2020 Dow Graduate Research Symposium scales up virtually
September’s 2020 Dow Annual Graduate Research Symposium, held virtually, featured keynote speaker Dr. Jian Zou (‘07 PhD).
Considering that this year's event was the first time the Symposium had been held virtually, it was remarkable how exceptionally well-organized it was, leading to a very successful and streamlined event. Sixty-six students, faculty and guests gathered via Zoom for networking and oral and poster presentations featuring current research. A bonus this year was that no travel was needed! Some participants even liked the "virtual" format so much they hoped that future sessions would be held virtually at least in part.
Twenty-five industry participants representing Baker Hughes, BASF, Dow, Ethicon, IHSMarkit, Intel, Kenexis, LyondellBasell, Owens Corning, pH Matter, Pharma CMC/IP, Procter & Gamble, Rochal Industries, Shell, StrateNexis Technologies and Yfaino LLC were able to "Zoom in" to GRS 2020. The winner for "attending from the furthest distance" was Dr. Doruk Dogu from Atilim University in Turkey.
Praise for GRS
The event yielded praise from participants such as Associate Process Research Scientist Anna Opella, Ph.D., at Dow Performance Silicones – Consumers Solution Business. "The seminar was absolutely fantastic! It was very well planned, organized and executed. The poster sessions being recorded and posted on You Tube was an ingenious idea…it was nice to listen to a recording a couple of times to really grasp the concept before asking questions. Putting this together was no small feat."
Dow's Wendy Flory said, "The creativity was amazing, I loved the networking as I got to chat with students whom I might not otherwise have met. Virtual high fives to the entire team, you did a fantastic job! I do hope we all will be able to move to in person next year and intend to continue our partnership in this great event."
Dan Coombs, retired Executive Vice President, LyondellBasell, had similar observations. "The virtual arrangement worked well--the quality of this virtual session was remarkable. The moderator did a remarkable job getting us all to the right place at the right time. The research work is also remarkable and it is exciting to join in to hear the passion in students' voices and see their talent from their work that makes us all proud of the team at The Ohio State University. I really was impressed, and enjoyed the day very much."
Many other positive and complimentary comments about the event's organization and quality of the presentations and posters were received from the alumni and industry members who attended the symposium.
Co-leaders for the event were Dishari Basu and Anagha Hunoor. Committee members included Kalyani Jangam, Naitik Choksi, Sonu Kumar (Abstract Book); Rushikesh Joshi (Hospitality and Judging); Anuj Joshi (Judging Criteria); Archit Datar, Elizabeth Jergens, Faiz Khan, Sai Vivek Prabala, Vyom Thakker (Technical Assistance); and Ashwin Kane and Shraavya Rao (Website Development).
GRS Poster and Oral Presentation Awards
| POSTER SESSION | Advisor | Presentation Title |
|---|---|---|
| Ashwin Kane | Dr. Nicholas Brunelli | Impact of Microporosity on the Performance of Cooperative Catalytic Materials |
| Pinaki Ranadive | Dr. Nicholas Brunelli | Jet-mixing Microreactor for Nanomaterial Synthesis and Scale-up Considerations |
| Savannah Moses | Dr. Andre Palmer & Dr. Jonathan Song | Integrating Microfluidic Models with Hemoglobin-Based Oxygen Carriers for Investigating Oxygen-Mediated Endothelial Function |
| - | - | - |
| ORAL PRESENTATIONS | ||
| Kayane Dingilian | Dr. Barbara Wyslouzil | Homogeneous Nucleation of Carbon Dioxide at 30-90 K: Transition from Barrier controlled to Barrierless Nucleation |
| Xuepeng Deng | Dr. Li Chiang Lin & Dr. Winston Ho | Computational Evaluation of Carriers in Facilitated Transport Membranes for Post Combustion Carbon Capture |
| Yan Liu | Dr. Liang-Shih Fan | Near 100% CO Selectivity in Nanoscaled Iron Based Oxygen Carriers for Chemical Looping Methane Partial Oxidation |
Keynote Address
Zou described the steps required for successful scale-up. A key challenge is identifying the correct equipment needed for each stage, from lab R&D, to pilot plant, to commercial scale production. A lot of analysis is needed to accommodate all those differences, he said. For example, heat and mass transfer in a lab is much easier to attain than in a commercial scale reactor.
Zou has four scale-up mantras: Be safe; Be present; Be diligent; and Be kind. He emphasized the latter with an explanation that scale-up is teamwork and everyone’s support is needed. “Show your appreciation in various ways, such as bringing in donuts, and don’t forget the third shift,” he said. “No donut, no scale-up!” he laughed.
Zou's role since 2015 at Baker Hughes as a senior manufacturing engineer has involved responsibility for new product introduction and process development in the Oilfield and Industrial Chemicals division.
To learn more about what transpired at this year's Graduate Research Symposium, scroll through the full schedule of events, view the Abstract Book, and/or visit the 2020 GRS website.
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2020 GRS Keynote Speaker Bio
Dr. Jian Zou
Sr. Manufacturing Engineering Staff Manager, Baker Hughes Company
Dr. Jian Zou graduated from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at The Ohio State University in 2007. His doctoral dissertation research at Ohio State under the guidance of Dr. Winston Ho focused on membrane separation and gas separation.
After graduating, he joined Momentive Performance Materials where he successfully led more than 85 scale-ups of new products and production processes. Since 2015, he has been at Baker Hughes where he is responsible for new production introduction and process development in the Oilfield and Industrial Chemicals division. He currently leads a team to develop new polymerization processes for ultra-high molecular weight polymers, used for drag reducing agents.
Dr. Zou has filed six U.S. patent applications and three China patents issued. He co-authored two book chapters and ten journal articles.
