New Chemical Engineering Faculty Making Connections to Job Placements, Industries
Manhattan College chemical engineers have the opportunity to intern and work at a number of organizations locally and nationally.
Chemical engineers design, develop and operate industrial processes and products, ranging from everyday household products to food and pharmaceuticals.
The chemical engineering students in Manhattan College’s School of Engineering have recently received a lift from three new faculty members who have brought their educational expertise and industry connections to Riverdale.
Sasidhar Varanasi, Ph.D., joined the chemical engineering department as the department chair after being at the University of Toledo for more than 30 years. While Varanasi’s initial research thrust was in the area of colloid and interfacial science, he later diversified into alternate energy and, in particular, to biomass conversion to fuels and value-added products. Varanasi routinely participates as a panelist and ad hoc reviewer by federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy and Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, to evaluate new technologies related to biomass conversion and for adjudication of NSF career awards. He received the Outstanding Researcher Award from the College of Engineering at the University of Toledo in 1994 and the Outstanding Researcher Award from the University of Toledo in 2015.
Richard Carbonaro, Ph.D., P.E., has been a stalwart on campus since he began his time as an undergraduate in 1993. Carbonaro received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Manhattan College. After receiving his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins in 2004, he joined the Manhattan faculty that fall, teaching in the civil and environmental engineering department for 13 years. In the fall of 2017, he joined the chemical engineering faculty as an associate professor, and is the director of the graduate program in chemical engineering. During his career, Carbonaro has managed several federally funded research projects related to water quality, monitoring of urban pollutants, transport modeling of metals in sediments, modeling of metals in lakes for toxicity assessments, and partitioning of metals onto organic carbon.
Samiul Amin, Ph.D., joined the chemical engineering faculty last fall. He has been working in industrial research and development for more than 20 years, in the cosmetics, consumer goods and scientific instrumentation industries. He has held senior level R&D roles at multiple global companies, including L'Oreal, Unilever and Malvern Instruments. His research interest spans complex fluids, smart materials, rheology/microrheology/tribology, advanced characterization, cosmetic and biopharmaceutical formulation design.
“We are determined to give our students the best possible education here at Manhattan College,” said Varanasi. “At the same time, we need to prepare them fully for life after graduation and give them the skills they need to become successful professional chemical engineers.”
During the past year, Manhattan College students have received offers for full-time jobs at L’Oreal, PepsiCo, Unilever and Regeneron, to name a few.