Jan 29, 2009 - Claremont, Calif. - Harvey Mudd College Assistant Professor of Engineering Nancy Lape has been been awarded a $404,589 National Science Foundation CAREER grant for her project “Tailoring Free Volume in Nanocomposite Gas Separation Membranes.” The project will be funded over the next five years.

“CAREER grants are among the most competitive in the nation, and the fact that Professor Lape was awarded one is a testimony to the high quality of her research and the energy and commitment she brings to her teaching,” said Robert Cave, vice president of academic affairs and dean of faculty. “A significant number of our students will reap the benefits of this award, not to mention the important scientific work that will flow from her studies. She is to be congratulated.”

With an increase in environmental awareness and rising energy costs, traditional gas separation methods, such as absorption and cryogenic distillation, are becoming less attractive, while demand is increasing for solvent-free, energy-efficient membrane separation processes. An ideal membrane would combine the cost, ease of processing, and flexibility of polymeric membranes with the high permeabilities and selectivities of inorganic membranes.

The main goal of Lape’s research is to address the questions raised via theory and experiments and use the findings to tailor free volume, and therefore gas separation properties, of impermeable inorganic/polymer composite membranes for gas separations.

The project will systematically investigate the effects of three key factors in composite membranes composed of impermeable inorganic particles in an organic polymer matrix: (1) primary particle and aggregate size, (2) polymer chain rigidity and (3) interfacial effects. To do so, Lape will use a four-pronged approach involving composite membrane formation, gas permeation tests, composite characterization and molecular modeling.

The educational goals of the project are centered on two aspects: course and educational method developments, and an integrated undergraduate research and multi-tiered mentoring program. Lape will also develop a new course aimed at HMC chemistry and engineering students in polymer chemistry and engineering, including experimental modules in the area of the research, in addition to traditional areas of polymer synthesis, physics and characterization methods.

A major goal of this project is to use this research to train undergraduate and high school students in independent research and widen the pipeline of students, particularly those from underrepresented groups entering STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) research careers.

Lape recently launched the Patton and Claire Lewis Fellowship in Engineering Professional Practice, for which she serves as faculty director. She designed this endowed fellowship program to give HMC students experience in professional laboratory and industrial settings with structured mentoring, lunches with current professionals in various engineering fields, and a strong peer cohort group for discussion of professional practice issues such as ethics, rigor and the interdisciplinary nature of professional work.

In addition to the technical results of this research, the models developed for undergraduate and high school student research and mentoring, with some measure of their effectiveness, will be disseminated in publications and presentations at conferences such as the AIChE and American Society of Engineering Education annual meetings, where undergraduates will give poster and oral presentations with Lape.