OU Engineering

October 26, 2010 Contact: Jana Smith, Director Strategic Communications for R&D University of Oklahoma 405-325-1322; jana.smith@ou.edu Norman, Okla.—A University of Oklahoma research team recently received a $2.9 million grant from the Department of Energy Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research to establish a new Center for Interfacial Reaction Engineering, which will focus on applications of biofuel and fossil fuel upgrading using a revolutionary concept developed at OU. Daniel Resasco, OU professor in the School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering, will direct activities of the multi-institutional project, which includes team members Jeffrey Harwell and Friederike Jentoft, OU professors with expertise in colloidal chemistry and catalysis; Sanwu Wang, University of Tulsa professor with expertise in theoretical modeling of interfaces; and Khaled Gasem, Oklahoma State University professor with expertise in thermodynamic properties. According to Resasco

FROM STAFF REPORTS Oklahoman Published: October 26, 2010 NORMAN — Oklahoma native William Pogue, an astronaut who spent 84 days orbiting Earth aboard Skylab, will give a free public chat at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the National Weather Center, 120 David L. Boren Blvd., on University of Oklahoma's south research campus. Pogue will share his experiences as an astronaut and answer questions. Pogue was command module pilot for Skylab 4, the third and final manned flight to the Skylab space station. He spent 84 days orbiting Earth and made two spacewalks that totaled 13 hours, 31 minutes. He also will present a $10,000 Astronaut Scholarship to OU senior Heather Hollen during his visit. The Astronaut Scholarship is the nation's largest scholarship awarded to science and engineering undergraduate students based solely on merit.

OU Daily By Elizabeth Oberg/Contributing Writer Monday, October 18, 2010 A panel of five jurors participated in OU’s WaTER Symposium to discuss key issues about solving the world’s major water problems on Friday. Estimating more than 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation, the World Health Organization also estimates more than 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water. The WaTER Center’s mission is “to help solve drinking water and sanitation challenges for impoverished regions in developing countries through innovative teaching and research initiatives,” according to its brochure. “The only way to tackle a tough problem is to jump in and take it on one thing at a time. It can be done but it’s going to take all of us to contribute to the cause,” said Randy Kolar, associative director of the WaTER Center. Most of the symposium focused on the five panelists addressing the issues of the global water and sanitation crisis and the work they do, along with discussing