News

inChemistry magazine, an ACS publication, interviewed Professor Rotavera on basics of combustion science and fundamentals of flames for an article titled Shining a Light on Candles.

Article

Matt Christianson gave a presentation in the Department of Chemistry as a part of the Physical Chemistry seminar series. His presentation, titled Combustion Chemistry of Cyclic Ether Radicals, is based on recent papers published in the International Journal of Chemical Kinetics.

Announcement

International Journal of Chemical Kinetics Article

The 5-year NSF CAREER project enables the Rotavera group to study reaction mechanisms of cyclic ether intermediates formed from low-temperature combustion. Major scientific goals of the project include understanding the role of cyclic ethers within the larger network of reactions unfolding during combustion, using experiments and computational modeling, and developing sub-mechanisms to improve the fidelity of detailed combustion models used for designing next-generation transportation systems.

The CAREER Program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.

Article

UGA Columns interviewed Professor Rotavera for its Faculty Spotlight feature to discuss his current research activities and how research provides relevant context for lecture topics in the classroom.

Article

Alanna Koritzke was selected by the University of Georgia as the 2020-2021 Beverly Hirsh Frank Graduate Fellow, which recognizes exceptional graduate-level research with an emphasis on interdisciplinary and emerging fields.

Anna Doner gave an RRHS seminar, titled ‘Examining Cyclic Ether Consumption in Low-Temperature Oxidation’.

Announcement

UGA Article

Three presentations were delivered from the Rotavera Group at the 2020 Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO) Symposium:

Kelsey Frandsen, Department of Chemistry
“Photolysis Lifetimes of Cyclic Ethers using Vacuum Ultraviolet Absorption Cross-Sections”

Tyler Hanson, College of Engineering
“Determination of Gas-Phase Molar Ratios of Saturated Vapor Produced from Binary Liquids”

Alex Weisel, College of Engineering
“Design of a Compact Heat Exchanger for Combustion Experiments using CFD”

CURO

2020 Book of Abstracts

Sam Hartness earned a University of Georgia GAIN Fellowship, which recognizes outstanding graduate students, from across the 17 Colleges and Schools of the University, pursuing degrees in fields that are critical to Georgia’s economic vitality. GAIN Fellows are chosen based on academic merit, excellence in research, and demonstration of leadership through outreach and other activities.

Dr. Isaac Ekoto, hosted by the Rotavera Group, is visiting the College of Engineering to deliver a seminar titled How Novel Low-Temperature Plasma Ignition Systems Can Enable Sustainable Transportation.

Seminar

Matthew Christianson and Professor Rotavera traveled to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to conduct experiments at the Chemical Dynamics Beamline of the Advanced Light Source (ALS) synchrotron using the multipliexed photoionization mass spectrometer (MPIMS) of Sandia National Laboratories.

Advanced Light Source

Chemical Dynamics Beamline

Sandia National Laboratories Combustion Research Facility

Alanna Koritzke was selected as a 2019-2020 STEM Chateaubriand Fellow. The Chateaubriand Fellowship is a grant offered by the Embassy of France in the United States, which supports outstanding Ph.D. students from American universities for collaborative research projects in France. Chateaubriand Fellows are selected through a merit-based competition, through a collaborative process involving expert evaluators in both countries.

The Chateaubriand Fellowship in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Biology-Health (STEM) for doctoral students aims to initiate or reinforce collaborations, partnerships or joint projects between French and American research teams. The Fellowship is offered by the Office for Science & Technology (OST) of the Embassy of France in partnership with American universities and French research organizations.

As a Chateaubriand Fellow, Alanna will work with Dr. Andrea Comandini of the Institut de Combustion Aérothermique Réactivité et Environnement (ICARE) at CNRS-Orléans on high-temperature biofuel oxidation chemistry.

Announcement

Chateaubriand Fellowship Program

ICARE – CNRS Orléans

Kelsey Frandsen received a 2019 CURO Fellowship to conduct mass spectrometry research on combustion intermediates. Each year, CURO awards 30 Research Fellowships from hundreds of applications to support University of Georgia undergraduates interested in pursuing intensive, immersive, faculty-mentored research during the Summer.

CURO

Alanna Koritzke received the 2019 Martin Reynolds Smith Award for the top research paper published in 2018 by a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry for her work on reaction mechanisms of cyclohexene oxidation published in the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute.

Paper

Three presentations were delivered from the Rotavera Group at the 2019 Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO) Symposium:

Kelsey Frandsen, Department of Chemistry
“Electronic Absorption Spectroscopy Measurements of Combustion Intermediates”

Sam Hartness, College of Engineering
“Chemical Kinetics Modeling of Biofuel Combustion”

Dylan Brown, College of Engineering
“Defining Uncertainty Bounds for Measurements of Gas Flow”

CURO

2019 Book of Abstracts

Jacob Davis is giving a presentation, titled Design of a High-Pressure Jet-Stirred Reactor Facility for Gas-Phase Chemical Kinetics, as a part of the 2018-2019 College of Engineering Lecture Series.

Announcement

Alanna Koritzke was awarded a U.S. Department of Transportation Fellowship from the Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program (DDETFP), which provides research support for graduate students pursuing degrees in transportation-related disciplines.

The DDETFP program advances the transportation workforce by helping to attract the nation’s brightest minds to the field of transportation to retain top talent in the U.S. transportation industry.

The University of Georgia breaks ground on a $65 million, 100,000-sqft. Interdisciplinary Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (ISTEM) Research Building to bolster collaborative research in high-impact areas including energy and the environment.

