Massie Chair Capabilities
A Forward-Looking Approach
The FAMU-Florida State University (FSU) College of Engineering's Chair Program is devoted entirely to developing a new generation of processes and systems for the clean manufacturing of pollution-free products. The school envisions establishing a center of excellence for the development and deployment of life-cycle strategies for designing materials, products, processes and research in Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing. Such a forward-looking approach centers on four areas of emphasis: 1) a "cradle to grave" view of the manufacturing process; 2) full integration of related information to the designing engineer; 3) the development of technology with full scalability for a variety of companies and industries; and 4) a concern for product adaptability so that production routines and schedules are not interrupted by new technologies.
FAMU/Massie Chair Research Accomplishments
Partnering with a wide range of companies and federal research labs to establish the first National Science Foundation Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (NSF IUCRC) in the State of Florida. The focus of this IUCRC is designing and making environmentally sound composite materials at affordable prices.
Establishing the Florida Advanced Center for Composite Technologies (FAC2T), the first Florida Board of Education sanctioned Research Institute in the College of Engineering. Both undergraduate and graduate students are involved in the Center's R&D activities.
Developing an effective design methodology, called Green Quality Function Deployment (G-QFD). It enables a multi-disciplinary team to evaluate different design alternatives based on the product's quality, cost and environmental compatibility.
FAMU's Massie Chair Program has received several million additional dollars in support of its research and has published more than 10 articles on environmentally conscious manufacturing.
Collaboration Opportunities
The Design for Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing (DECM) Group at FAMU-FSU is prepared to assist manufacturing businesses in: 1) life-cycle environmental impact of materials and processes. The objectives is to construct environmental impact indices that will aid in standardizing the procedures used to select materials and manufacturing support systems, expert systems, neural networks and fuzzy logic technologies; 2) conformance and compliance to environmental regulations. The objective is to establish environmental strategies and implementation plans based on understanding of current environment-related regulations and laws including ISO 14000; and 3) product design for ease of disassembly. The DECM Group takes into account the multitude of factors affecting reusability.
Florida A&M University
The FAMU-FSU College of Engineering embraces the mission of both Florida State University, a Level-One research institution providing undergraduate and graduate education, and FAMU, an HBCU founded in 1887, emphasizing quality education for minority students. The College provides modern classrooms and specialized teaching and research laboratories housed in a building custom designed by engineering educators. The College is located adjacent to Innovation Park, a major research and development center housing the FSU Cray Y-MP supercomputer. The FAMU-FSU College of Engineering offers BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Mechanical Engineering.
A Cooperative Effort
Hampton University's research involves a cooperative effort between the School of Engineering and the School of Science. The following provides a a few examples of the current ongoing environmental research:
This research focuses on the study of the interaction of heavy metals with chelating and other solids in natural waters, soils, and sediments. The results of this study will lead to the development of models to be used in the assessment of the complex/immobilizing capacity of various environmental media for toxic substances.
Influence Of Suspended Clays on Lake Ecosystem Structure
Scientists at Hampton are examining how tropic interactions are altered by the presence of mineral turbidity.
Solid Phase Extraction of Environmental Pollutants
Several solid materials, including activated carbon, synthetic chelatin agents, and naturally occurring polymers, are being studied for use as adsorption media for the separation, immobilization or preconcentration of organic and inorganic pollutants in natural water, sediments, soils or sledges.
Hampton University
Hampton University is developing a meaningful two-way cooperation with the Tidewater community of Virginia to solve various environmental issues. Through these partnerships, communities are encouraged to become involved in accessing information from environmental databases, in cleaning up, and in restoring environmental quality.
The Hampton University School of Engineering and Technology located in Hampton, Virginia, offers programs in Aviation, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Architecture. The School, established in 1995, is one of the newest at the University. Its establishment resulted from a new strategic thrust of the University toward a more focused emphasis in engineering and technology. The original engineering programs were established in 1983 as part of the School of Pure and Applied Sciences. The Olin Engineering Building, a $4.5M facility donated by the Olin Foundation, houses fourteen labs used for teaching, research, and design projects. The University is a member of the Southeastern Universities Research Association, a consortium of 38 institutions.
Environmental Capabilities
Building on a Strong Foundation
The Massie Chair Program at Howard University builds on an already established base of groundbreaking environmental research. This work involves several departments in the University including Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Physics, Law, Political Science and Biology. The pool of experts at Howard includes faculty members with training and experience in all aspects of environmental engineering, science and policy research. Faculty members are active in interdisciplinary research sponsored by DOE, EPA, NASA, NSF and W. M. Keck Foundation.
