Graduate Research Traineeships in Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing

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GER-9554570 Manousiouthakis Irrevocable change is occurring in the way we conceive, develop and design chemical technologies, whether for petrochemicals production, bioprocessing, or electronic materials synthesis. The scientific and economic arguments for development of clean technologies with minimal environmental impact have become truly compelling if we are to enjoy further improvement in our quality of life for the foreseeable future. Those engaged in clean chemical process development confront revolutionary challenges in chemical synthesis, separations, and process design for pollution prevention and the minimization of waste. A new breed of chemical engineer must be educated and trained in the area of Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing to meet these challenges. Funds are requested for the support of five Graduate Research Trainees pursuing PhD studies in Chemical Engineering in the area of Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing. Two additional trainees will be supported by UCLA matching funds. The Traineeships will be for five years and will be administered through the Chemical Engineering Department. An integrated program of cross-disciplinary research, classroom learning, industrial internships, and teaching experience has been designed to train PhD students in environmentally conscious manufacturing and pollution prevention research. Given that the ultimate implementation of pollution prevention concepts will require the participation of scientists and engineers trained in fields other than chemical engineering, each of the Trainees will be jointly mentored by two faculty members; one from chemical engineering, and one from another discipline. This interdisciplinary approach in research and training will provide the optimal means to contribute effectively to the engineering science and technology base for environmentally conscious manufacturing, which is currently in its infancy. A rigorous curriculum, a multimonth visit to a host research institution, seminars, workshops and teaching assignments, and their daily interactions with their mentors and each other, will prepare these students to teach and do research in this field. Furthermore, their contributions to the development of software, monographs, and case studies will help educated a new generation of engineers that are environmentally aware and have the knowledge base needed to prevent the generation of pollution.