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Atlanta, GA | Posted: June 1, 2014
Kelly B. Smith, Marketing & Communication
Summary Sentence:
Schimming to receive PhD in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering with minor in Paper Science and Engineering
Full Summary:
No summary paragraph submitted.
Sarah McNew SchimmingSarah McNew Schimming is a 2014 candidate for a PhD in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering with a minor in Paper Science and Engineering. Her research is aimed at improving catalysts that will allow organic feedstocks, including wastes from the pulp and paper industry, to be converted to more reliable alternative fuels. Sarah's research is motivated by concerns about the supply of petroleum and the promise of biomass as an alternative energy-producing feedstock.
Pyrolysis oils can be produced from any kind of organic feedstock including waste streams from the forest products and agricultural industries. But many compounds in these pyrolysis oil mixtures are not stable enough to be transported and the resulting mixture contains chemicals that will impede direct use of the mixture as a fuel. Many of these unfavorable characteristics can be eliminated or mitigated using hydrodeoxygenation (HDO). Sarah's work focuses on developing and optimizing catalysts to promote HDO. HDO catalysts must have oxygen defect sites that will bind oxygenates and must be able to absorb and dissociate hydrogen. Her research investigates a method of synthesis and the composition of the catalysts to maximize effectiveness. Exploration of the method of synthesis and the composition is accomplished using a variety of physico-chemical techniques.
Her advisor, Dr. Carsten Sievers, praised Sarah for her work in his lab: "Sarah is a great, self-motivated, and detail-oriented graduate student. She is highly resourceful and does not shy away from solving problems that are outside of areas she previously worked in. These attributes made her an incredible asset for our young research group. She certainly did a great job in setting up our laboratory and establishing our research group. Presentations that she or I have given about her work are consistently very well received. In particular, we receive a lot of positive comments on the level of detail in her work. Her research is very thorough with a lot of attention to understanding the fundamentals of catalytic processes.”
Sarah also received her MS in Chemical Engineering and her BS in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering from Georgia Tech.
To see a poster of Sarah’s work, see ipst.gatech.edu/students/posters/2013/mcnew_sarah.pdf
