George Chase Track Honors Revered Mentor with Eight Technical Presentations at FiltCon 2023
At this year’s FiltCon, the annual conference and trade show of the American Filtration and Separations Society, a special technical track is honoring the work of retired University of Akron professor George Chase for his lifetime of service to the filtration and separations profession.
FiltCon23 will take place May 1-3 in Louisville, KY – Register here.
The full track includes the following presentations:
Session I: Tuesday, May 2, 10:15 a.m.
Moderators: Dr. Saravanan Andan – Berry Global, and Dr. Sneha Swaminathan – Hollingsworth & Vose
How Nanofibers Can Impact the Future of Air Filtration – Jonathan Rajala – AAF Flanders
Lab Test Method for Dust Loading HEPA Filters – Sina Yousefi – AAF Flanders
System Testing of Respiratory Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Quantify Holistic Performance Metrics – Michael Omana, Sandia National Laboratories
Filtration Devices for Cleaner Urban Air – an Overview of the EU Project AeroSolfd – Martin Lehmann – MANN+HUMMEL GmbH
Session II: Tuesday, May 2, 3:30 pm.
Moderators: Dr. Sadhan Jana – The University of Akron, and Dr. Jon Rajala – AAF Flanders
UV Light and Filtration, Reduction of Infectious Aerosols – Nicole Sasher, AAF Flanders
Modelling the Performance of the EWC for Separation of Water from ULSD – Mohammad Assaleh, The University of Akron
Preliminary Investigation of Detrimental Effects of Salt Challenge Aerosols on PTFE-Based Filtration Media – Robert Green, NASA Glenn Research Center
A Technical Journey Toward Fuel-Water Separation – Jianyu Zhou, Parker Hannifin
In 2021, Professor George Chase retired from a long and distinguished career with the University of Akron, where he had served as Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering since 1989. For the four years leading up to his retirement, he also served as interim director of Research Initiatives and president of the University of Akron Research Foundation.
Read more about Professor Chase’s career in this previously published blog post.
“Dr. Chase was not just a wonderful teacher, he was an exceptional mentor,” said Dr. Sneha Swaminathan, Co-Chair of FiltCon 2023, former student of George Chase and active AFS member. Dr. Swaminathan explained how Dr. Chase’s classroom skills were just one part of why his students valued him so much, pointing out his passion for providing opportunities for professional exposure and visibility for their research. He also taught important job skills such as time management, project planning and personal responsibility, so that his students would be ready for work after graduation.
“One thing many of us really appreciated about him was his welcoming spirit,” said Dr. Swaminathan. “The program at The University of Akron is very internationally diverse, and all of us felt so included and part of a caring community because of how Dr. Chase and his family welcomed us and looked out for us.”
Beloved by his countless students over the years, Professor Chase advised over 60 M.S. and Ph.D. students, many of whom subsequently pursued careers in the filtration industry and have become active, lifelong members of AFS.