UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 40, Page 1
August 29, 1996
Colburn ready for fall; new chair announced

     A new chairperson will take over administration of the Department
of Chemical Engineering just as the renovation and expansion of
Colburn Laboratory are completed. The $22 million project includes the
wrap-around addition and the renovation of the original building, home
to the department since it was built in 1968.
     As of July 1, Eric W. Kaler, professor of chemical engineering,
was appointed chairperson, succeeding Michael T. Klein, Elizabeth Inez
Kelley Professor of Chemical Engineering, who will be heading back to
teaching and research.
     The Colburn Laboratory renovation focused both on the quality and
the quantity of space to be added. Research laboratories, in which
both graduate and undergraduate students are trained, must now have
utility, safety and physical features that were unexpected when the
building was originally constructed, Klein said.
     New technology-driven and/or government-mandated needs
incorporated into the building project included improved ventilation,
enhanced electrical power, vibration isolation, safety (sprinklers and
access), gas handling, cooling water and large equipment.
     "Modern facilities and sophisticated instrumentation are
essential to the practice of modern chemical engineering," explained
Klein.
     The University has long been recognized for its excellence in
chemical engineering and has consistently been ranked among the top 10
programs in the country, including those at Princeton and Stanford
universities and the University of Wisconsin.
     "We're a top 10 department," Klein said. "Compared to the
competition, we had to ask ourselves whether we had the space to
conduct the teaching and research that would enhance our ranking. Five
or six years ago, the answer to that question was no."
     Kaler, who has overseen the daily operation of the building
project for the past several years, explained the importance of such
criteria as the number of full-time faculty, the total lab area and
the lab area per faculty member in comparing schools for ranking.
     "With 21 full-time faculty in 1989-90, when we first began
planning for the expansion and renovation," he said, "we were above
the average of about 16 for the top 10 schools. In total lab area, we
were close to average, but in terms of lab area per faculty members,
we had less than 1,100 square feet, while the average was more than
1,400."
     Kaler also pointed out that the number of faculty has just about
doubled since 1968, and the work conducted now takes up more space per
faculty member. The building project has increased the department's
office, conference and laboratory facilities from 60,000 to 105,000
square feet.
     The first phase of construction extended all four floors of the
building to add laboratories, offices and support space. The second
phase involved renovation of existing laboratories, which also
consolidated faculty and administrative office space in a central
location to form a logical arrangement of departmental organization
and support.
     Of the $22 million cost for the project, $15 million was provided
by the state of Delaware over a four-year period. The remaining $7 was
received from private sources, including companies, foundations,
alumni donors and friends.
     Klein received his bachelor's degree from the University of
Delaware in 1977 and earned his doctorate from the Massachusettes
Institute of Technology. He joined the UD faculty in 1981 and received
a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award in
1985. He was appointed chairperson of the Department of Chemical
Engineering in 1991 and Elizabeth Inez Kelley Professor in 1996.