol in March 2001, this consultant on this project. project focuses on how international agreements to deal with climate change could be The IAEAs mission is to use nuclear adapted to encourage participation of the methods for peaceful purposes. Nuclear United States (and other nonparticipants analytical methods such as x-ray fluorescence including China and India) in future climate and neutron activation are powerful tools treaties, explains Menz. Another project to measure the composition of environmenconsiders the question of what policy meatal samples such as airborne particulate sures are likely to be chosen by individual matter, explains Hopke. Airborne particle countries to meet emissions reductions samplers built at our CARES laboratories mandated by global agreements.

Professor of Economics Fredric Menzs expertise is in the economics of international environmental policy. Much of his research over the last two decades has investigated the effectiveness of using economic incentives to regulate emissions and promote renewable energy sources. He also studies the impact of pollution control policies on U.S. and European economies.

Sea Ice Studies in the Arctic and Antarctic

Sea ice covers over 10 percent of the earths surface. Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering Hayley Shens research investigates pancake ice that occurs in many polar and sub polar areas in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. In turbulent seas the first ice to form are tiny discs, Shen explains. As the discs accumulate they form a suspension known as grease ice. In wave dominated seas, waves and wind compress these ice shapes into large plates called pancake ice.

Global Alliances through Education

u The NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates China in Marine Assistant Professor of Biology Michael Twiss taught a course titled Computer Applications to the Study of Aquatic Chemistry and Ecotoxicology in the Department of Chemistry, Universidade Federal do Parana, Curitiba, Brazil, in March.

Energy & the Power of Partnerships

Clarkson researchers are forming strategic alliances with national and state government agencies, private industry, and public sponsors to address energy-related issues at home.

Groups development of a simulation of a thermoelectric generator that converts engine exhaust energy into electric energy is nearing completion. The project is funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Automobile waste heat recovery could significantly improve fuel efficiency of combustion engines, says Thacher. The system we have developed uses a thermoelectric generator installed in the exhaust pipe to convert up to five percent of the energy in the exhaust into electric energy and feed it to the vehicles electric load. Quantum well-based thermoelectric materials are being used because they have been shown to at least triple the conversion efficiency of thermoelectric generators. The team subcontracted with Hi-Z Technology Inc. to build the generator and tested the prototype on a 1999 Sierra pick-up truck on loan from General Motors.

Improving motor design to save energy

The Department of Energy (DOE) is looking to Clarkson to discover and develop technologies that have the potential for significant energy savings in electrical machines, which are used in a variety of applications in residential and commercial buildings. Earlier this year, Clarksons Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering received a $773,530 grant from the DOE for research on improving the efficiency of motors. The three-year project, Improved Design of Motors for Increased Efficiency in Residential and Commercial Buildings, is under the direction of Pragasen Pillay, Jean Newell Distinguished Professor in Engineering. According to Pillay, the grant money will be used to purchase additional state-of-the-art measurement equipment. Improved designs and higher motor efficiencies will translate into reduced energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. The research will also look at motors in automobiles and commercial vehicles. We are receiving strong cooperation from industry, says Pillay. Black & Decker, Globe Motors, Advanced DC Motors, Lamination Specialty Corp, Ispat Inland, Magsoft, Eaton Drives, and the Small Motors & Motion Association are all contributing equipment or expertise to the project. Clarksons Electric Machine Design Team is also working with motor manufacturing company Advanced DC Motors to develop a low voltage, battery-operated electric motor and drive system for light electric vehicles, such as fork lift trucks, golf carts, and indoor airport vehicles. The benefits of a high-efficiency motor include a prolonged battery life span and longer operating cycle of the vehicle, explains Pillay. The project originated with the assistance of the Metropolitan Development Authoritys (MDA) Essential New York Initiative.

more widespread use of alternative energy technologies, such as wind energy, in addition to allowing a wider range of fuels to be used in vehicles. Part of the research is focused on modeling of the SOFC to determine or predict its performance and its dynamic (transient) response during operation, explains Pillay. The fuel cells performance is optimized through a detailed analysis of the dynamic model and by modifying the cells operation and design as well as varying start-up time. The model also simulates the SOFC control system, which governs the temperature of the cell, as well as the amount of fuel and air input to the cell.