A Unique Approach
Howard is in the process of implementing a unique research and educational program directed to the solution of special environmental problems, such as disposal of high-level radioactive wastes. A joint research effort with California Institute of Technology in molecular dynamics and simulation applied to environmental problems was recently initiated, opening the door for application of the latest simulation techniques to environmental problems The research area concentrates first on removal of specific pollutants from hazardous and mixed wastes, thus allowing a reduction in waste storage requirements in the future. Assuming specific long-lived radionuclides can be removed from wastes, storage requirements for the remaining wastes will be significantly reduced. As a result, long-term storage can be used to address smaller quantities of higher level wastes. The latest addition to the analytical capability of the environmental program is a Hewlett-Packard liquid chromatograph/mass spectrometer (LC/MS).
Howard University
Coeducational and multiracial from its first year of operation, Howard University was founded as a private university by an act of Congress on March 2, 1867. With 10,000 students representing every state and more than 100 countries, Howard University is one of only 48 private Doctoral/Research Extensive Universities in the nation. The University's location in Washington, D.C., offers easy access to a number of National Labs, the offices of virtually every association and technical society in the U.S., a vast number of scientific institutions, and a host of other research-oriented academic institutions in the U.S.
Research Accomplishments
Vadose Zone Hydrology
Water passes from the land surface to the water table through the vadose zone along preferred pathways. Any contaminant will travel downward with the water. Research at Morgan focuses on the forces that cause vertical cracks to penetrate through the vadose zone and thereby form these pathways. Application of this approach was made to a Nevada Test Site location.
ASR
Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is a growing national technology that that uses the injection and pumpage of fluids into and out of aquifers (underground reservoirs) for countless possible reasons. Morgan is the leader in investigating how the porous reservoir swells and compresses in response, and how such behavior may limit the practicality of the technology.
Behavior of Unsaturated Highway Subgrade
Adding geofibers to soil creates a mixture (a composite soil) that behaves differently from the original soil. Highways and landing strips need a reliable subgrade material to avoid having unexpected failures occur in response to sporadic and heavy traffic (cars, tanks, airplanes). Morgan's geomechanics research laboratory has unusual equipment that can test composite soils in response to many types and frequencies of applied forces.
New Generation of Computer Codes for Land Subsidence due to Fluid Withdrawal
The only three-dimensional model for simulating transient land subsidence that exists anywhere was written during the early 1990's as a doctoral dissertation by a former student of Morgan's Massie Chair. The model is in great demand worldwide because of its undisputed accuracy.
Morgan State University
Founded in 1867 as a private institution, Morgan State University focuses on the social, educational, economic and political characteristics of urban life. The School of Engineering was established in 1984. Since then the enrollment has grown from 80 to more than 700. Thirty-five percent are women. Graduate programs for masters and doctorate degrees in engineering began in 1995.
A number of research laboratories have been established in the School of Engineering, including the geomechanics laboratory and the thermal/particulate atmospheric research laboratory. Expertise in the analysis and application of remote sensing data and GIS to Earth system science is available. Image processing and the development of three-dimensional visualization tools are among the areas of computational sciences and engineering where Morgan is taking a lead. A high-speed supercomputer is available on campus.
Coordinated Effort
The Massie Chair of Excellence funds a variety of research projects and students in the field of environmental engineering at N.C. A&T. The Program seeks to improve environmental research and education by fostering collaborative efforts with other environmental programs as well as with industries such as the Waste Management Institute, and the Air Force FAST Center.
N.C. A&T focuses research on hazardous radioactive waste treatment and disposal; fate and transport of hazardous chemicals in the environment; innovative technologies for hazardous waste site remediation; and pollution prevention.
Current Projects
Some of the current projects at N.C. A&T includes:
Waste Stream Life-Cycle Sequencing Model.
The objective of this project is to develop the algorithms and supporting technical information for a waste stream sequencing computer-assisted model. This approach will result in waste stream sequencing becoming a more efficient, reproducible and defensible process.
Optimal Parameter Estimation for Subsurface Transport Models.
The objective of this project is to examine the use of the Kalman-Bucy filter for improving the predictions of groundwater transport models using observed data.
Scaling In Situ Bioremediation Problems By Application of Multiphase, Multicomponent Transport Theory.
A general mathematical model describing the subsurface biotransformation of chemical species in a multiphase setting is being presented and applied.
N.C. A&T State University
Founded in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1891, North Carolina A&T moved to its present campus two years later on land donated by the city of Greensboro. Ranking third among the state's universities and colleges in funded research and development projects, North Carolina A&T offers strong academic programs including doctoral studies in electrical, mechanical, industrial and systems engineering.
The school's outstanding facilities include McNair Hall, a new state-of-the-art research and classroom center, the NASA-funded $8.4M Mars Mission Research Center (a joint venture with North Carolina State University), and the nationally recognized Center for Composite Materials Research.
