Gennaro Maffia

Professor, Chemical Engineering

Dr. Maffia spent the first 20 years of his career working as a process engineer and manager in the petrochemicals, mostly with the large oil company Atlantic Richfield, Inc. A few key projects included the Alaskan Pipeline and alternative fuels. In 1992, he joined academia at Widener University coming on as chairman of the Department of Chemical Engineering.

He has broad research interests in environmental, energy and biotechnology areas. For example, a specific topic being researched at Manhattan College is the development of environmental and biomedical technologies based on collagen nanofibrils (USP 6,660,829, USP 8,329,091). While at Widener, Dr. Maffia founded the Collagen Research Group, which has involved more than 300 students, industrial and government researchers, and faculty colleagues. In 2010, he retired from Widener as emeritus professor, and shortly after, joined his alma mater, Manhattan College as professor of chemical engineering.

Throughout his career in academia, Dr. Maffia has authored three accreditation self-study reports in 1996, 2002 and 2008 at Widener. He has served on and chaired many academic committees over the years including the Middle States accreditation team. The Widener University Budget Committee, which Dr. Maffia chaired for four years, was responsible for the review of institutional research data and financial data provided by the upper administration and board.

Other academic interests include independent study and undergraduate/graduate research projects that involve government, industry and other universities. A particular focus has been the incorporation of modern topics into the traditional curriculum and the development of new courses. In addition to many recent seminars/webinars on natural gas mining and conversion, Dr. Maffia is currently working on a text for Wiley Publishers on this topic.

Education

  • Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from Manhattan College
  • M.E. in Chemical Engineering from Manhattan College 
  • MBA from New York University
  • Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Dartmouth College

Courses Taught

  • CHML 405, 406 Plant Design I and II
  • CHML 411, 711 Transport Phenomena (Grad and UG)
  • CHML 739, 740 Graduate Plant Design I and II
  • CHML 428, 748 Petroleum I (Grad and UG)
  • CHML 429, 749 Natural Gas I (Grad and UG)
  • CHML 437, 754 Petroleum II (Grad and UG)
  • CHML 438, 755 Natural Gas II (Grad and UG)
  • CHML 457, 756 Oxidative Conversion of Hydrocarbons (Grad and UG)


