Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for February
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Optimization of Oil and Gas Recovery by Closer Reservoir Monitoring
Thu, Feb 14, 2008 @ 12:45 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Lyman Handy Colloquium SeriesPresentsRoland Horne
from
Stanford UniversityAbstractThe permanent downhole pressure gauge is a class of tool recently harnessed in the industry. These tools are installed during the well completion and provide a continuous record of pressure changes during production. Permanent downhole gauges have the potential to provide more information than the traditional well test, which is carried out for a relatively short duration. Permanent downhole gauges may provide useful information regarding changes in reservoir properties or well condition with time as reservoir is produced.However interpretation of permanent downhole gauge data is a new problem. Firstly, unlike the traditional well test where "disturbances" in reservoir (i.e. rates) are created and pressure and rates are both known, in the record from the permanent downhole gauge the changes in rates may not be properly known. Moreover, the dynamic changes in the reservoir, along with changes in the flowing temperature or in the gauge itself, make the data more complicated to interpret.Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Petra Pearce Sapir
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From Nature and back again... Giving new life to materials for energy, electronics and the environme
Tue, Feb 19, 2008 @ 03:30 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
PresentingThe Spitzer LecturewithProfessor Angela M. BelcherDepartment of Materials Science, Engineering
and Biological EngineeringMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge. MAAbstractOrganisms have been making exquisite inorganic materials for over 500 million years. Although these materials have many desired physical properties such as strength, regularity, and environmental benign processing, the types of materials that organisms have evolved to work with are limited. However, there are many properties of living systems that could be potentially harnessed by researchers to make advanced technologies that are smarter, more adaptable, and that are synthesized to be compatible with the environment. One approach to designing future technologies which have some of the properties that living organisms use so well, is to evolve organisms to work with a more diverse set of building blocks. These materials could be designed to address many scientific and technological problems in electronics, military, medicine, and energy applications. Examples include a virus enabled lithium ion rechargeable battery we recently built that has many improved properties over conventional batteries, as well as materials for solar and display technologies. This talk will address conditions under which organism first evolved to make materials and scientific approaches to move beyond naturally evolved materials to genetically imprint advanced technologies.Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Seminar at 3:30p.m.
SAL 101Reception Following the Lecture
The Scientific Community is Cordially Invited.
Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Petra Pearce Sapir
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A Robust Control Approach to Optimizing Production, Inventory and Transportation
Thu, Feb 21, 2008 @ 12:45 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Graduate Seminar byProfessor Thomas MarlinDepartment of Chemical EngineeringMcMaster University
Ontario, Canada AbstractRecently, advances in computing and optimization algorithms have lead to a renewed interest in analyzing logistics systems with the recognition that (1) substantial uncertainties exist in their dynamic behavior and (2) periodic re-optimization (rolling horizon optimization) affects the future behavior. The Model-Predictive Control (MPC) structure is ideal for modeling these closed-loop logistics systems. This talk will introduce the concept of robust model-predictive control of uncertain systems and how it can be implemented in real-time. Challenges in formulation and computation will be introduced, and proposals for a computationally tractable approach presented. Application to a simple (but real) industrial logistics problem will be presented. The problem has several manufacturing steps with intermediate inventory and transportation to regional distribution outlets. Uncertainty occurs in manufacturing times, transportation times, and customer demands. The goal is to reduce holding (inventory) costs while preventing backorders, where possible. The behavior of the system under various control approaches will be compared, and the advantages of a robust approach quantified.This work has been performed in conjunction with Adam Warren and Xiang Li at McMaster University.
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Petra Pearce Sapir
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Menagerie of Viruses: Diverse Chemical Sequences or Simple Electrostatics
Thu, Feb 28, 2008 @ 12:45 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Distinguished Lecture SerieswithProfessor M. Muthukumar
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003
muthu@polysci.umass.edu AbstractThe genome packing in hundreds of viruses is investigated by analyzing the chemical sequences of the genomes and the corresponding capsid proteins, in combination with experimental facts on the structures of the packaged genomes. Based on statistical mechanics arguments and computer simulations, we have derived a universal model, based simply on non-specific electrostatic interactions. Our model is able to predict the essential aspects of genome packing in diversely different viruses, such as the genome size and its density distribution. Our result is in contrast to the long-held view that specific interactions between the sequenced amino acid residues and the nucleotides of the genome control the genome packing. Implications of this finding in the evolution and biotechnology will be discussed. Additionally, we will present mechanisms of how DNA worms through protein channels and synthetic pores.Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Petra Pearce Sapir