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[Publications] [Curriculum
Vitae] [Research Summary] [Teaching]
CURRICULUM VITAE George W. Roberts
Telephone: Home: (919) 834-7607 1610
Saint Mary's Street Office:
(919) 515-7328 Raleigh, NC 27608
EDUCATION
PROFESSIONAL
EMPLOYMENT 6/89-present North Carolina State
University Department of Chemical
Engineering Box 7905 Raleigh, NC 27695-7905
8/94 - present: Professor of Chemical Engineering Teaching
and research interests include chemical reaction engineering, applied catalysis,
polymerization kinetics, polymer synthesis in supercritical carbon dioxide,
synthesis of oxygenated fuels, automotive catalysts, environmentally-benign
chemical synthesis, multiphase reactors, and the development and
commercialization of new technology. Outstanding
AIChE Student Chapter Advisor Award, 1997
7/89 - 8/94: Professor and Head of the Chemical Engineering Department Responsible
for leading a department consisting of 18 full-time faculty members plus 8
support personnel, with an enrollment of about 500 undergraduates and 75
graduate students. Major
accomplishments included: 1) initiated a departmental alumni relations program;
2) restructured departmental corporate relations programs; 3) recruited four
outstanding new faculty members; 4) obtained almost $500M in outside faculty
recruitment/development grants; 5) obtained corporate grants totaling over $250M
to support graduate education and facilities improvement, and; 6) obtained over
$1.2MM in outside grants/contracts for research on alternate fuels.
4/77 - 6/89 Air Products and
Chemicals, Inc. 7201 Hamilton Boulevard Allentown, PA
18195-1501
4/81 - 7/89: General Manager, Commercial Development Division,
Process Systems Group Directly
managed approximately 120 employees engaged in research and development, new
business development, strategic planning, product management, market research
and patent development. Functionally responsible for about $20 million/yr. of
research and development activity carried out in the Process Systems Group. Major
accomplishments included: 1) developed and commercialized Air Products' first
non-cryogenic (adsorption) product for air separation; 2) identified and
negotiated the acquisition of Separex, Inc., a small company with
strategically-important technology for gas separation with membranes; 3) identified
landfill gas recovery as an attractive new business opportunity; developed and
commercialized several products for landfill gas purification; 4) developed and
commercialized a new process (the COPETM Process) for
debottlenecking Claus plants, which won the 1987 Kirkpatrick Award from Chemical
Engineering Magazine; 5) developed and commercialized a new adsorption process
for simultaneously purifying hydrogen and carbon dioxide; 6) identified and
negotiated the acquisition of Dorr-Oliver's Biological Systems Venture as an
extension of Air Products' existing wastewater-treatment business, and 7)
developed the Liquid-Phase MethanolTM Process through a successful pilot-plant operation.
7/80 - 4/81: General Manager, Research and Development Department, Process
Systems Group Directly
managed approximately 40 employees engaged in the development of new processes
and equipment for the production and purification of industrial gases and new
applications for industrial gases. Functionally
responsible for about $15 million/yr. of research and development activity in
the Process Systems Group.
4/77 - 7/80: Director, Corporate Research and Development Department Directly
managed approximately 60 employees engaged in the development of new technology
in areas such as direct and indirect coal liquefaction, coal gasification,
chemicals manufacture, and new applications for industrial gases.
Major project involved development of SRC-I coal liquefaction technology
for use in a planned 6000 T/D demonstration plant.
Successfully developed a new technology for carburizing steel. Also
managed a small department engaged in the preparation and sale of research
proposals to outside agencies, primarily the U.S. government, and in the
administration of the resulting research contracts.
Approximate sales of $5 million/yr.
6/72 - 4/77 Engelhard Minerals and
Chemicals Corporation Engelhard Industries
Division Menlo Park, Edison, NJ
08817 Research Manager,
Chemical Engineering Directly
managed approximately 35 employees engaged in the development of new catalysts
and catalytic processes. Projects
fell into four technical areas: petroleum processing, chemicals manufacture, air
pollution control, and synthetic fuels. Significant
accomplishments included: 1) development and successful commercial introduction
of a new catalyst for petroleum reforming; 2) development and licensing of two
new selective hydrogenation processes; 3) development and successful commercial
introduction of an improved aromatics isomerization catalyst; 4) development and
successful commercial introduction of a new selective oxidation process for
improving yield in ammonia plants, and; 5) development of a new, low-pollution
combustion process.
9/69 - 6/72 Washington University St. Louis, Missouri
63130 Associate Professor of
Chemical Engineering and Director of the
Chemical Reaction Engineering Laboratory Teaching
responsibilities included graduate and undergraduate courses in Chemical
Reaction Engineering, graduate courses in Catalysis and Special Topics in
Reaction Engineering, undergraduate courses in Systems Analysis and Design
(Plant Design) and a motivational course for freshman and sophomore engineers
entitled "The Science and Art of Catalysis". Major
research areas included liquid-solid contacting in trickle-bed reactors,
mathematical modeling of polymerization reactors, design of radial fixed-bed
reactors, the influence of shear and diffusion on thrombosis, and regional blood
flow in the deep venous system of the leg. Recipient
of the Distinguished Faculty Award in 1971.
10/65 - 9/69 Rohm and Haas Company 5000 Richmond Street Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania 19137
1/68 - 9/69: Projects Supervisor, Process Engineering Division Supervised
about 6 chemical engineers engaged in pilot-plant and bench-scale engineering
studies. Activities ranged from economic analysis through pilot-plant
operation and mathematical modelling. Areas
of technology included addition and condensation
polymerization, preparation of vinyl monomers, emulsion polymerization, and
extrusion.
10/65 - 12/67: Research Engineer, Process Engineering Division Bench-scale
and pilot-scale studies, primarily involving development and scaleup of a new
process for polymer manufacture. Startup
of first commercial facility using this process.
Mathematical modelling of polymerization reactors and extruders.
2/63 - 6/63 Massachusetts Institute
of Technology Department of Chemical
Engineering Cambridge,
Massachusetts 02139 Instructor in Chemical
Engineering - taught undergraduate heat transfer to chemical
engineering majors Summer Employment
during Graduate and Undergraduate Studies: 1962
Esso Research and Engineering Company 1961
Rohm and Haas Company 1960
Chevron Research Corporation 1959
National Lead Company
PATENTS
AND PUBLICATIONS: Co-inventor
on 19 U.S. patents Author
or co-author of more than 65 refereed technical publications, 11 book
chapters, and 130 technical presentations
PROFESSIONAL
ACTIVITIES: Member,
American Chemical Society (1965-present) Member,
American Institute of Chemical Engineers (1965-present)
Fellow (1998-present) Member,
North American Catalysis Society (1972-1989; 2000-present) Member,
Association of Research Directors (1981-1989) Alternate
Representative, Industrial Research Institute (1977-1989)
Emeritus Member (1989-present) Member,
Chemical Engineering Advisory Board, Cornell University (1982-1995) Member,
Chemical Engineering Advisory Board, Clemson University (1991-1994) Member, Undergraduate Advisory Board, Department of Chemical and Materials
Engineering,
University of Kentucky (2000 -present) Member,
Society of Automotive Engineers (1971-1974)
Ralph R. Teetor Award (1971) Member,
Council for Entrepreneurial Development (1993-1997)
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