GLCACS 18th Annual Conference - Career Development for Chemists and Chemical Engineers

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• Time & Location:

May 17th 2014 (Saturday) 8:45-20:00

Abbott Laboratories

200 Abbott Park Road, Abbott Park, IL 60064

• Eevent Agenda:

8:45-9:00 Registration

9:00-9:20 Networking for Research/Career & Presentation Preparation

9:20-9:30 Opening Remarks (Ms. Aimee Valeroso and Dr. Norman Li)

9:30-10:00 Competitive Growth Planning

Ms. Cora Buckner (Sr. Manager, Corporate Talent Acquisition, Abbott)

10:00-10:30 Advancing the AbbVie Pipeline

Dr. Shuhong Zhang (Vice President, Process R&D, AbbVie Inc.)

10:30-10:45 Break

10:45-12:00 Student Research Presentation Competition I

12:00-13:30 Career fair, Lunch Break, and Networking

13:30-14:00 Fundamentals and Applications of Chromatography

Dr. Nien-Hwa Linda Wang (Professor of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University)

14:00-14:30 Engineering Protein Assemblies for Health and Energy

Dr. Fei Wen (Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan)

14:30-15:00 Academic Careers in Chemical Engineering

Dr. Elias Frances (Professor of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University)

15:00-15:15 Break

15:15-15:45 Career Development in Chemical Industry

Dr. Haiyan Wang (R&D Manager, Materials Characterization, Honeywell UOP)

15:45-16:45 Student Research Presentation Competition II

16:45-17:10 Presentation Contest Ballot Casting and Break

17:10-17:30 Presentation Awards and Closing Remark

18:00-20:00 Dinner Reception

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• Guest Speakers:

Competitive Growth Planning - Ms. Cora Buckner

Ms. Cora Buckner

Sr. Manager, Global University Relations & Intern Programs, Corporate Talent

Acquisition, Abbott

Abstract

From her longtime roles in talent acquisition, diversity recruiting and commercial sourcing for big corporations like Abbott, Ms. Cora Buckner will share her perspective on the best practices for professionals to plan and manage their career growth in the heavily competitive market place.

Biography

Cora is the Senior Manager, Global University Relationships & Intern Programs with Abbott. In this role, Cora is responsible for recruiting entry-level talent into the organization and managing the intern experience on-site globally. Prior to her current role, Cora was Senior Manager of Diversity Recruitment. She was responsible for building and maintaining alliances with numerous diverse organizations. Prior to

joining Abbott’s Diversity Recruitment group, Cora managed the commercial sourcing function for the company. As part of the sourcing group, she was responsible for bring external marketing talent into the company. Before joining Abbott in 2005, Cora held a variety of recruiting positions in the staffing industry.

Cora has a B.A. in Communications and has obtained various staffing related certifications. She currently resides in northern Illinois with her family.

Advancing the AbbVie Pipeline - Dr. Shuhong Zhang

Dr. Shuhong Zhang

Vice President, Process R&D, Development Sciences, AbbVie Inc.

Abstract

This talk will provide a brief overview on Abbvie as a biopharmaceutical company and discuss the challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry and our strategies to help advance the Abbvie pipeline.

Biography

Shuhong Zhang is the Vice President of Process R&D, at Abbvie Research & Development. Shuhong did her undergraduate studies in Chemistry at Beijing University and came to the United States to pursue graduate research opportunities. She worked at Pfizer as an organic chemist from 1995 to 1998 developing processes to enable preparation of preclinical and clinical candidates.

Shuhong joined Yale University in 1998 to pursue her Ph.D. research in Chemical Engineering, in the area of biomolecule separation and mechanistic modeling. After graduated from Yale in 2001, she re-joined Pfizer as the head of an Analytical Development group supporting drug substance and formulation development at Pfizer’s Global Biologics area.

Shuhong started her Abbvie/Abbott career in 2005 as a project leader of Analytical Chemistry in Process R&D and has held positions as the head of Analytical Chemistry and Pilot Plant in the same area. She became the head of Process R&D in 2012. Her area is responsible to develop the chemical processes and prepare active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) to enable clinical trials, toxicology studies and drug

product development for the advancement of Abbvie’s pipeline.

Fundamentals and Applications of Chromatography - Dr. Nien-Hwa Linda Wang

Dr. Nien-Hwa Linda Wang

Professor, School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University.

Abstract

Chromatography processes are highly versatile and selective separation techniques. They have been used for the analysis and purification of many chemicals and biochemicals in foods, fuels, wastes, and pharmaceuticals. In this talk, I will explain the fundamental principles of chromatography and a continuous process called simulated moving bed chromatography (SMB). I will discuss a new general method for designing affinity chromatography processes and the applications of this method for the production of a medical isotope. I will also briefly explain how we developed a tandem SMB for insulin purification.

Biography

Dr. Nien-Hwa Linda Wang has been a professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University since 1980. She received her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1978. She is internationally known for her research contributions in mass transfer, adsorption, multi-component chromatography, and simulated moving beds. The results were described in more than 120 journal articles,

six book chapters, two patents, and two current patent applications. She has given more than 100 invited lectures and more than 200 presentations in national and international meetings. She has developed several new chromatography and simulated moving bed technologies that are applicable to the design of a wide

range of adsorption and chromatography processes. She was a Director (2001-2004) and the Chair (2013) of the Separation Division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and a Director of the International Adsorption Society (2001-2007). She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. She has served as a consultant to NIH, NSF, Oak Ridge National Laboratories, Argonne National Laboratories, and more than 20

chemical, food, and pharmaceutical companies.

Engineering Protein Assemblies for Health and Energy - Dr. Fei Wen

Dr. Fei Wen

Dow Corning Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Abstract

Protein engineering, a relatively young field, has played a pivotal role in bringing biotechnology to the forefront of academic research and industrial practice. By focusing on the engineering of single target proteins, a great number of value-added natural and unnatural proteins have been successfully generated and commercialized, such as monoclonal antibodies, industrial enzymes, protein pharmaceuticals, etc.

Looking forward to address challenges in more complex systems, the next generation protein engineering strategies that focus on the function of protein assemblies are desired. I discuss how these novel strategies will lead to enabling technologies in human health and sustainable energy, including infectious disease vaccination, drug delivery, cancer immunotherapy, immune monitoring, and waste-to-biofuel conversion.

Biography

Fei Wen joined the University of Michigan in 2012 after doing postdoctoral research with Mark M. Davis at Stanford University. She received her PhD from the University of Illinois in 2010 and her BS degree from Tsinghua University in China in 2003, both in chemical engineering. She has been named the Dow Corning Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering in 2014. Wen's research focuses on developing genetic and protein engineering strategies to address challenges in energy and human health,

including waste-to-biofuel conversion, cancer immunotherapy, infectious disease vaccination, and immune phenotyping.

Academic Careers in Chemical Engineering - Dr. Elias I. Frances

Dr. Elias I. Frances

Professor, School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University

Abstract

Chemical engineering departments in the US, China, and elsewhere offer many and various opportunities for academic careers as professors. Although most of these professors have obtained B. S. and Ph. D. degrees in chemical engineering, many have obtained one or both of their degrees in Chemistry or Physics. Many have also obtained additional research experience as post-doctoral fellows in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Physics, Bioengineering, or other fields. All professors of chemical engineering are expected to develop a good appreciation of the current undergraduate and graduate chemical engineering curriculum. They are expected to be active in teaching, research, and service. Teaching involves class lectures and

individual training of graduate and undergraduate students in innovative research which furthers knowledge in basic engineering or chemical sciences and their applications to practical problems. Teaching involves developing curricular materials and new teaching methods. Most professors are expected to develop a nationally or internationally recognized research program. To do so, they are usually helped by

their department to get started. Then they are expected to apply for external funding from government agencies or industrial companies. Funding should cover most of the costs of the graduate and post-doctoral students’ stipends and tuition, equipment, supplies, travel expenses, some university infrastructure and maintenance expenses, the professor’s summer salaries, and even part of the professor’s academic year

salary. In most research areas professors do or supervise laboratory experimentation, mathematical modeling, computation, or a combination of them. Professors are expected to disseminate their newly acquired research results by publications in research or teaching journals and in book chapters, and by presentations to national and international meetings. Expert written and oral communication skills are quite important. Activities in professional societies are encouraged. Other service activities include peer- reviewing of journal manuscripts submitted for publication and research proposals. Recently an increasing number of professors are also involved in development of intellectual property (patents), and even starting-up companies for developing and commercializing their inventions. Some suggestions on how to succeed in obtaining an academic position and in the academic career will be discussed.

Biography

Professor Franses has obtained two chemical engineering degrees: a B. S. (or “diploma”) in 1974 from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, and a Ph. D. in 1979 from the University of Minnesota. Since 1979 he has worked for Purdue University continuously, except for one year, where he worked in Washington, DC. From September 1990 to August 1991, he was appointed as a program manager for

funding research proposals on Interfacial, Transport, and Separation Processes of the Division of Chemical and Thermal Systems at the National Science Foundation. He was the director of the Purdue chemical engineering undergraduate program from 2004 to 2006. He has taught courses for thousands of undergraduate students and hundreds of graduate students, on thermodynamics, chemical engineering laboratory, reaction engineering, colloidal and interfacial phenomena, applied mathematics, and transport

phenomena. For several of these courses he developed extensive curricular materials. He recently wrote an undergraduate textbook on “Thermodynamics with Chemical Engineering Applications.” It is expected to be available in August 2014 from the Cambridge University Press. He plans to use it for the first time in the fall of 2014 in a sophomore chemical engineering course. He has advised or co-advised 26 Ph. D.

students and 6 Masters students. He has received grants from various sources, including the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Health, the Hewlett-Packard Company, and Chevron Corporation. His research areas include: surface, thermodynamic, and transport properties of aqueous solutions and dispersions of surfactants, lipids, and proteins; application to lung surfactants for treating the respiratory disease syndrome of premature infants; properties of thin films of proteins, surfactants, or polymers; chromatographic separations of chiral molecules; and stability of dispersions against aggregation and sedimentation. He has co-authored 140 refereed publications in journals or books. He has published

three book chapters. He has co-edited a book in 1987. He has reviewed numerous manuscripts and research proposals. He was at the advisory board of the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science from 1999 to 2001. From 1993 to 1996 he was an editor of the journal Colloids and Surfaces A, Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects.

Career Development in Chemical Industry - Dr. Haiyan Wang

Dr. Haiyan Wang

R&D Manager, Materials Characterization, Honeywell UOP

Abstract

The career market for the chemical industry in the United States has become more and more competitive. Although depression in the pharmaceutical industry has taken the major blame, outsourcing is another foreseeable threat. The boom in the shale gas industry has created more jobs but the overall impact appears to be limited. This talk will first give an overview on the job market of the chemical industry and then illustrate the career development based on my own experience.

Biography

Haiyan Wang received his BS degree in Chemistry from Xiamen University in 1998 and his PhD degree in Physical Chemistry from University of Florida in 2005. He then worked as a research scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory until November 2007 when he joined the Materials Characterization department at UOP. Currently, he focuses on application of advanced analytical tools such as two dimensional comprehensive gas chromatography and high resolution mass spectrometry in petroleum industry.

Conference brochure

• Graduate Research Presentation Contest Awardees: