Rainwater for Humanity establishes project in Kerala, India

Rainwater for Humanity, a student group that started out as an Engineers Without Borders project in 2009, is excited to announce a new direction in the new school year. The project's mission is to use rainwater harvesting to provide more affordable and clean water during the dry season to people living in a contaminated watershed in southwestern India. The design for a ferrocement community rainwater storage tank has been implemented in the village of Achinakom in Kerala, India. Community surveys taken over the past couple of years show that this system will most benefit users who buy water from private vendors during the dry season because it offers a water supply that will be cleaner and less expensive in the long run. The project now seeks to develop and implement a sustainable economic model in order to support the spread of these rainwater harvesting systems across the region. An especially interesting takeaway from Rainwater for Humanity's recent developments is the importance of the intersection of engineering and the community. In the coming school year, the project seeks to find a happy medium between the two using appropriate technology and a sound business plan. To learn more, check out the R4H blog at rainwaterforhumanity.org!

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Chemical Engineering undergraduate student Aminy Ostfeld honored with a Tau Beta Pi Scholarship

The Tau Beta Pi Fellowship Board announced the selection of 102 Scholars from 389 applicants for senior- year study in the 2010-11 academic year. Scholarships were awarded to members on the competitive bases of scholarship, campus leadership, and service, and promise of contributions to the engineering profession, with consideration given to economic need and academic commitment. We are pleased that Brown Chemical Engineering student, Aminy Ostfeld was honored with one of these scholarships.

Here is a biography statement written by Aminy:

Since I was young, I have been passionate about environmental sustainability, and I have hoped to devote my life's work to solving some of the many environmental problems plaguing our world today. After coming to college I realized I wanted to study renewable energy generation, and since knowledge of both chemistry and engineering principles is essential for research in this field, I decided to concentrate in chemical engineering. I have recently begun a research project to improve the efficiency of photovoltaic cells, a subject I find so fun and important that I plan to continue working on it for the foreseeable future. Through Brown's engineering program, I have already learned skills useful for this area of research. I'm sure these skills, and those I learn in the remainder of my Brown experience, will come in handy for graduate study and my career.

I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to study engineering at Brown and participate in Tau Beta Pi. Membership has helped me share my excitement about engineering and research with others, through outreach presentations at local high schools as well as interaction with other Brown engineering students. I believe the organization's support, including this scholarship, will help me realize my dream of becoming a successful engineer.

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RI Elevator Pitch Competition

Professor Eric Suuberg reports that students from his ENGN 1930G Entrepreneurship course performed well in the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition’s Elevator Pitch Contest this week. The event took place at the new R.I. Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and is considered a preview to the 2010 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition.

The winner, Adam Leonard, a student in Suuberg's ENGN 1930G course is mentored by Dr. Jason Hack of the Brown Medical School in the development of a device to treat pediatric needle pain. In addition, there were three students presenting from the Program in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship, and two students, Matt Doherty and Michael Kreitzer, were in the group of winners. Each of these teams is expected to do well in the actual business plan competition next semester.

More details are available here.

Providence Business New online edition that also described the outcome of the competition: See http://www.pbn.com/stories/46634.html

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Undergraduate Research Profiles

Sharon Makava started at Brown as an engineer with health-related interests. Her initial interests led her to biomedical engineering, but she is now pursuing Chemical and Biochemical Engineering degree. Her interactions with her former concentration advisor, Professor Tripathi, led her to her current work in his lab. She is working on K103N mutation in the HIV virus with graduate student Kenny Morabito. They are working to isolate and amplify the mutation at low sample concentrations. The end goal is to develop a test diagnostic which will allow doctors to look for a drug resistance amongst their patients. Her current research will give her a strong foundation to pursue industry or academic directions in the future, but for now she says “she can’t imagine being anywhere else.”
Eli Fine understands the importance of being aware of your intentions when you speak. He gained this appreciation through a linguistics class he took as part of Brown's open curriculum elective options. He has not only gained a greater appreciation for the scientific world, but also anthropology, philosophy, psychology, and linguistics. His collaborative spirit fits well with the interdisciplinary group of mathematicians, engineers and biologists he researches with in his multiple research projects at Brown.
Carmichael Ong is an intricate mix of biologist, biochemist, and bioengineer. He has the network to prove it. Carmichael has worked on two large interdisciplinary research projects at Brown in his undergraduate career. He believes that the intimate atmosphere within Brown Engineering and the approachable faculty are major benefits to his future. He plans to continue as a researcher in his future career either in industry or academia. Regardless of which direction he chooses, he will understand how to network with top rate researchers in an interdisciplinary setting because of his experience at Brown.
Ben Howard understands what it would take to be a Mythbuster on the Discovery Channel. He understands engineering and science principles and appreciates photography and video production. As a cinematographer for BTV (Brown’s Television Station) he produces his own tv show. Beyond just being inspired to record the world around him in unique ways, Ben is a design-oriented engineer. He found his way to Professor Breuer’s lab after having him for Thermodynamics class. His summer work extended into a larger research project to create a prototype that can create liquid droplets out of oil – a humidifier of sorts for oil. In Breuer’s lab, they have learned to use photography to study the aerodynamics of bat flight. They can record two flash photographs and record the velocity based on the distance the droplets have traveled around the bat’s wings. Most of the science is stumped on how bats accomplish their flight patterns. The Mythbusters wouldn’t even be able to figure it out, but Ben and other Brown engineers will eventually.
Juri Minxha works at the interface between engineering and neuroscience. He came to Brown uncertain of what he hoped to accomplish during his four years here. He found that the introductory engineering courses gave him a chance to test drive all of the related engineering fields. He also used the open curriculum to his advantage and took neuroscience courses. This background led him to Professor Palmore’s lab where he works at the interface of electrical engineering and neuroscience. He understands the importance of this research and hopes to continue his scholarship in a graduate program.

Many of our students are awarded annually with Halpin awards for their interdisciplinary research. To read more about the Halpin awards and the students profiled, click here.

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Brown engineer wins top prize at AIChE

Above: First Place winner in the Food, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology section, Allison Yorita.
Below: AIChE students (left to right): Andrea Jones, Lakshmi Madhavan, and Allison Yorita.

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering (CBE) students in the Brown chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers traveled to Nashville, Tenessee to compete in the student poster competition. Professor Joseph Calo reports that "our CBE students have, once again, made a terrific showing against some very strong national competition."

Our AIChE student poster competitors included: in the Environmental category a junior working with Professor Calo, Lakshmi Madhavan; and in the Food, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology category two seniors working with Professor Tripathi, Andrea Jones and Allison Yorita.

In the most competitive category "Food, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology," out of the 71 best posters in the nation, our student Allison Yorita brings home the first place award. Indrek Kulaots reports that "the competition was the most competitive I have seen so far in previous years as long as I have been involved with AIChE."

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Summer Insights

Brown Engineers were involved in a variety of worthwhile projects this summer:

or visit:
http://www.youtube.com/user/brownengin

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