  • Research

    Oil, Gas, Petrochemical Processing and Nano technology of proteins

  • Publications and Scholarly Activities
    • Mathematical Model of the Release of Biomolecules from a Collagen Matrix, International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT) S Shivakumar, G Maffia -ijesrt.com Shivakumar, 4(5): May, 2015] ISSN: 2277-9655 – peer reviewed
    • Rheology of Dispersions of Collagen Fibrils Manufactured from Waste Corium for Environmental and Biochemical Applications, G.J. Maffia and Snehanjani Shivakumar, International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT) Vol. 3 Issue 11, November-2014 ISSN: 2278-0181 IJERTV3IS110645 – peer reviewed 
    • Porous Metallic Structures, Gennaro Maffia, US Patent Application, 20100221136 7 July 30, 2015, Family ID: 42667195; Appl. No. 14 458594; Filed August 13, 2014 - government examiner (expected grant date of Summer, 2016)
    • Procedure for Making Collagen Nanofibrils from Waste Bovine Corium, Alex Bertuccio, Manhattan College, Gennaro Maffia, Manhattan College, USA, International Conference on Solid Waste Technology and Management, March 10, 2013 – conference proceedings
    • Turbidity Reduction in Water Using Collagen Dispersions in a Modified Sand Filter, Alex Bertuccio, Manhattan College, Gennaro Maffia, Manhattan College, USA International Conference on Solid Waste Technology and Management, March 10, 2013 – conference proceedings
    • ASPEN-HYSYS Simulations for the Small Scale Conversion of Waste Plastics into Gaseous and Liquid Fuels, Ahmed Mohamed El- Khaiary, Alexandria University, Faculty of Engineering, Alex Bertuccio, Manhattan College, Gennaro Maffia, Manhattan College, Egypt and USA International Conference on Solid Waste Technology and Management, March 10, 2013 – conference proceedings
    • Method to extract water-soluble collagen from induced biphasic commercial gel/ Matthew J. Mastauskas, Gennaro J. Maffia, Journal of the American Leather Chemists (JALCA), Vol. CVII, N° 7 (07/2012); p. 243-248 – peer reviewed
    • Textbook on Natural Gas Mining, Wiley Publishers in progress, expected 2017
    • Analysis and Modeling of Vapor Recompressive Distillation Using ASPEN-HYSYS, Cinthujaa C. Sivanantha, Gennaro J. Maffia, Computer Science Journal of Moldova, vol.19, no.2 (56), 2011 – peer reviewed
    • Vapor Recompressive Distillation for Difficult Separations, Cinthujaa C. Sivanantha, Gennaro J. Maffia, Proceedings of the International Workshop on Intelligent Information Systems, IIS’2011, September 13-14, 2011, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova – conference proceedings
    • Crosslinking of Collagen Nanofibrils Using Genipin, Gennaro J Maffia, Kathryn Scherpf, Proceedings of 26th International Conference on Solid Waste Technology and Management, Philadelphia, PA USA, March 27-30, 2011 – conference proceedings
    • Bio-based Senior Chemical Engineering Laboratory Course, Frontiers in Education, 2008, ISBN: 978-1-4244-1969-2, pp. T2H-7-T2H-12 Gennaro Maffia, Thomas Twardowski, Tara Iracki - peer reviewed
    • Use of Collagen Nanofibrils in Lost Protein Technology, Gennaro Maffia, Widener University 104th ALCA Annual Meeting June 19-22, 2008, Greensboro, NC – conference proceedings
    • Use of Collagen Nanofibrils in Lost Protein Technology, Gennaro Maffia, Widener University, Chester, PA; Society for Biological Engineering, International Conference on Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, Dublin, Ireland, July 24, 2008 – conference proceedings
    • A Comparison of the Effect of Ultrasound on Bovine Hide Collagen Structure, Stauffer, Donna M.; Maffia, Gennaro J.; Brown, Eleanor M., Cooke, Peter; Journal of the American Leather Chemists; August, 2006; Volume: 101 Number: 7 Pages: 274-283 - peer reviewed
    • Manufacture of collagen nanofibrils and associated applications, Maffia, G.J.; Vives, C.A.; Stauffer, D.M. Conference Title: CHISA 2006 – Proc. 17th International Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering, Prague, Czech Republic, Publication Year: 2006, ISBN: 9788086059457 - peer reviewed conference proceedings
    • Biodiesel from elutriated meat and bone meal, Maffia, G.J.; Kurniawan, Y. Conference Title: CHISA 2006 – Proc. 17th International Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering, Prague, Czech Republic, Publication Year: 2006, ISBN: 9788086059457 - peer reviewed conference proceedings
    • Comprehensive Testing and Outcomes Assessment in the Chemical Engineering Program, Maffia, Gennaro J., Department of Chemical Engineering, Frontiers in Education, FIE v 3 2004, (IEEE cat n 04CH37579), 2004 8 - peer reviewed 
    • Senior Process Design - A Decade of Chemical Plants, Maffia, Gennaro J. Department of Chemical Engineering Widener University, Frontiers in Education; v 2, 2002. p F4D/17-F4D/22 (IEEE cat n 02CH37351) - peer reviewed 
    • A Comparison of Chemical, Physical and Enzymatic Cross-Linking of Bovine Type I Collagen Fibrils, Lastowka, Andrew; Maffia, Gennaro J.; Brown, Eleanor M., Department of Chemical Engineering, Journal of the American Leather Chemists Association, V. 100 n 5, May 2005. p. 196-202 - peer reviewed
    • Collagen Processing, Maffia, G. J.; Seltzer, M. A.; Cooke, P. H.; Brown, E. M. Department of Chemical Engineering, Widener University, Chester, PA, Journal of the American Leather Chemists Association. 2004 V: 99 # 4 , pg: 164-169 - peer reviewed
    • Fluidization Characteristics of Collagen Beads, Tilara, C.M.; Maffia, G.J., Department of Chemical Engineering Widener University, CHISA 2004 - 16th International Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering Conference Prague, Czech Republic - peer reviewed conference proceedings
    • Analysis of the Use of Collagen Fibrils to Accelerate the Dewatering of Sludge Seltzer, M.A.; Mulato, J.E.; Tilara, C.; Maffia, G.J., Department of Chemical Engineering Widener University, CHISA 2004 - 16th International Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering, Prague, Czech Republic - peer reviewed conference proceedings
    • Scale-Up Studies for the Manufacture of High Surface Area Collagen from Bovine Corium, Seltzer, Mary Ann; Mulato, Joseph; Maffia, Gennaro, Department of Chemical Engineering, Widener University, Chester, PA, Proc. Int. Conf. Solid Waste Technol. Manage., 2003 V: 18, pg: 361-370 - peer reviewed conference proceedings
    • Concentration of Sludge Using Collagen Dispersions, Seltzer, Mary Ann; Mulato, Joseph; Mehta, Ashish; Maffia, Gennaro; Speer, Sam Chemical Engineering, Widener University, Chester, PA, USA, Proc. Int. Conf. Solid Waste Technol. Manage., 2003 V: 18, pg: 127-139 - peer reviewed conference proceedings
    • Recent Advances in Collagen Based Technologies, Maffia, Gennaro J.; Slomiana, Maria; Davis, John F., Department of Chemical Engineering, Widener University, Chester, PA, 19013, Journal of the American Leather Chemists Association 2002 V: 97 #2 pg: 74-82 - peer reviewed
  • Professional Experience and Memberships

