Page 24 - CEMS News Summer 2020

ALUMNI NEWS
Adapting continued from page 21 A Not-so-new Normal
Jaewook Nam
Jaewook Nam (PhD ChE ’09), Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Seoul National University in Korea, echoed the importance of technology, invention, and lifelong learning to cope with these challenging times.
“Here in Korea, just like everywhere else in the world, social distancing, quarantine, and isolation have become so
popular that everybody knows
their importance. The other famous keywords, especially for academia, are virtual
classrooms and virtual meetings. Some people say that it is the “new normal” for teaching and advising, but they are not “new” to me.
During my studies at the U of M in the middle of 2007, one of my advisors, Professor Skip Scriven, passed away. I had another advisor, Professor Marcio Carvalho (PhD ChE ’96), but he was not based in Minnesota (he is on the faculty at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).
At this point, I have to say that I owe a lot to him and my colleagues, especially Kris Tjiptowidjojo (PhD ChE ’09) and Alex Lee (PhD ChE ’10), for my degree.
Because of the physical distance, Marcio decided to use the telephone to advise me. Yes, this was still a “virtual” meeting without any cutting-edge technology, such as “share-screen” or “annotations.” At the beginning, it was tough for me as an international graduate student. Yet I realized that that experience gave me a new “opportunity” to improve my communication and document preparation skills, especially in making “good-looking” and concise presentation slides with computers. These skills are beneficial for my work as a professor.
I love to share this story with my own students and colleagues these days. I believe that we can see opportunity in crisis. Perhaps this is the right time to familiarize oneself with recent technical advances, especially network-related technologies. They will become a new standard like the telephone was previously.”
Ray Neff and Guangzhao Mao
A Global University
Guangzhao Mao (PhD ChE ’94) and Ray Neff (PhD ChE ’95) quickly adapted to new surroundings, moving from Detroit, Michigan to Sydney, Australia just ahead of the pandemic.
“The major motivations for Guangzhao to take the role of Head of School of UNSW Chemical Engineering were the University’s ambitious plan to make it Australia’s Global University, and its brand new, state-of-the-art chemical engineering building.
However, COVID-19 poses significant challenges to
her plan to improve international collaborations and exchanges. Like many universities worldwide, some international students were not able to return to campus. This created immediate problems and a crisis within
her School and University. UNSW, already a leader in online education, quickly adapted to the new reality, and transitioned smoothly from face-to-face teaching to online learning. Working closely with the School’s research and laboratory safety leadership teams, the School quickly
put in place a set of guidelines to ensure continued research productivity and safety during COVID-19 that was subsequently adopted by the whole University.
After 23 years with BASF, I found a position with UNSW, leading the research activities for Flame Security International (FSI). FSI is a startup company located on campus which develops fire-protection products and
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