Engineering Interdisciplinary Team
The Massie Chair of Excellence Program at PV A&M University was developed on the foundation of a well established and traditional environmental research effort involving several departments in coordinated research on the pollution of air, water and soil. Engineering research teams composed of faculty from departments within the College of Engineering have also focused on engineering problems of energy generation, conversion, transmission and their effect on the environment. Teamwork with different disciplines is necessary in order to solve a broad range of complicated problems, involving energy and the environment.
Ongoing Research
Presently engineering and environmental research is conducted in various research centers and laboratories in the College of Engineering. These nationally recognized Centers of Excellence are: Center for Applied Radiation Research (CARR), Center for Material, Micro-design and Micro-fabrication (CM3), Future Aerospace, Science and Technology Center (FAST), Computational Fluid Dynamics Institute (CFDS), and the Small Engine Emissions Research (SEER) Laboratory. The Small Engine Emissions Research Laboratory was established as an initiative of the Massie Chair Research Program at Prairie View. Collaboration between Departments and Centers has attracted research in a number of environmental areas, such as soil remediation, water and wastewater treatment, and air pollution studies.
The Massie Team at Prairie View is actively involved in the education of its students in specific engineering disciplines as well as educational assistance to neighboring schools and adjacent farming communities.
Prairie View A&M University
Serving a diverse ethnic and socio-economic student population, Prairie View A&M University was founded in 1876 by the Texas Legislature. The University is designated by the State Constitution as one of the three "institutions of the first class" in Texas. The College of Engineering provides programs in Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering.
Research centers available to the university include the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and the Texas Engineering Experiment Station. The College has extensive shop and lab facilities with a graduate program that extends to the Houston Metropolitan area.
Research at Prairie View was greatly enhanced in the Fall Semester of 2003 with the addition of a Ph.D. program in Electrical Engineering. Along with the new program was the addition of professors with expertise in the areas of communications, computers and microelectronics.
Environmental Projects
The Massie Chair Program at Southern University focuses on several environmental areas: bioremediation, bioaccumulation of heavy metals using aquatic organisms, phytoremediation of toxic metals using aquatic plants and microalgae, bioavailability, toxicity of organic and inorganic pollutants, fuel cell test station technology, development of bio-environmental sensors, and automobile tire recycling. The Massie team has a fully functional fuel cell test station, which draws faculty, staff and students from other departments at Southern University and summer interns from several states in the Southern United States. Massie researchers are actively involved with phytoremediation research and have generated several publications in this area. In an ever-increasing effort to enhance science education, the Massie program launched the Mobile Environmental Classroom Program in 2000. The goals of this program are to improve the quality of science education in the State of Louisiana and to disseminate analytical knowledge to high school teachers and students via hands-on laboratory activities and workshops.
State-Of-The-Art University
The Environmental Engineering and Sciences Laboratories (EESL) are state-of-the-art laboratories that include water chemistry, analytical, and research environmental processes. The EESL provides a focal point for environmental research for the University, supports various environmental curricula, and provides services for community-based environmental programs. Analysis for both organic and inorganic compounds can be conducted in the EESL.
Research Accomplishments
Southern University
With campuses in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Shreveport, the Southern University System serves 13,600 students from 46 states and at least 40 countries. Southern University and A&M College, a publicly supported, coeducational, land-grant, historically Black, comprehensive institution was founded in New Orleans, LA in 1880 by a group of African-American politicians led by former U.S. Senator P.B.S. Pinchback, the first African-American to serve as Governor of the State of Louisiana. In the mid-1950s, the College of Engineering was added to the divisional structure of the University. The College of Engineering offers four bachelor degree programs in civil, electrical and mechanical engineering, and electronics engineering technology. It also offers a Master of Engineering program with five specialty areas in environmental engineering, telecommunications and computer network engineering, materials science and engineering, thermal science and engineering, and electronic materials and processing engineering. The College of Engineering is housed in a $12 million state-of-the-art building equipped with multi-media classrooms, computer and research facilities.
Innovative Technologies
The Massie Chair Program at Tennessee State University (TSU) focuses on fate and transport of hazardous chemicals, and innovative technologies for hazardous waste remediation of pollution. Plans are underway for establishment of the Center for Environmental Restoration and Infrastructure in support of the Massie Chair Program at the University. To enhance the existing research program and to support the growth of the Massie Chair capabilities, TSU recently joined into partnership with the University of Tennessee (UT) and Oak Ridge National Laboratories to conduct joint cooperative research at UT.
A Cooperative Effort
The Massive Chair of Excellence Program at Tennessee State University is a collaborative effort among the College of Engineering, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Agriculture. Faculties from these units participate in curriculum development and research at the University in the environmental areas. The specific areas include Bioremediation, Environmental Toxicity, Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing, Hazardous Waste Treatment, and Alternate Energy/Energy Conservation.
