The Honeywell center at Virginia Tech is under the direction of Y. A. Liu, the Frank C. Vilbrandt Professor of Chemical Engineering. The Honeywell International Foundation established the center in 1996.
Supported by the center, chemical engineering faculty and students are collaborating on creative research with Honeywell staff. For example, research conducted by doctoral students Jay Khare and Kevin Seavey helped reduce the batch cycle time of a Honeywell process for producing high-value specialty films. In May 2002, Honeywell's production plant in Geismar, La., implemented these process changes, resulting in a significant revenue increase.
"Honeywell Specialty Materials has benefited much from their partnership with the department of chemical engineering, particularly with Professor Liu and his students," said Thomas Williams, Honeywell's senior technical manager for Process Technology.
The College of Engineering at Virginia Tech is internationally recognized for its excellence in 14 engineering disciplines and computer science. The college's 5,600 undergraduates benefit from an innovative curriculum that provides a "hands-on, minds-on" approach to engineering education, complementing classroom instruction with two unique design-and-build facilities and a strong Cooperative Education Program. With more than 50 research centers and numerous laboratories, the college offers its 2,000 graduate students opportunities in advanced fields of study such as biomedical engineering, state-of-the-art microelectronics and nanotechnology.