UGA Article

The University of Georgia (UGA) rose three spots to No. 13 in the U.S. News & World Report 2019 ranking of top public national universities. Georgia is one of only three states (including California and Virginia) with more than one institution in the top 15.

U.S. News & World Report Rankings (2019)

UGA Article

Jacob Davis earned a University of Georgia GAIN Fellowship, which recognizes 10 outstanding graduate students, from across the 17 Colleges and Schools of the University, pursuing degrees in fields that are critical to Georgia’s economic vitality. GAIN Fellows are chosen based on academic merit, excellence in research, and demonstration of leadership through outreach and other activities.

Anna Doner earned a GREAT Doctoral Fellowship, which is awarded to only 10 students across the 118 Ph.D. programs at the University of Georgia. GREAT Fellows are chosen from the most outstanding nominees who demonstrate superior potential to be productive and successful researchers in areas of need that support the research and scholarships strengths of the university.

Alex Larsson earned a Joel Terry Hunt Fellowship, awarded to one graduate student annually in the College of Engineering based on academic performance, high moral character, demonstrated community service, volunteering, and leadership activities.

Alanna Koritzke is giving a presentation in the Department of Chemistry as a part of the Analytical Chemistry seminar series. Her presentation, titled Probing QOOH-Mediated Reactions in Cyclohexene Oxidation using Photoionization Mass Spectrometry, is based on synchrotron experiments conducted on cyclohexene oxidation and focuses on the technique of photoionization mass spectrometry.

Announcement

Proceedings of the Combustion Institute Article

Professor Rotavera is visiting the Laser Chemistry, Spectroscopy and Dynamics Group in the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol and giving a seminar titled Functional Group Effects on Reaction Mechanisms in Biofuel Oxidation.

Alanna Koritzke gives RRHS seminar, titled ‘Combustion Chemistry of Advanced Biofuels’.

Announcement

UGA Article

For the second time in three years, the University of Georgia has been named the top tier one research institution in the nation in the 2018-2019 rankings.

UGA Article

Professor Rotavera is visiting the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University and giving a seminar titled Combustion Chemistry of Advanced Biofuels.

Seminar

Article

Three presentations were delivered from the Rotavera Group at the 2018 Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO) Symposium:

Caleb Wiff, College of Engineering
“Measurements of Pre-Heater Temperature-Dependence on Flow Rates”

Adam Jackson, College of Engineering
“Electronically Controlled Actuator for Slow Compression of Combustion Gases”

Zachary Rinehart, College of Engineering
“Modeling Functional Group Effects on Combustion: n-Butane, 1-Butanol, and Butanone”

CURO

2018 Book of Abstracts

Dr. Lenny Sheps, hosted by the Rotavera Group, is visiting the Department of Chemistry to deliver a seminar titled Unraveling Complex Pressure-Dependent Reaction Mechanisms in Autoignition and in Atmospheric Chemistry.

Seminar

Professor Rotavera is visiting the Department of Chemistry at West Virginia University and giving a seminar titled Ring-Opening Reactions of R and QOOH Radicals in Cyclic Hydrocarbons: Cyclohexene and Tetrahydropyran.

Seminar

Jacob Davis is giving a presentation in the Reaction Kinetics Colloquium at the Spring 2018 meeting of the Eastern States Section of the Combustion Institute (ESSCI) held at The Pennsylvania State University next March. The presentation, titled Effects of sp² Carbon on Low-Temperature Oxidation of Cyclic Hydrocarbons, is based on synchrotron experiments conducted on cyclohexene oxidation.

Abstract

2018 Spring ESSCI Meeting

Jacob Davis, Alanna Koritzke, and Professor Rotavera travelled to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to conduct experiments at the Chemical Dynamics Beamline of the Advanced Light Source (ALS) synchrotron using the multipliexed photoionization mass spectrometer (MPIMS) of Sandia National Laboratories.

Advanced Light Source

Chemical Dynamics Beamline

Sandia National Laboratories Combustion Research Facility

SECU, the academic initiative of the Southeastern Conference, administers the SEC Faculty Travel Program, which facilitates faculty members to travel to other SEC universities to exchange ideas, develop grant proposals, and deliver lectures. Professor Rotavera is scheduled to visit Texas A&M University next Spring.

SEC Article

2017-2018 SECU Participants

Press Release

U.S. News & World Report named UGA No. 16 on its list of 2018 Best Public Universities, up two spots from last year.

U.S. News & World Report Rankings (2018)

UGA Article

Jacob Davis gives RRHS seminar, titled ‘Fundamentals of Combustion Science’.

Announcement

UGA Article

The New York Times once again ranks the University of Georgia 10th among the nation’s top public universities based on its commitment to economic diversity.

UGA Article

New York Times Article

The College of Engineering at the University of Georgia celebrates its five-year anniversary and plans the next phase of its evolution following immense growth in all areas — including enrollment, research, placement, and corporate partnerships.

UGA Article

The Student Veterans Resource Center (SVRC) at the University of Georgia, led by Ted Barco, USAF Lt Col. (ret.), selected Professor Rotavera as a Distinguished Fellow. The SVRC, ranks in the Top 5 of Tier 1 Research Universities for supporting student veterans and offers wide-ranging programs, advocacy, and professional development opportunities.

Professor Rotavera and colleagues from The Combustion Institute visited Capitol Hill for meetings with Congressional Staff, including the offices of Representatives Jody Hice and Johnny Isakson and Senator David Perdue, to discuss the importance of sustained science funding and its role in issues related to energy independence, climate change, and the economy.

Combustion Institute Article

UGA is one of only 16 institutions included among the top Fulbright student and scholar producers, which were announced today by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and highlighted in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

UGA Article

Chronicle of Higher Education