Page 3 - CEMS Winter 2022 Newsletter

CEMS NEWS
CEMS welcomes new staff & faculty
Eric Braam joined the Department in December 2021 as a Communications Specialist. His professional background includes several years working in the graphic design and videography fields. After spending two years studying film at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, he finished his education at the University of Minnesota with a BA in Studies in Cinema and Media Culture. In his free time, he
Now, his work consists of supporting 3M’s sustainability initiatives by designing and optimizing 3M chemical manufacturing systems that are created to reduce water and air waste emissions significantly using standard and novel chemical engineering operations.
Eric Braam
Stephanie Pedersen joined CEMS in December 2021
as a Research Finance Professional. She comes from within the University and transferred from the School
of Dentistry where she was
the Revenue Cycle Insurance Supervisor. She spent several years at a non-profit and in real estate before starting her career in higher education. She enjoys practicing martial arts, playing the card game Magic the Gathering, collecting antique rugs and reading.
Steve Schmit (PhD ChE
’05) was appointed as an
adjunct assistant professor
for Spring semester 2022.
Under the advisement of
Regents Professor Emeritus
Lanny Schmidt, he studied
hydrogen generation in short-
contact time autothermal
reactors from ammonia.
For the past 23 years he
has worked at Gradient
Technology where he is the
Chief Technology Officer. At
Gradient Technology, he is
involved with the development and implementation of demilitarization technology for the U.S. Department of Defense. This work involves recovery and recycling of energetic materials from obsolete munitions. He also has
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enjoys writing and shooting short films, traveling to places warmer than Minnesota, and going out to the movies.
Christopher Haas was appointed as an adjunct assistant professor for Spring semester 2022. He is also an Engineering Fellow for the University of St Thomas School of Engineering and
a full-time Manufacturing Technology Specialist with 3M. Dr. Haas has over 20 years of industry experience at 3M and Gemalto.
His early corporate research
work included processing
biodegradable/renewable
resource polymers, foams, and oriented films before spending nearly two decades focused mainly on developing currency, passport, and identification card products, including novel currency substrates, passport security features, and card technologies. His products have generated over $250 million worth of revenue and eighteen issued patents.
Stephanie Pedersen
Christopher Haas
Steve Schmit
CEMSnews Winter 2022 3