Prof. Ken Visser and the experimental fuel-saving device for trucks developed to reduce drag and emissions and increase fuel savings.

Reducing drag on tractor trailers

Thermoelectric energy recovery

Under the direction of Professors of Mechanical & Aeronautical Engineering Eric F. Thacher and Brian Helenbrook, Clarksons Thermoelectric Generator Research Prof. Roshan Jachuck and postdoctoral associate Phil Leveson examine a compact reactor based on the concepts of process intensification. In his January 2005 state-of-the state address, N.Y. Governor George Pataki praised Clarksons development of process intensification technology with respect to biofuels.

An experimental fuel-saving device developed by Associate Professor of Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering Ken Visser and a team of graduate and undergraduate students may revolutionize the trucking industry.

The aft end of ground vehicles is often a design compromise between functionality and aerodynamics, explains Visser. Traditional transport vehicles have a flat aft end that creates a large drag on the vehicle at highway speeds, which ultimately reduces gas mileage and increases costs and emissions. We have designed extendable flat plates that can be mounted to the trucks rear doors to reduce drag. The device has been studied in the wind tunnel as well as tested on full-scale vehicles in cross-country road tests. The most recent data based on road testing indicates that it will save approximately one-half mileper-gallon, an increase in fuel efficiency of about 10 percent, says Visser. This translates into a savings on the order of about $4,000 per year for a truck running 150,000 miles at $2.50 a gallon of fuel. After developing the technology and design, Visser was awarded a grant from NYSERDA and contracted with the Plattsburgh, N.Y.-based company Composite Factory Inc. to manufacture the device using efficient lightweight composite materials. A design patent for the unique concept has been applied for. The next step is a 50-truck fleet test. Once we can test run this on a larger scale we will really be able to quantify the fuel savings and environmental benefits, says Visser.

creating Affordable Biofuels

Last year, Clarkson Professor of Chemical Engineering Roshan Jachuck and research associate Philip Leveson teamed up with Clarkson alumnus John Gaus 89, principal with the technology investment and management firm of Golden Technology Management, to form the company, NextGen Fuel Inc. The goal of the company is to build technology developed in Jachucks laboratory to advance alternative energy production and create an affordable source of renewable energy for the future. Biodiesel is a renewable fuel extracted from sources such as vegetable oils or animal fats, says Jachuck. For example recycled cooking grease from restaurants and food processors, soybeans or canola oil can be used separately or in combination to provide fuel to heat buildings or as diesel fuel for trucks. The technology weve developed significantly reduces the capital and operating costs to make biofuels because of the chemical process used. The result is that we are improving the economics of the biodiesel industry.

Maximizing fuel cell efficiency

Pillay and his research team are partnering with the Buffalo, N.Y.-based company NanoDynamics Inc. On a project to design, analyze and build a power conversion device for a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack. The conversion device would allow

EnErGy EfficiEncy

Even small increases in efficiency can reap huge benefits in terms of greenhouse gases and pollution reduction, says Pragasen Pillay, Jean Newell Distinguished Professor in Engineering.

This year, thanks to N.Y. State Governor George Pataki and State Senator James Wright, the company received a $350,000 grant to build a processing plant and help develop renewable energy markets in the state. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also awarded a $99,500 Rural Business Enterprise Grant to Operation Oswego County to assist NextGen Fuel in building a state-of-the-art biofuel plant in Fulton, N.Y. The plant will be able to produce as much as five-million gallons per year of transportation biodiesel or bio-heating fuel, helping offset the use of imported petroleum products and reducing emissions.

Clarksons Center for the Environment Hosts

Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors

In July the Clarkson Center for the Environment co-sponsored the 2005 Research and Education Conference of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP). The four-day conference brought some 250 of the worlds preeminent environmental engineering and science scholar-educators and graduate students to Clarkson for workshops, oral and poster presentations, and networking opportunities. This years conference theme, Pushing the Boundaries: Making Research and Education in Environmental Engineering and Science Count, focused on interdisciplinary research and education activities, multimedia approaches for understanding environmental impacts and solutions, and outreach to increase awareness of environmental engineering and science.

2005 Research and Education Conference of the

AEESP in the World

(Far Left) Clarksons Amy Zander, recipient of an AEESP Distinguished Service Award. (Left) Andrea Ferro discusses her awardwinning poster presentation.

The conference also highlighted the growing involvement of AEESP members in international environmental engineering work and the emerging role of U.S. universities in assisting universities and programs in developing countries. AEESP members are integrating a global perspective into environmental engineering education and research. We are investigating and finding integrated solutions that affect international development, including sustainable and socially responsible provisions of water treatment, wastewater treatment, and energy development, said Zander.

interest in these subjects among school-aged children, explained Clarkson Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering Susan Powers, a former AEESP board member and conference organizer. Powers is co-author of A Project-Based Learning Approach for Teaching Current Energy Topics in a Middle School Classroom, which was presented at the conference by graduate student Jan DeWaters.

education and practice. The AEESP/AAEE Founders Award went to Harvey F. Ludwig, who is credited with providing the idea to create AEESP and was present at the founders meeting in September 1963. Zander was among several AEESP volunteers who received the Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Service. She served on the Board of Directors of the organization from 2001-04 and was secretary from 2002-04. Her Clarkson Civil & Environmental Engineering Department colleague Andrea Ferro earned the first-place award for Best Poster Presentation by an Assistant Professor. The poster described her work with Peter Jaques, an assistant professor in the Department of Biology, on the assessment and communication of personal exposures to diesel exhaust near the Peace Bridge, a major U.S. Canada border crossing in Buffalo, N.Y.

AEESP in the Classroom

AEESP Awards and Honors

Addressing Sustainability Through Research and Education

At the conference, a number of areas of mutual interest emerged including research and education initiatives related to sustainability, explained Clarkson Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering Amy Zander, a former AEESP board member and co-chair of the conference organizing committee. It is clear that AEESP members are addressing critical sustainability issues through our courses, our research, and in our interactions on our home campuses and beyond. Great ideas are circulating and AEESP, as an organization and through its conferences, facilitates that information exchange. One session, which featured research related to mercury and other inorganics in the environment, included a presentation of a multiuniversity research project on the atmospheric deposition and transport of mercury in the Adirondack Park involving scientists and engineers from Clarkson, Syracuse, the University of Massachusetts, and Rutgers University.

Conference sessions also included educational initiatives at the graduate and undergraduate levels as well as K-12 outreach programs in which participants involve elementary, middle school, and secondary students in topics related to energy and the environment. Reaching K-12 science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers and students through an active inquiry-based or project-based curriculum helps to maintain vitality in the classroom and may well cultivate an increased Jan DeWaters, Curriculum Development Coordinator for the K-12 Project-Based Learning Partnership Programs, illustrates the compressive force used to break concrete samples made with waste aggregate to 8th grade students from Parishville-Hopkinton Central School.

The inaugural Fred Pohland Memorial Award was presented to R. Rhodes Trussell, president and owner of Trussell Technologies Inc. and a member of the EPA Science Advisory Board, and to Raymond C. Loehr, H.M. Alharthy Centennial Chair and professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Trussell and Loehr were honored for their outstanding contributions to bridging environmental engineering research,

