Incorporation Of Biological Materials Into An Introductory Materials Engineering Course

Brian Mitchell, Tulane University Brian S. Mitchell is Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also Associate Director of the Tulane Institute for Macromolecular Engineering and Science (TIMES). He graduated with High Distinction with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois-Urbana in 1986, and received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1987 and 1991, respectively. Nanostructured materials and materials processing are Brian’s primary research areas of interest. In particular, his research focuses on structure-property relationships in novel hybrid organic-inorganic nanocomposites, and high temperature structural materials. He has advised three Ph.D. and three M.S. students, and currently has four graduate and three undergraduate students performing research in these areas. His professional activities have included First Vice-Chair and Newsletter co-editor for the AIChE Materials Engineering and Science Division (MESD); Chair of the AIChE New Orleans Local Section; Chair of the AIChE 2004 Spring National Meeting General Arrangements Committee; session chair for numerous professional conferences; panel reviewer for the National Science Foundation; and Mentor for the Louis Stokes Louisiana Alliance for Minority Participation. Material and Energy Balances, Heat Transfer, Materials Science, Unit Operations Laboratory, and Statistics and Probability are some of the courses he has taught. He is also a Senator from Engineering to Tulane’s University Senate. In addition to his current teaching and research duties, his research experiences include an NSF-NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University Karlsruhe, a German Academic Exchange Fellowship at the University of Freiberg/Sachsen and the German Federal Materials Laboratory, and an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship at the German Aerospace Agency. He has also served as an industrial consultant to ExxonMobil, Laitrum, Inc. and LLB, Inc., and has secured over $1.0 M in external research funding. Brian has authored 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, 3 peer-reviewed conference proceedings, and one U.S Patent. He is also the author of a textbook entitled “Materials Engineering and Science for Chemical and Materials Engineers” that is published by John Wiley and Sons. In addition, he has given over 30 national and international presentations, including nine presentations to Louisiana elementary school children though the state’s “Speaking of Science” program.