Sustainable supplies of water and energy focus of chemical engineering lecture
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
MANHATTAN — Providing sustainable supplies of water and energy will be the focus of the spring 2014 Kansas State University L.T. Fan Lectureship in Chemical Engineering.
This year's lecturer, Donald R. Paul, the Ernest Cockrell Sr. chair in engineering at the University of Texas, Austin, will present "Charged polymer membranes for water purification and power generation" at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 2, in Fiedler Hall Auditorium. The lecture is free and the public is invited.
Critical global challenges for the coming decades include providing sustainable supplies of water and energy. Polymeric membranes are the dominant technology for desalination and could be useful for power generation applications as well.
Paul's research has involved various aspects of polymer blends, membranes for separation, drug delivery, packaging, processing and nanocomposites. His current interests focus on the generation of fresh water and power using charged membranes. He has edited numerous books on blends and membranes and is listed by the Thomson Reuters Web of Science as a "highly cited researcher."
He holds a bachelor's degree from North Carolina State University, and a master's degree and doctorate from the University of Wisconsin, all in chemical engineering, and has been designated a distinguished graduate from both institutions. Paul joined the department of chemical engineering at the University of Texas, Austin in 1967 where he served as department chair from 1977-1985 and as director of the Texas Materials Institute from 1998-2011.
Paul has received numerous awards for teaching, research and leadership, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the Mexican Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Sciences of Bologna. He served as editor of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, published by the American Chemical Society, from 1986 through 2013.
The L.T. Fan Lectureship in Chemical Engineering was established in 2000 to bring preeminent individuals in chemical engineering or related fields to speak at Kansas State University. Fan, a university distinguished professor, served as head of the department of chemical engineering at the university for 30 years and was fundamental in establishing the Institute for Systems Design and Optimization, launching the Ph.D. program in the department and modernizing the chemical engineering curriculum. He was also instrumental in forming the Center for Hazardous Substance Research and securing funding for construction of Durland Hall. Fan continues to be active in teaching and research, for which he has received numerous awards.