Two receive clarkson Honorary Degrees

At the AEESP conference, Clarkson University awarded honorary doctor of science degrees to Charles OMelia and Richard Luthy. In honoring the two honorary degree recipients, Clarkson President Tony Collins spoke of their enormous contributions to their fields of research as well as their professional and personal connections to Clarkson. Charles R. OMelia, a pioneer in aquatic colloid chemistry, has made significant contributions to the theories of coagulation, flocculation and filtration leading to improved water treatment practices throughout the world. He is the Abel Wolman Richard G. Luthy is the Silas H. Palmer Professor and Chair of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Stanford University and past chair of the National Research Councils Water Science and Technology Board. His area of teaching and research is physicochemical processes and water quality. His research includes interdisciplinary approaches to understand phase partitioning and availability of organic contaminants and the application of water quality engineering and environmental quality criteria. Luthy has also served on the Engineering Advisory Board for Clarksons Wallace H. Coulter School of Engineering. His corporate projects with Alcoa and collaborative research initiatives, some with members of Clarksons faculty, have had significant local impact on the viability of the nearby St. Lawrence River. Richard G. Luthy Charles R. OMelia

it is hard to imagine a more noble pursuit ...

... than to steward and preserve the integrity of the global resources that sustain life on this planet our air, water and soil. As an environmental engineer and now a university president, I firmly believe that all of us in education have a particular obligation. We must advocate an educational approach that encourages all students from all majors on our campuses to learn to exert themselves in ways that are ethical and responsible to our environment. We must help students learn to push and span boundaries so we are not confined to the status quo. Tony Collins, Clarkson University President, AEESP conference address

Professor of Environmental Engineering and chair of the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. He is an expert in aquatic colloid chemistry, which makes him a household name among Clarksons faculty associated with our Center for Advanced Materials Processing as well as our faculty working under the umbrella of the Clarkson Center for the Environment, said Collins.

Faculty and Student

Langen receives Best Paper Award

News and Achievements

Junior biomolecular major Erica Gonyo was awarded the Karen Olmstead 84 Memorial Scholarship for the 2005-06 academic year. The Scholarship was established by Galson Corporation in memory and recognition of Karens 11 years of service as an industrial hygienist. Environmental Engineering graduate student Timothy McAuley was the winner of a prestigious fellowship from the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology (BEST) for the summer of 2006. Graduate student Sheila Negron-Vazquez received first place last spring for her presentation at the New York Water Environment Association conference for work completed as an undergraduate through the Research Experience for Undergraduates program. Junior Matthew R. Williams, Biology and Math double major, has been awarded a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Greater Research Opportunities Undergraduate Fellowship. This prestigious award provides Williams with up to $34,000 in support for his junior and senior years, as well as a paid internship at an EPA facility next summer. Devon Shipp was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure in the Department of Chemistry. Hung Tao Shen was appointed chair of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. Kevin Siqueira was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure in the School of Business. Amy Zander, professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, has been appointed associate dean for Academic Programs of the Wallace H. Coulter School of Engineering. CURE team members developed an award-winning process to sequester carbon from powerplant flue gas.

Tom Langen, assistant professor of Biology is corecipient of the Presidents Award from the Society of American Naturalists for the best paper in the journal American Naturalist in 2004. The article titled Comparing Alternative Models to Empirical Data: Cognitive Models of Western Scrub-Jay Foraging Behavior, was authored by Langen and Barney Luttbeg, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Davis.

Pillay named IEEE Fellow

Pragasen Pillay, Jean Newell Distinguished Professor in Engineering, has been named a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for his contributions to switched reluctance and permanent magnet motor drives.

active in his/her career. Hopke was also recently appointed to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committees (CASAC) Ozone Review Panel.

Shulman appointed Gutzwiller Fellow

New Environmental Engineering undergraduate program

Professor of Physics Lawrence Schulman is a Gutzwiller Fellow (honorary visitor position) at Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden, Germany.

POAC conference at Clarkson

Ackley honored for Antarctic research

Stephen F. Ackley, visiting professor in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department since 1999, was recognized recently for his sea ice work in Antarctica by the U.S. Board on geographic names with a point named in his honor. Ackley Point is an ice-covered spot located near McMurdo Sound where Ackley worked and conducted research for more than 25 years. The exact location is 77 47S 166 55E.

