Alumni

Alumnus H. Scott Fogler earns Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year honors

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Nov 2020 07:00:00 +0000

Alumnus H. Scott Fogler earns Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year honors Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 11/05/2020 - 00:00

Jonathan Raab

Prof. H. Scott Fogler

Department alumnus Professor H. Scott Fogler (PhDChemEngr'65) was recently named a Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year by the Michigan Association of State Universities, a prestigious honor among faculty members working in public university undergraduate education.

This award is the latest in a long line of accomplishments for Fogler as an educator and researcher.

Fogler recently answered some questions about his time at CU and his perspective on his successful career in chemical engineering and education.

Why have you chosen to make undergraduate chemical engineering education a critical focus of your career?

When I was hired at the University of Michigan, I knew that I was coming to one of the great research universities in the country, so research had to be my first priority. However, I also really enjoyed all aspects of academia, research, teaching and service. I particularly liked advising each of my 49 PhD students, which resulted in over 250 publications.

Once my research program was on solid footing, I was able to spend more time on preparation for my classroom teaching, and my interest in teaching undergraduates that began at the University of Colorado was rejuvenated. With each class, I looked for ways to improve my preparation and teaching techniques. I relished observing and mentoring the students in my class as they learned the basics of chemical engineering.

How has developing creative teaching methods complemented your research activities?

I brought both aspects of critical and creative thinking ideas and algorithms into my classes and with my PhD research students. Examples included Critical Thinking Institute’s R.W. Paul’s Six Types of critical thinking questions and DeBono’s lateral thinking for ideal generation in creative thinking. Ever since attending an ASEE workshop on teaching in 1970, I have always included an open-ended problem in all my undergraduate courses in order to encourage development of divergent and creative thinking.

With experience in academia, industry and even a White House task force, your career speaks to the diversity of opportunities afforded chemical engineers. How do you view the dynamic between public, private and academic sectors as a chemical engineer? How should those who are beginning their careers anticipate the interaction of these sectors and their own paths through those many opportunities?

Be proactive. As chemical engineering students, you are well-trained not only to speak out on global issues such as climate change and pollution but also to lead in providing solutions. Identify issues in the public and private sectors that you have an interest in and can make your voice heard. Donate your time to give presentations on your ideas at all levels—local schools and local industries, other universities, service organizations. When you have something to contribute to global issues, look for the opportunity. Professional organizations such as AIChE have forums and interest groups you could join.

How did your time at ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ prepare you for your career? What stands out to you about your time here?

I got my first teaching opportunity after my first semester of graduate school when my graduate thesis advisor, Professor Klaus Timmerhaus, had to go to a conference and asked me to stand in for him in the summer class he was teaching in undergraduate unit operations. There were about 12 students in the class, and I prepared the lectures, homework assignments and an exam. I thoroughly enjoyed it and knew this is what I wanted to do with my life.

I could have not grown more at any university in the world than I did at CU. My training at the University of Illinois initiated my confidence, and CU grew my confidence exponentially. As a third-year graduate student, I was allowed to teach parts of graduate courses, math in chemical engineering and transport phenomena, which further solidified my desire to become an academic.

How do you see the skills and knowledge of chemical engineers being useful to address the challenges of energy, climate, health, clean water scarcity, etc. ahead of us?

Chemical engineers are well-versed in the core skills of reaction engineering, transport and thermodynamics, so now we need to focus on other skills. Specifically, we need to develop our critical and creative thinking skills and apply them to sustainability, climate, energy and health.

Faculty can provide this focus by making up examples and homework problems in these areas. We could also prepare lectures in each of our core courses on these global issues similar to what has been done at the University of Michigan, where we have developed the initiative on Process Safety Across the Chemical Engineering Curriculum. Here we developed a website that gives a safety module in every core course along with 10 tutorials on safety..

What advice might you provide current chemical and biological engineering students?

Dive into learning and practice skills in creative and critical thinking. Find a job you enjoy and that you look forward to going into work each and every day. Use R.W. Paul’s six types of critical thinking questions in meetings at your company and elsewhere.

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Career advice, communication and adapting to change: An interview with Mark Strobel, Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award winner

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 16:52:19 +0000

Career advice, communication and adapting to change: An interview with Mark Strobel, Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award winner Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 07/08/2020 - 10:52

Jonathan Raab

Mark Strobel

Mark Strobel (MChemEngr'79) has made a big impact as a researcher and innovator at 3M in the past several decades. This spring, the College of Engineering and Applied Science honored him with a Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award for Industry & Commerce, recognizing this work in industry as an alumnus.

