2019 News Archive

Graduate research assistant Kevin Chang and Prof. Geise recently published an article titled Stable and highly conductive polycation-polybenzimidazole membrane blends for intermediate temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells in ACS Applied Energy Materials. The work was published in collaboration with Prof. Chris Arges and the Arges Research Lab at LSU. The Geise Research Group contributed dielectric property measurement and analysis expertise to advance a mechanistic understanding of the performance of a new class of polycation-polybenzimidazole membranes for intermediate temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.

Prof. Geise presented research results from the Geise Research Group via 3 invited research seminars this fall. The seminars were given at the University of Arkansas (Ralph E. Martin Department of Chemical Engineering), the University at Buffalo (Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering), and the University of Connecticut (Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering).

Congratulations to Kevin Bahati who recently won the AIChE Minority Affairs Committee College Scholarship Award! Kevin is a 4th year undergraduate researcher in the group. His research has been supported by the UVA Undergraduate Student Opportunities in Academic Research (USOAR) program.

Graduate research assistant Kevin Chang recently published a review article summarizing efforts to characterize and connect hydrated polymer dielectric permittivity properties and ion transport properties. The invited contribution, published in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, is part of a collection of papers honoring Professor Donald R. Paul of the University of Texas at Austin on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

Dr. Yuanyuan Ji defended her dissertation, titled Selective Polymeric Membranes for Ion Specific Separations, and became the first Ph.D. graduate from the Geise Research Group. A native of Jiangxi, China and a graduate of Tianjin University, Dr. Ji joined UVA in 2014 and received her M.S. in Chemical Engineering from UVA in 2017.

Congratulations to Kevin Bahati who was recently named an American Chemical Society (ACS) Scholar! Kevin is entering his 4th year as an undergraduate researcher in the group. His research has been supported by the UVA Undergraduate Student Opportunities in Academic Research (USOAR) program.

Graduate research assistants Hongxi Luo and Kevin Chang, along with 4th year USOAR undergraduate researcher Kevin Bahati, recently published articles on their research. Their work describes a new approach for enhancing desalination selectivity of polymer membranes by controlling the position of chemical functional groups on the polymer backbone.

Details about the desalination selectivity of the materials are published in an Environmental Science and Technology Letters article titled Engineering selective desalination membranes via molecular control of polymer functional groups, and that article was selected as the ACS Editors' Choice article for July 20, 2019! Additional details about the salt transport properties of the materials, including dielectric relaxation spectroscopy analysis of the thermodynamics of the selectivity increase are reported in a Journal of Membrane Science article titled Functional group configuration influences salt transport in desalination membrane materials.

Congratulations to graduate student Saringi Agata for winning the Sture G Olsson Fellowship in Engineering from UVA Engineering! This award will complement Saringi's full National GEM Consortium Fellowship! The fellowship will support Saringi's Ph.D. research during the 2019‑2020 academic year.

Congratulations to graduate student Kevin Chang for successfully completing his Ph.D. Dissertation Proposal titled Influence of Polymer and Water Dynamics on Water and Ion Transport in Hydrated Polymers for Membrane Desalination Applications !

Graduate students Yuan Ji (pictured along with Prof. Geise), Patrick McCormack, and Kevin Chang presented posters at the inaugural Chemical Engineering Research Symposium (CHEERS). Kevin Chang was also a member of the organizing committee for the event. Read more about CHEERS.

Graduate student Hongxi Luo won the 2019 Chemical Engineering Teacher's Assistant Award from the UVA Department of Chemical Engineering.

Additionally, Hongxi was recognized by the UVA Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs as a nominee for a University Teaching Assistant Award.

Both awards recognize Hongxi's outstanding performance in enhancing the undergraduate engineering student experience at UVA!

Graduate student Yuan Ji's three minute thesis presentation was selected as the audience/people's choice winner at UVA's 7th Annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition. Yuan spoke for three minutes (with a single slide) about her research on Using Selective Membranes to Provide Clean Water for Everyone. She was one of ten UVA finalists UVA (and one of four UVA Engineering finalists) following a preliminary round of the competition. Congratulations Yuan!

Professor Geise was recently awarded the 2019 Hartfield Excellence in Teaching Award and the University of Virginia Student Council Teaching Award for 2019!

The 2019 Hartfield Excellence in Teaching Award, presented by the Jefferson Scholars Foundation at UVA, recognizes faculty in the School of Engineering and Applied Science who exemplify the highest standards and practices of teaching and demonstrate that communicating knowledge and inspiring students are as important to the education process as scholarship.

The Student Council Teaching Award, presented by the Academic Affairs committee of the UVA Student Council, recognizes professors across the University of Virginia who are committed to education and teaching excellence.

Prof. Geise is grateful to current and former students and colleagues for their support.

Professor Geise was awarded the All-University Teaching Award for 2019 at the University of Virginia! This award, presented by the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, recognizes excellence in teaching among UVA faculty of any rank. Prof. Geise is grateful to current and former students and colleagues for their support.

Undergraduate researcher Cydnie Golson and Graduate Student Patrick McCormack presented their research results at the 2019 UVA Sustainability Symposium. Cydnie presented work related to her project on engineering a Thin film for light pollution control and energy efficiency for large windows, and Patrick presented work related to his project on Membranes to enable long duration grid-scale storage of renewable energy, which is a collaborative effort with Prof. Gary Koenig.

Special thanks to the UVA Office for Sustainability for their continued support of our research!

Congratulations to graduate student Saringi Agata for winning a full fellowship from the National GEM Consortium! The fellowship will support Saringi's research and also provide her with an industrial internship experience.

Graduate student Kevin Chang was awarded a NAMS Elias Klein Founders' Travel Supplement to support expenses associated with attending the 2019 North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh.