Roberts Research GroupNews
Women of Distinction Award
April 2014 – Jennifer Duggan was awarded the Graduate Women of Distinction Leadership Award at Auburn University at the 8th Annual Women’s Leadership Conference. Congrats, Jennifer!
Outstanding Mentor Award
April 2014 – Dr. Christopher B. Roberts was awarded the Outstanding Mentor Award from the Auburn University Graduate School. Dr. Roberts was nominated for this award by his graduate students. Congrats, Dr. Roberts!
Graduate Student Presentations at American Chemical Society Conference
April 2014 – Graduate students Jennifer Duggan and Pranav Vengsarkar attended the American Chemical Society Conference in Dallas, TX. Jennifer presented “Controlling the Crystallinity, Morphology, and Magnetic Properties of DMSO-Stabilized Cobalt Nanoparticles” and “Applications of Stabilized Manganese Oxide and Fe-Mn Binary Oxide Nanoparticles for In-Situ Remediation of Contaminated Soil and Groundwater,” and Pranav presented “Synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles coated with novel surfactant bilayers and their application in stabilizing oil-in-water emulsions.”
Congratulations Jennifer
March 2014 – Graduate student Jennifer Duggan successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation, “The Synthesis and Tunable Processing of Magnetic and Metallic Nanoparticles in a Functional Solvent System.” Congrats, Dr. Duggan!
Graduate Student Presentations at the 2014 Graduate Scholars Forum
March 2014 – Graduate students David Roe, Charlotte Stewart, and Pranav Vengsarkar delivered oral presentations and qualified to present in Research Week 2014. David presented “Use of a Nanoscale Catalyst and Supercritical Reaction Medium in Fuel Production via Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis,” Charlotte presented “Supercritical Fluids as Reaction Media in the Conversion of Methanol to Hydrocarbons,” and Pranav presented “Preparation of a supported Fischer-Tropsch (FT) catalyst using a novel Gas-eXpanded Liquid (GXL) process and its application in the generation of FT syncrude .”
Graduate Student Presentation at the 2014 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Science Conference
January 2013 – Graduate student Pranav Vengsarkar attended the 2014 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Conference in Mobile, AL to present his work entitled “Pickering Emulsion Formation using Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Stabilized with Novel Surfactant Bilayers.”
Research Development
November 2013 – Graduate student Jennifer Duggan attended the annual review and workshop at the MINT Center in Tuscaloosa at the University of Alabama to learn more about magnetic nanoparticles and characterization techniques.
Graduate Student Presentations at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers 2013 Annual Meeting
November 2013 – Graduate students Jennifer Duggan, Pranav Vengsarkar, Charlotte Stewart, David Roe, and Jie Zhong, attend the AIChE Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA. Jennifer presented “A Straightforward Technique to Control the Oxidation of Amorphous Cobalt Nanoparticles during Synthesis using DMSO,” Pranav presented “Augmenting the Size-Selective Fractionation of Metal and Metal Oxide Nanoparticles Using a Modified Gas-Expanded Liquid Process,” and “Synthesis of Surfactant Bilayer-Coated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for the Stabilization of Oil-in-Water Emulsions,” and Jie presented “Characterization of Gas-Expanded Liquid-Deposited Nanofilms With Size-Controlled Gold Nanoparticles.”
Graduate Student Presentations at IBSS Annual Conference
October 2013 – Graduate students David Roe and Charlotte Stewart attended the IBSS Annual Conference at N.C. State in Raleigh, North Carolina. Charlotte presented “Effect of Syngas Composition and Supercritical Fluid Reaction Medium on the Production of Higher Alcohols for Bioenergy Applications,” and David presented “Effect of Supercritical Fluid Reaction Medium and Reactor Configuration on Liquid Biofuel Production Via Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis with Upgrading Reactions.”
Graduate Student Presentations at American Chemical Society Conference
September 2013 - Graduate student Jennifer Duggan attended the 246th ACS National Meeting and presented her work entitled “Synthesis and Characterization of Metallic and Magnetic Nanoparticles in a Multi-Functional Solvent System.”
Congratulations Pranav
August 2013 – Graduate student Pranav Vengsarkar successfully passed his oral preliminary defense to gain his Ph.D. candidacy. Congrats, Pranav!
Graduate Student Presentations at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers 2013 Spring Meeting
May 2013 – Graduate students Charlotte Stewart and David Roe attended and presented their research at the AIChE Spring Meeting. Charlotte presented “Effect of Supercritical Hexanes Reaction Medium and H2/CO Molar Ratio On the Synthesis of Higher Alcohols From Syngas Over a K-Promoted Cu-Co-Zn Catalyst,” and David presented “Production of Middle Distillate Range Liquid Fuels From Syngas Using Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis and Associated Upgrading Technology Under Supercritical Phase Conditions and Multiple Reactor Configurations.”
Outstanding Student Award
April 2013 – Jennifer Duggan was awarded the SGA Outstanding Student Award for Auburn University. Congrats, Jennifer!
