Professor and Chair F. Joseph Schork
About Dr. Schork Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, 1981
Dr. Schork is a member of AIChE, ACS, and the Editorial Advisory Board of Polymer Reaction Engineering. He is the author of four books on polymerization, reactor operation, and process modeling. His dedication to teaching has earned him the Ziegler Outstanding Teacher Award and Omega Chi Epsilon Outstanding Teacher Award. Visit Dr. Schork's personal page» Current Research Dr. Schork's research can be broadly classified as Polymer Reaction Engineering., the application all the tools of reactor engineering (kinetics, mathematical modeling, reactor design, reactor optimization and control and sensors for reacting systems) to systems involving reactions of macromolecules—the foundation of his work has much in common with Dr. Kyu Yong Choi's. His personal interests and focus have been been in two areas: mathematical modeling and control of polymerization reactors, and dispersed phase polymerization. Dr. Schork's current and future work will involve implementing novel chemistries within dispersed-phase polymerization systems, including inverse miniemulsion polymerization, controlled radical polymerization in dispersed systems, and colloidal nanoparticles containing hybrid materials. He has received four patents have been awarded in the area of miniemulsion polymerization, and hybrid nanoparticles via miniemulsion techniques. |
Q&A with Dr. Schork What impact could your work have on society or consumers? Aqueous dispersed-phase polymerization replaces organic solvents with water. Obviously, there are environmental and health as well as economic benefits to this. One of the outcomes of my work is improvements in latex coatings and adhesives. Anyone who's used oil paint or spray paint knows about organic emissions from these products. The hybrid nanoparticles we're developing will replace oil-based polymers such as styrenics and acrylics with materials based in part on natural vegetable oils. These are both biodegradable and renewable resources. What attracted you to the Clark School? I was at Georgia Tech for 24 years, rising from assistant professor to full professor to Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies. I loved it, but after all those years I felt I needed a new challenge. I'm a runner, so I like to say I want to sprint into retirement instead of jogging into it. This position will allow me to do that. I think I bring a good deal of experience to bear on our current challenges and goals. I picked the University of Maryland because I've always had friends on its faculty, and have always respected the quality of its faculty. Also, the Clark School is clearly on the move, and I definitely want to be part of that. Why should young engineers consider chemical and biomolecular engineering for their field of study? I'm really excited about the future of chemical and biomolecular engineering. It's closely aligned with the basic sciences. This allows us to take on the new challenges in nanotechnology, materials, biotechnology, and the explosion of quality-of-life pharmaceuticals. Alternative energy is going to be the number one issue for the U.S. in the next few decades, and who knows energy generation and conversion better than ChBEs? The oil embargoes of the 1970s generated exciting work and higher salaries for chemical engineers in the development of synthetic fuels. The current push for renewable energy sources and for energy independence will do the same. The B.S. in chemical and biomolecular engineering may well be the most difficult degree offered at most universities. Many years ago I decided not to minimize this fact, but put it right up front. The kind of people we want are the kind who will take up the challenge. Since a B.S. in ChBE historically commands the highest starting salary of any degree in the U.S., it's literally worth it! What's your favorite class to teach, and why? I LOVE to teach process control. This is simultaneously the most theoretical and the most applied course in the ChBE curriculum. (Just ask the new engineer standing in the control room of a chemical plant trying to figure out what all those panels are telling him or her!) This course is not just about process control, but also about solidifying your background in math, physics, and computing. Tell us about a "must take" elective in your department (whether you teach it or not). Statistics and experimental design. I've said for years that there is no other course an engineer can take where he or she will get as much practical knowledge and as many useful tools for the effort expended. What was the hardest chemical and biomolecular engineering class you took as a student? The hardest course I ever took was a graduate course in transport phenomena. The textbook was by Bird, Stewart and Lightfoot, who also taught the class. Because I misread a bus schedule (I was new in town), I missed the first lecture. It was two weeks past the final exam before I caught up! |
Before joining our faculty as Department Chair in 2006, Dr. Schork was a development engineer with E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company, then a faculty member of Georgia Tech's School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering for over 25 years. His research interests and activities include polymer reaction engineering, involving the kinetics, mathematical modeling, reactor design and control of polymerization processes.