Strobel answered some questions about his time at CU, his career, adapting to changes in chemical engineering and his advice for students graduating into a tough economy.

Which of your research interests did you develop while at the Department of Chemical Engineering here at CU?

None of my 3M career research topics were initiated or developed while at CU. While graduate research often directly transitions to research interests in academic careers, the connection between graduate school research topics and fields of research in industrial careers is far more tenuous. Even long-term research in industry is driven by the needs and strategies of the business. Industry tends to hire graduate students based on the skill set that they acquired in school rather than based upon the specific research that they did in school.

In whose lab did you study while at CU? How did your adviser help you develop, personally and professionally?

My graduate school advisor was John Falconer, now Professor Emeritus—and still a friend of mine. John taught me two critical lessons that formed the basis for my successful career at 3M. First, John taught me the principles of experimental research in the chemical sciences, including the critical importance of understanding fundamental chemical mechanisms. Second, John taught me how to write clear, accurate technical reports and publications. Both of these skills were absolutely essential in my career. John was a great teacher and mentor of his graduate students.

How did earning your MS at CU prepare you for such a long and successful career at 3M?

A seemingly minor event in graduate school eventually became one of the most important factors in my career success. As a chemical engineering graduate student, I took an elective class in combustion science taught by Professor Mel Branch in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Over a decade later, that tenuous connection to Mel blossomed into an amazingly successful 25-year research partnership between 3M and CU in combustion science that Mel and I jointly led.

My research with Mel led to a significant combustion science effort in 3M, which is still continuing under a new generation of 3M and CU researchers. This effort enabled 3M to sell several billion dollars of products manufactured using combustion science technology. It is the simple truth that I would not be a Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award winner had I not had Mel’s guidance, mentorship and friendship over the years. Sometimes small things that happen in graduate school can have an enormous influence on one’s career!

Did the natural beauty and outdoor lifestyle of Colorado have an influence on your nature preservation and public lands work in Minnesota?

My time at CU strongly influenced my environmental work for the simple reason that I met my wife, Joan, while we were both CU chemical engineering graduate students. Joan and I mutually reinforced our then-separate tendencies to enjoy the outdoors, to be concerned about environmental issues and to volunteer for charitable causes. Our first date was a hike to Thunder Pass on the Continental Divide in Rocky Mountain National Park. After our initial adventures in the Colorado mountains, hiking and backpacking became lifelong activities for both of us.

It has always been our belief that you need to be “out” in the outdoors to become an effective advocate for public lands and other environmental causes. We first became active in public-land policy when we contributed to the Indian Peaks Wilderness and RMNP-boundary studies as CU graduate students. When we moved to Minnesota for our 3M careers, we translated that interest in public lands to Minnesota State Parks and U.S. National Parks in general.

Strobel offered several points of advice for budding engineers.
Technical skill and competency are just the beginning. Engineers should possess:

Exceptional communication skills in writing and speaking.
Technical competency and broad-based reading habits.
Effective presentation and persuasion skills for peers and management.
Practical hands-on abilities.
Efficient habits for email and other forms of communcation.
Attention to detail in all their technical work.
Focus on big-picture technical, social, economic and political issues affecting their field.

What are some of the big changes you’ve seen in the field of chemical engineering since you completed your education? How have you adapted to those changes?

The applications of chemical engineering have become much broader in the 40 years since I attended graduate school. However, since most changes to an engineering field are evolutionary rather than revolutionary, it is relatively easy to adapt to changes in the field if you remain at the forefront of your own specific portion of chemical engineering science, retain skills and maintain the ability to learn directly from the scientific literature.

While the vast increase in computational power has greatly altered all fields of engineering, the principles of research in the chemical sciences have not changed. There is still a high demand for practical, critical-thinking abilities that can be applied to the solution of real-life industrial problems.

What changes and challenges are ahead that young chemical engineers should be aware of, and how can they prepare?

There are always changes and challenges in any technology or industry, most of which cannot be readily predicted even a few years in advance. The ability to adapt to those inevitable changes is based on the career skill set that is first developed in engineering school and then must be continually honed throughout your career. Critical thinking, a firm grasp of the fundamentals of engineering and chemical science, strong communication skills, practical hands-on abilities in the lab or factory, effective prioritization, efficiency in your work—all of these are skills or behaviors that make adapting to changes and challenges not only possible, but often exciting and rewarding.

What advice would you give to engineers coming up through our department now?

For a successful technical career in industry, it is essential to recognize that superb technical competency in science or engineering is only one of the skills that you need to develop. It is absolutely necessary for a successful technical career, but it is not sufficient to ensure career success.

At a minimum, young engineers need to develop exceptional communication skills, both in writing and in speaking. I often discussed a “pyramid of success” with new employees at 3M, which begins with technical competency and broad-based reading. Those, in turn, allow you to become an effective and efficient writer, which then allows you to prepare excellent presentations to your technical peers and management. Finally, presentations are the key to effective persuasion, which is actually the most important non-technical career skill that you can cultivate. I’ve given an entire presentation on this topic several dozen times at 3M.

It is important to develop other non-technical skills and behaviors as well: practical hands-on abilities, whether you are an experimentalist or not; time efficiency in e-mail and other communications—which is greatly aided by being an effective writer; the ability to carefully edit or critique your own written and oral work; a constant attention to details—they do matter; and a focus on big-picture technical, social, economic and political issues that can potentially affect your research and career.

What advice would you give to chemical engineers graduating into this climate of uncertainty?

If you are a high-GPA undergraduate, consider graduate school! If you are seeking a job now, remember that persuading—selling oneself and one’s skill set—is what interviewing is all about. You have to convince any prospective employer that you have the skills and the desire to solve their technical and business problems, whatever they may be.In any event, don’t be discouraged. If you’ve graduated with a degree in chemical engineering, you already know how to do “hard” things and have completed the best training possible for a wide range of careers. Needing an extra six months to find a job in your field will seem to be an eternity when you are an unemployed graduate, but six months is still a small fraction of a successful 40-year career.

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“Talented people find their own paths”: College alumni reconnect in Houston

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 07:00:00 +0000

“Talented people find their own paths”: College alumni reconnect in Houston Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 11/14/2019 - 00:00

Jonathan Raab

Kelsey Garing, Julie Surfus, David Clough and Kelly Germann.
Photo by Kelly Germann.
Above photo of the alumni gathered in Houston.

College of Engineering and Applied Science alumni from across seven decades gathered in Houston last month to connect and learn more about the current state of the college. The majority of the attendees were graduates of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

ChBE Professor Emeritus David Clough, who served as department faculty for 43 years, was the featured speaker at the event held at Bosscat Kitchen & Libations. He spoke about current events and successes at the college and shared some anecdotes about his time as a member of the faculty.

“It has always been a driving concept for me that we at CU take in young, talented individuals and attempt to open doors of opportunity so they might enjoy rewarding careers despite all the bumps and bruises that accompany one’s life,” Clough said during his speech.

“Some alumni have apologized to me for not following a narrow career path as a chemical engineer, but I always appreciate the great diversity of the endeavors of our alumni. Talented people find their own paths according to their talents, passions and opportunities.”

Kelly Germann (ChemEngr ’13) currently works for ConocoPhillips in Anchorage, Alaska as an innovation and integration coordinator, but happened to be in Houston at the time of the event. She said the event felt like a small class reunion.

“My time at CU was so foundational to who I am today,” Germann said. “It helped me make lifelong friends and connections that I would not have had otherwise. It allowed me to pursue an amazing career with confidence. I know that any time I see someone wearing CU gear or sharing that they're alumni, we immediately share a connection that I don't have with other people.”

David Clough at the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, earlier in his career. Photo courtesy the Clough family.

Nik Henry, ( ChemEngr ’11) a process safety engineer with Monument Chemical, attended the event to reconnect and forge new connections with fellow alumni.

“CU is a phenomenal school, with a talented group of graduates,” Henry said. “After being in the industry for over eight years, it's really an eye-opener when you meet co-workers who graduated from another school – seeing the difference in foundational knowledge and development.”

Clough said he connected with both younger and older alumni, and was delighted to engage in conversations about faculty who mentored him when he was starting out as a young assistant professor.

“It felt good to reminisce about faculty such as Curt Johnson, Max Peters, Klaus Timmerhaus, Elmer Lauer, Bill Krantz, Paul Barrick, Ron West, Lee Brown, Jim Carley and Fred Ramirez,” he said. “Many of them are unknown to most of the current department faculty, but they made great contributions to the department and the college.”

Houston is one of five key regions developing into a network of CU Engineering alumni. Graduates of the College of Engineering and Applied Science can learn more and get involved here.

Graduates of the College of Engineering and Applied Science met in Houston to reconnect and hear from Professor Emeritus David Clough.

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