Recently, Shaw Lesser of Sustainable World Capital created a list of top 10 universities in the nation conducting research in clean energy technologies (http://cleantech.com/news/5384/top-10-cleantech-universities-us). The list include MIT, UC Berkeley, and, at number 10, WSU. WSU is cited for its its collaborations with the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, exemplified by the hiring of Yong Wang as a joint employee with PNNL and the first Voiland Distinguished Professor, the Bioproducts Science and Engineering Laboratory, which houses Voiland School Faculty who collaborate with PNNL researchers, and collaborations with Boeing, led by Prof Su Ha which are focused on the development of novel biobased aviation fuels. Prof. Ha is also collaborating with several small businesses in the Northwest focused on the development of novel clean energy technologies. As a result of these significant advances, the Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering was recently featured on the front page of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Please read the entire article on the Daily News web site at http://www.dnews.com/story/local/48512/.

The Secretary of Energy recently announced significant new initiatives, including the National Advanced Biofuels Consortium, which is to be led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Voiland School faculty in Pullman and at the Bioproducts Science and Engineering Laboratory (BSEL) at WSU/TriCities will contribute to the execution of these projects. Voiland Distinguished Professor Yong Wang, who is a joint WSU/PNNL employee, will play a key role in catalytic pyrolysis and catalyst development related to syngas conversion and novel approaches to remove oxygen from biomass. WSU STAR Researcher and Voiland School Faculty member, Birgitte Ahring, the Director of the WSU Center for Bioproducts and Bioenergy, will do pretreatment of biomass raw materials to create a dedicated sugar stream,  which will be supplied to the different partners in the project. This work will make use of the newly established pilot facility at BSEL and will use innovative separation technologies. Catchlight Energy, whose Bioconversion Lead Dwight Anderson serves on the Voiland School Advisory Board, is one of the consortium members. Learn more of this initiative at http://www.pnl.gov/news/release.aspx?id=773 and of the DOE announcement at http://www.energy.gov/news2009/8519.htm. This announcement exemplifies the quality of the Voiland School's faculty, and the significant research being led by them. In accordance with a long tradition of excellence, the Voiland School is helping address our nation's need for new energy technologies.

In October, the Voiland School’s advisory board met in Pullman. This group provids insights from individuals engaged in industrial organizations that employ both chemical engineers and bioengineers, academia where students can pursue advanced and professional degrees, and national laboratories. Many, but not all, of the members present were Voiland School alumni. Those present included Dwight Anderson, Ed Baker, Paul Drumheller, Paul Hohenschuh, Craig McDonald, John Olerud, Rex Oxford, John Rubero, Bill Strand, and Gene Voiland. 

We started the meeting with a celebration. The Voiland School’s advisory board jointly met with the Advisory Board for the College of Engineering and Architecture to honor Gene and Linda Voiland for their unprecedented gift. The boards first shared dinner. Following dinner, WSU Vice President for Advancement, Brenda Wilson-Hale, presented Gene and Linda with a Platinum Laureate award, recognizing the importance and magnitude of their gift. Jim Petersen made comments about the impact that the gift is having and will have on the School and that both Gene and Linda obviously love engineering and WSU. Jim provided Gene and Linda with a photo book containing photos of the events immediately following the gift’s announcement which was signed by university leaders and Voiland School faculty and staff. A photograph of Gene and Linda, receiving the Platinum Laureate’s award from Vice President Wilson-Hale and Development Director Gary Porto, is included below.

It is once again that time of year. The halls of all the buildings are filled with excited voices. The space outside my office is a hub of activity as students stop by to get advice on courses, to check on scholarships, and to talk about their futures. In the same way, Pullman's streets are full, we must actually wait in lines at the grocery store and we must wait to be seated at restaurants.

In the laboratories, students are becoming engaged in research projects that help them synthesize knowledge and develop new technologies that will advance the economy of the state and nation. This is the time of year, before students get embroiled in all the details of their classes, when professors and students alike are excited about knowledge that will be acquired and when the university is the most vibrant, exciting place one can be! So, this is not only an exciting time because all the students are back to Pullman, this is an exciting time because we can envision the impact that the students educated in the Voiland School will have on society.  While  we are excited about this coming year and all that it will hold, we are also humbled to realize that we are privileged to participate in the education of these future leaders!

Here are some tidbits about the Voiland School. Although our numbers are not yet official, we anticipate that this year we'll have 39 students enrolled in our junior level chemical engineering courses. This is the largest chemical engineering class in a very long time (back to when I had hair!). Moreover, future classes promise to be as large! At this point in time, 34 freshmen who are interested in chemical engineering have enrolled at WSU, and this fall 16 students transferred to WSU to study chemical engineering. Bioengineering is likewise growing. 29 freshmen have indicated an interest in studying bioengineering, and 2 students transferred to WSU to study bioengineering. Moreover, we have more than 30 chemical engineering graduate students, of whom 23 are seeking a PhD degree. This is a dramatic change from the past and reflects changes in the School that will add value to our graduates' degrees.

Below, I've included a few photos from an ice cream social held in the ETRL courtyard this fall. We served Ferdinands ice cream with "tar sand" topping.  In the comment section, please feel free to describe a memory about an experience you had when you came to WSU at the start of a fall semester. Thank you for your interest in the Voiland School.

--Jim