    Professional Experience

    Chair and Graduate Director of Chemical Engineering


    Memberships

    • AICHE (Former Local Section Director; National Admissions Committee), ACS (Former Local Section Director),
    • ALCA, ASEE, ISPE, CCN (Co-founder), MRS, Tau Beta Pi. Phi Kappa Phi,
    • Phi Beta Delta, Omega Chi Epsilon, Catalysis Club, North American Catalysis Society


  • Honors, Awards, and Grants

    Academic Awards:

    • Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Award
      Iraj Zandi Award for Excellence in Environmental Areas 
    • Lindback Award for Excellence in Teaching 
    • Honor’s Week Keynote Speaker
      Who’s Who in Teaching 
    • Widener University Presidential Lecturer 
    • Election to Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Beta Delta

    Academic Grants/Collaborations:

    • NASA (project on waste reuse on deep space missions) 
    • DOE-INL (project on conversion of shale gas to intermediate petrochemicals) 
    • Air Products and Chemicals (multi-year equipment grant @ Widener) 
    • Nanotechnology Institute (multi-year equipment grant) 
    • USDA (5 students support) 
    • Fats & Proteins Research Foundation (multi-year research grant) 
    • Ben Franklin Partners (multi-year research grant) 
    • Sunoco, Inc. (multi-year research grant) 
    • Osteogenics, Inc., (multi-year research grant)
    • NSF- CRDF (multi-year research grant) 
    • Lindbergh Foundation (multi-year research grant) 
    • Keystone Innovation Grant (multi-year research grant)
  • Other

    In 2008, Dr. Maffia established a student chapter of Engineers Without Borders at Widener University and managed the initial stages of the first project, which was a collaborative effort with the Peace Corps to supply lighting for a tribal village in Panama. He is now involved in service projects for potable water supply in Haiti, Kenya, Mexico and the Philippines.