Outstanding Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Teaching Award
April 2013 – Charlotte Stewart was awarded the 2012 McLeod Outstanding Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Teaching Award. Congrats, Charlotte!
2nd Place Winner at Research Week Symposium
April 2013 – Charlotte Stewart won 2nd Place in the Engineering Oral Division at Auburn University’s annual Research Week for her presentation entitled “Effect of H2/CO Ratio on the Production of Higher Alcohols from Syngas under Gas Phase and Supercritical Phase Conditions.” Congrats, Charlotte!
Graduate Students Presentations at Auburn University’s Annual Research Week
April 2013 – Graduate students David Roe and Charlotte Stewart were selected to present their research at Auburn University’s Annual Research Week.
Graduate Student Presentation at the 2013 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Science Conference
January 2013 – Graduate student Pranav Vengsarkar attended the 2013 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Conference in New Orleans, LA to present his work entitled “Investigating the Effects of Nanoparticle Size on Pickering Emulsion Formation and Stability.”
Graduate Student Presentations at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers 2012 Annual Meeting
October 2012 – Graduate students Jennifer Duggan, Pranav Vengsarkar, Charlotte Stewart, David Roe, and Jie Zhong, attended the AIChE Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA.
Jennifer presented “Exploring the Dispersibility of Gold Nanoparticles in DMSO Using Gas-Expanded Liquid Systems,” Pranav presented “Tunable Steric Stabilization Effects on Iron Oxide Nanoparticle Dispersibility in Gas Expanded Liquid Systems,” David presented “Production of Middle Distillate Range Liquid Fuels From Syngas Using Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis and Associated Upgrading Technology Under Supercritical Phase Conditions and Multiple Reactor Configurations,” Charlotte presented “Effect of Supercritical Hexanes Reaction Medium and H2/CO Molar Ratio On the Synthesis of Higher Alcohols From Syngas Over a K-Promoted Cu-Co-Zn Catalyst,” and Jie presented “Gold Nanoparticle Films with Varying Surface Roughness Obtained by A Gas-Expanded Liquid Deposition Process.”
Roberts Research Group SWEEPS Graduate Engineering Research Showcase
September 2012 – Graduate students Pranav Vengsarkar and David Roe won the Honorable Mention Award at the College of Engineering Graduate Student Research Showcase. Jennifer Duggan received the Chemical Engineering Departmental Award. Congrats Pranav, David, and Jennifer!
Graduate Students Attend a Two-Week Student Exchange in Canada
August 2012 – Graduate students Charlotte Stewart and David Roe traveled to Montreal in Quebec, Canada as a part of the NAMP program. They helped create a Fischer-Tropsch/Alcohol Synthesis senior design project for undergraduates and delivered an oral presentation entitled “Production of Fuels, Waxes, and Alcohols from Paper Mill Waste via Biomass-to-Liquids Technology” to pitch the project.
Dr. Christopher B. Roberts Appointed to Dean of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering
July 2012 – Dr. Christopher B. Roberts was selected to serve as the Dean of the College of Engineering. Congrats, Dr. Roberts!
Graduate Students Present at Lignocellulosic Biofuels Workshop
June 2012 - Graduate students David Roe and Charlotte Stewart presented posters on Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis and Higher Alcohol Synthesis at this workshop in the AU Hotel and Conference Center.
1st Place Winner at International Symposium on Supercritical Fluids Conference
May 2012 – Jennifer Duggan won 1st Place at the ISSF Poster Competition for her work entitled “Nanoparticle Dispersibility in a DMSO/CO2 –Gas Expanded Liquid System” in San Francisco, CA. Congrats, Jennifer!
Graduate Students Present at International Symposium on Supercritical Fluids Conference
May 2012 – Graduate students Pranav Vengsarkar and Jennifer Duggan attended and presented their research at the 10th ISSF Meeting in San Francisco, CA.
3rd Place Winner at Research Week Symposium
April 2012– Charlotte Stewart won 3rd Place in the Engineering Poster Division at Auburn University’s Annual Research Week for her presentation entitled “Production of Mixed Alcohols from Syngas Using Supercritical Hexanes as a Reaction Medium.” Congrats, Charlotte!
Graduate Students Presentations at Auburn University’s Annual Research Week
April 2012 – Graduate students David Roe and Charlotte Stewart were selected to present their research at Auburn University’s annual Research Week.
Congratulations Helena
December 2012 – Graduate student, Sihe (Helena) Zhang, successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation,“Production of Transportation Fuel Range Middle Distillates via Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis with Integrated Product Upgrading under Supercritical Phase Conditions.” Congrats, Dr. Zhang!
Congratulations Ray
December 2012 – Graduate student, Rui (Ray) Xu, successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation, “Synthesis of Methanol and Higher Alcohols from Syngas over K Promoted Cu Based
Catalysts in Supercritical Solvent.” Congrats, Dr. Xu!
Welcome New Group Members
January 2012 – Ph.D. students David Roe and Charlotte Stewart joined the Roberts Research Group.