Clarkson hosted the 18th International Conference on Port and Ocean Engineering under Arctic Conditions (POAC) June 26-30. This was the first time the conference was held in the continental U.S. More than 100 engineers, scientists and designers of ships and arctic structures attended the conference.

Hopke receives AAAR award Joins EPAs Ozone Review Panel

Clarkson University has received New York State Department of Education approval for a new bachelor of science degree program in Environmental Engineering. The new undergraduate program will be grounded in systems engineering and will allow for numerous cross-disciplinary courses leading to research with other units at Clarkson.

Philip K. Hopke, Bayard D. Clarkson Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, received the prestigious David Sinclair Award from the American Association for Aerosol Research. The Award recognizes sustained excellence in aerosol research and technology by an established scientist still

Clarkson grad program ranks in top 25 nationally

Clarkson ranked 24 in U.S. News and World Report 2005 rankings of U.S. Environmental Engineering/Environmental Health graduate programs.

New chapter of Engineers Without Borders

Prof. Tom Langen, with a Western Scrub-Jay, subject of his award-winning Amercian Naturalist paper.

Four science and engineering undergraduate students proposal Biodiesel as a Sustainable Alternative to Petroleum Diesel in School Buses was selected by the U.S. EPA P3 program for funding during the 2005-06 academic year. The Clarkson students will examine the use of locally produced biodiesel as a replacement for diesel fuel for the Potsdam, N.Y., school bus fleet. Marilyn Gonzalez, senior Environmental Science & Policy major, received a $1,000 award from the Central New York American Industrial Hygiene Association in May.

Clarkson students receive awards

Clarksons Winter Knights finished second out of 13 U.S. and Canadian universities at the 2005 Society of Automotive Engineers Clean Snowmobile Challenge, a collegiate design competition sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). The Clarkson students also won the award for Best Design.

Twiss named associate editor of journal

(Below) Four undergraduates with faculty advisors, who received EPA-winning grant for biodiesel study. (Right) Students working in the Rowley environmental engineering lab.

Michael Twiss, assistant professor of Biology, is now an associate editor of the Journal of Phycology, a publication of the Phycological Society of America.

Environmental remediation team wins national contest

Faculty promotions

The Clarkson University Remediation Engineering (CURE) team won first place at the 15th Annual Environmental Design Contest sponsored by WERC: A Consortium for Environmental Education and Technology Development. The team, advised by Stefan Grimberg, associate professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, developed an economical process to sequester carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plant flue gas. Also, as a co-recipient of the competitions USDA award, the Clarkson students traveled to Washington, D.C., to present their results to USDA officials.

Goodarz Ahmadi, Clarkson Distinguished Professor of Engineering and vice provost for Research, has been appointed interim dean of Engineering for the Wallace H. Coulter School of Engineering. Susan Powers, professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, has been appointed associate dean for Research and Graduate Studies of the Wallace H. Coulter School of Engineering

Clarkson has recently started an official Student Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB). The mission of EWB is to partner with disadvantaged communities to improve their quality of life through implementation of environmentally and economically sustainable engineering projects, while developing internationally responsible engineering students. The Clarkson chapter is advised by Amy Zander, professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering.

Clarkson University Professors of Biology Michael Twiss and Tom A. Langen onboard the R/V Lavinia, a state-of-the-art research vessel, investigate water quality, birds and fish affected by an outbreak of Type E botulism on the St. Lawrence River. Twiss, director of Clarksons Great Rivers Center, has also received a grant
TM FP 9/05 2.2M EL

from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric The Center for the Environment Clarkson University PO Box 5715 Potsdam, NY 13699-5715 Administration to collaborate with U.S. and Canadian researchers on a two-year, comprehensive Lake Erie field research program.

315-268-3856 315-268-7647 (fax) environ@clarkson.edu www.clarkson.edu/cce

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