A specific collaboration involves Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This is a research project involving the use of natural polysaccharides for the bioremediation of uranyl-contaminated surfaces. The goal of the project is to develop a coating mixture containing a specific and strong uranyl cation-binding polysaccharide to be applied upon solid surfaces. This project is in collaboration with the Chemical Technology Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Tennessee State University
Today's Tennessee State University (TSU) was established in 1979, from the union of the former Tennessee State University, founded in 1912, and the University of Tennessee at Nashville, established in 1971. A state supported, comprehensive, urban university, TSU provides a wide range of academic, cultural, research, and professional activities for traditional as well as nontraditional students. TSU's College of Engineering and Technology offers degrees in architectural, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering, and aeronautical and industrial technology. The Center of Information Systems, Engineering and Management remains on the cutting edge of research. The University's budget for sponsored programs exceeds $41 million.
Current Research Projects
The Universidad del Turabo focuses its endeavors toward undergraduate and graduate research in the fields of Science and Technology, Engineering, and Environmental Sciences.
As part of its research activities the following projects are ongoing:
1. Absorption of water contaminants using modified zeolites and activated carbon;
2. Separation of anionic and cationic heavy metals contaminants from waste through ionic exchange using modified natural and synthetic zeolites, activated carbon and clays;
3. Selective reduction of atmospheric contaminants using zeolites and hidrotalcyte catalysts;
4. Development of micro porous membranes for gas separation and cleaning using zeolite based ceramics; and
5. Anaerobic fermentation processes activated by zeolites and clays.
The Challenge: Environmentally Conscious Electronic Circuits and Systems
The challenge of the Massie Chair Program at Turabo University is to develop and implement research projects in engineering yielding new circuits and systems that are environmentally friendly and/or that solve cost effective environmental engineering problems.
Our objective is to become a center of excellence dedicated to the conception and design of environmentally conscious electronic circuits and systems. Such systems could be tailor-made in partnership with other Massie Chairs to address the measurement needs in their respective environmental engineering research projects. The School of Engineering is fully committed to this new endeavor and is actively recruiting additional faculty members to meet this challenge.
Turabo University
Turabo University is a private non-profit institution of higher education located 15 miles southeast of San Juan within easy reach of the entire East-Central part of the island. Its 140 acre suburban campus and its fifteen buildings provide an ideal atmosphere for the learning experience A professionally-oriented institution, Turabo University offers baccalaureate programs, including engineering, and master’s programs in business, environmental science, education, and public affairs. Founded in 1972, Turabo University has continued to grow through the 2000's.
Recognizing the need for engineering professionals in Puerto Rico's accelerating economic environment, the establishment of the School of Engineering was approved in August 1990. Since the enrollment of its first class of 75 students in 1990/91, the school now offers undergraduate degrees in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, and a M.S. in Telecommunication and Network Administration. The School is committed to the success of every student and pursues this goal by offering small classes taught by highly qualified faculty, modern facilities and equipment, and opportunities in faculty-directed research and industrial internships. The School is housed in the modern Sandia National Laboratories Engineering Building. The Engineering Computer Center and two computer learning centers are located in buildings adjacent to the engineering school.
Interdisciplinary Program
Tuskegee University is developing internationally reputable research in the broad areas of solid waste management, wastewater treatment, and abatement of subsurface contamination. Emphasis is placed on 1) environmental biotechnology and bioremediation, 2) advanced oxidation technology for wastewater treatment, 3) subsurface contaminant transport and remediation, 4) treatment of radioactive MLLW, and 5) chemical, mineral and resource industry pollution abatement. These specialization areas include chemical and environmental engineering, mineral engineering, geochemistry, hydrogeology, chemistry, microbiology and biochemistry. As a result , one of the major emphases of the Chair Program is to build a collaborative program with other academic units of the University, as well as with other HBCU and majority institutions.
State-of-the-Art Equipment
The environmental engineering and science laboratories at Tuskegee University are equipped and staffed to perform analyses on a variety of sample matrices, such as water, soils, and process gases. Analyses are conducted using state-of-the-art equipment following EPA protocols and ASTM standard procedures. Over the past two years, the environmental engineering research laboratory has acquired over $300,000 worth of additional research and analytical equipment. Other major equipment, such as a proton and carbon-13 NMR spectrometer, FTIR and microbiological research and analytical equipment, are available in collaborative units of Tuskegee University.
Tuskegee University
One of the most famous universities in the United States, Tuskegee was founded in 1881 by Booker T. Washington. Although most of its 3,400 students are from the American south, enrollment represents 42 states or U.S. possessions and 54 countries. Tuskegee University is a comprehensive institution with substantial outreach services programs and impressive research facilities including the multimillion dollar Carver Research Foundation, the George Washington Carver Agricultural Experiment Station, the Advanced Materials Research Center and the Environmental Engineering Research Center. The School of Engineering and Architecture offers undergraduate and graduate programs in aerospace science, chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering.