Chemical Engineering Professor James Ferri Receives Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for Research at German Institute

James Ferri, assistant professor of chemical engineering, has received a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation that will support 18 months of research over three years at the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interface Science in Golm-Potsdam, Germany, near Berlin.

The Humboldt Foundation grants fellowships and awards to highly qualified scholars and scientists of all nationalities, enabling them to conduct research in Germany, as well as fellowships to German scholars for research abroad. A fellowship from the foundation includes a cultural tour of Germany, conference and travel allowances, and an annual meeting highlighted by a reception given by the president of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Ferri’s project focuses on the materials science of nano-scale films — those at the atomic, molecular or macromolecular level — synthesized using layer-by-layer adsorption of oppositely charged polymers. These new materials are finding application as sustained drug delivery vehicles; as photonic crystals used in telecommunications, detector technologies, and lasers; and in biotechnology and chemical catalyst areas. His research is aimed at characterizing the kinetics of the self-assembly process in molecules and the mechanical properties of these thin films under dynamic deformation conditions.

He is working with the groups of Reinhard Miller, a prominent researcher in the field of interfacial dynamics and leader of the Soluble Monolayers Group at the Max Planck Institute, and Helmuth Möhwald, director of the institute. The first research period began last month and will continue through August 2005, and the second will take place June-August 2006.

The institute awarded Ferri a travel grant to conduct research there in January 2003. He and Miller worked on a technique by which very small droplets (a fraction of one millionth of a milliliter) can be deposited onto a larger droplet (one thousandth of a milliliter) in order to study the interfacial behavior of lipids, the building blocks of biological cell membranes. He also received a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service for a three-month research visit at the institute in 2002.

Ferri has involved Lafayette chemical engineering majors in the research programs supported by these grants. For example, Bill Pyrz ’04of Harleysville, Pa., conducted yearlong honors research on the self-assembly of molecules to determine the effect those structures have on the properties of certain compounds. He used computer simulations to study the behavior of model chemical molecules called dimers by varying their density and interaction energies. Pyrz presented findings that may have implications for a number of technologies at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research in Indianapolis and an American Institute of Chemical Engineers conference hosted by Cornell University.

“This is the first important step in research to determine how molecules establish their complex geometric structures,” explains Ferri. “Bill’s research ultimately leads to methods to determine sustained delivery of drug delivery systems. For example, after taking a pill, there’s an initial spike in medicine administered followed by a decrease as the drug is released in the body. The ultimate goal is to synthesize drugs so they are delivered in a more effective and constant manner.”

Jessica Whitman ’05 (Fruitland, Md.) used a mathematical method called lattice Monte Carlo simulation in research with Ferri to learn what roles molecularinteractions play in how chemical compounds assemble themselves.

“Her work will allow us to determine the energy parameters that drive the transitions between spherical, cylindrical, and lamellar (layered) structures,” says Ferri. “[She worked] at a really high level on this research.”

They collaborated through Lafayette’s distinctive EXCEL Scholars program, in which students conduct research with faculty while earning a stipend. The program has helped to make Lafayette a national leader in undergraduate research. Many of the more than 160 students who participate in EXCEL each year go on to publish papers in scholarly journals and/or present their research at conferences.

“Dr. Ferri has shown me that there are countless things that can be done with a degree in chemical engineering, including pursuing a computer-related field,” says Whitman. “This research opportunity has shown me that there are many options for graduate studies for a student with an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering.”

Students praise Ferri as a valuable teacher and mentor who includes them in his research program and guides them in their own research projects. “Professor Ferri is very dedicated and driven,” says Pyrz. “He’s easy to approach and very knowledgeable about this field. He is motivated and passionate about his work and very qualified.”

He was “a role model for my academic future,” says Lauren Sefcik ’04 (Saddle Brook, N.J.), the second Lafayette chemical engineering major in two years to receive a Graduate Fellowship from the National Science Foundation, which she will use to pursue a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering. “His creative and dedicated teaching style has caused me to work harder and search further for the answers to my questions. He definitely presents his students with an intellectual challenge that, if accepted with the right attitude, will lead to successThe presence of dedicated and attentive faculty at Lafayette, such as Professor Ferri, allows students to recognize their potential and be rewarded for their achievements.”

He mentored Daniel Connolly ’02(Meadville, Pa.), who in his senior year as a chemical engineering major won first prize for his research paper at the mid-Atlantic regional conference of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Connolly presented his work at the institute’s national meeting in Indianapolis, Ind., where it earned second place in the AIChE National Student Paper Competition. He and Ferri also presented the paper at Rohm and Haas in Spring House, Pa., and at the monthly meeting of the Lehigh Valley Section of the Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society. The paper was based on a yearlong research project that Connolly completed under Ferri’s supervision, which allowed him to graduate with honors.

“He always took the time to go through a derivation or a concept and explain it when I didn’t understand it completely,” says Connolly, a process engineer in digital imaging for Rohm and Haas Co.

At the 18th annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research, chemical engineering major Garret Nicodemus ’04(Lake Charles, La.) presented information from an honors thesis project guided by Ferri that dealt with encapsulating living cells. The research originated from their EXCEL Scholars collaboration.

“Professor Ferri has been a wonderful adviser and friend,” says Nicodemus, who will study chemical engineering and bioengineering at the University of Colorado this fall. “He has been invaluable. He is patient, confident in me and my work, and motivational.”

Also providing assistance was chemical engineering major Gabriella Engelhart ’05 (York, Pa.), one of two Lafayette students this year among 80 students nationally to receive Morris K. Udall Scholarships and a recipient of a national Goldwater Scholarship.

Ferri has published his research in AIChE conference and meeting proceedings and publications such as Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, Colloids and Surfaces, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, and Chemical Engineering Education. He received recognition as coauthor of the paper judged third best among those submitted to an American Society for Engineering Education regional meeting in West Point, N.Y. He has given talks at AIChE annual meetings, ACS Colloid and Surface Science Symposia, a Society of Formulation Chemists Meeting, and a forum sponsored by BASF Corp. in Germany.

A former research chemist at American Cynamid in Princeton, N.J., Ferri joined Lafayette’s faculty in January 2001. His teaching areas include momentum, heat, and mass transfer, separations processes, and laboratory applications. His research interests include interfacial phenomena, bioengineering, and applied math. He received a bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md.

NSF Graduate Fellowship. Lauren Sefcik ’04 received a three-year Graduate Fellowship from the National Science Foundation. One of her Lafayette mentors is James Ferri, assistant professor of chemical engineering.