Campus Community Health • HEERF I, II & III

Faculty Profile

Pedro E. Arce, Ph.D.

University Distinguished Faculty Fellow-Professor arce
Highest Degree University: Purdue University
Department: Chemical Engineering
parce@tntech.edu
Prescott Hall (PRSC) 214
PO Box: 5013
(931)-372-3297

 

NANOSTRUCTURED MATERIALS-With Functional Performance (Health Care Engineering Applications: Hydrogels for clinical diagnostics, wound healing, tissue scaffolds and assisted drug delivery)- MICRO- AND NANO-FLOWS in Biophysical Systems (Microcirculatory and renal system pathologies, arterial stenosis, kidney failure, etc.)-ENVIRONMENTAL CATALYSIS (Advanced oxidation in water, soil and air; photocalytic clean energy production, electrokinetics-based remediation; battery and fuel cell materials)- ENGINEERING EDUCATION: (Collaborative-, Creative- and Innovation-Driven Learning; Constructionistic Approaches).

Education & Certificates

  • Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, 1990
  • M.S., Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, 1987
  • Postgraduate Studies, National Council of Research, Argentina, CONICET-UNL, 1978-1983
  • Chemical Engineering Degree, Universidad Nacional del Litoral (UNL), Santa Fe, Argentina, 1977, Minor in Heterogeneous Catalysis
  • Certificate of English Studies, Anglo-Continental School of English, Bournemouth, England, 1981
  • Academic Leadership Certificate (Regent Academic Leadership Institute, RALI, and Chair Academy), 2007
  • Advanced Leadership Certificate (Chair Academy), 2010.
  • ASEE Zone II Best Paper Award, 2015 (The Renaissance Foundry Model for the Da Vinci-Style Engineer)
  • University Donald Caplenor Award for Excellence in Research, 2015
  • Middle Tennessee State University, Faculty Exchange Leadership Fellow, 2014-15
  • University Faculty Award for Professional Service, 2014
  • I. Karre Award for on Campus Leadership, Chair Academy, 2014
  • University of New Mexico (NIH Faculty Development Program) Key Note Speaker, 2012
  • University Distinguished Faculty Fellow, Tennessee Technological University,Tennessee Tech, 2010
  • Chemical Engineering Association, Argentina, Opening Plenary Lecture, Biannual Meeting, Mar del Plata, 2010
  • National Science Foundation-Engineering Research Centers, Annual Meeting Plenary Lecture, 2009
  • Chemical Engineering of the Future Symposium, Invited Panelist, Purdue University, 2009
  • University QEP Award for Hi-PeLETM Development,Tennessee Tech, 2009
  • Brown-Henderson Award, College of Engineering,Tennessee Tech, 2008
  • Thomas C. Evans Award, ASEE-SE (1994, 2001; 2008, 2014)
  • Leslie E. Sissom Award for Innovation in Engineering Education, College of Engineering,Tennessee Tech, 2005; Development of the MoLE-SITM Platform, 2012
  • Mid-Career Outstanding Teaching Award, ASEE-SE, 2005
  • Elected Board Member of the American Electrophoresis Society (AES), 2000-2005
  • Invited Visiting Professor, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima Perú, 2000
  • Developing Scholar Award, Florida State University for Excellence in Research, 1996-1997
  • Visiting Scientist, Herschel Smith Laboratory for Medicinal Chemistry, University of Cambridge, UK, 1995
  • University Teaching Incentive Program Award (TIP), University of Florida BOR, for Excellence in College Teaching, 1994
  • National Research Council of Argentina, Researcher Career Member, 1983-1990

Research Statement

During the last decade, Dr. Arce’s focus has been on developing a new kind of engineer: Innovative, adaptable, and entrepreneur. Chiefly, his efforts have led to the “Da Vinci-Style” professional model that is the outcome of the Renaissance Foundry educational platform. Within this framework and with a privileged interdisciplinary group of colleagues from several departments (Chemical Engineering, School of Nursing, Department of Mathematics, Curriculum and Instruction, School of Business, and others), Dr. Arce’s students focus on advancing the state-of-the-art of technologies that are central to Health Care Engineering (HCE) applications, production of clean energy from wastewater, advanced materials for electrodes in batteries and fuel cells, and elimination of resilient contaminants from water for recycling, among others. His efforts have been driven by the body of knowledge primarily based on Electrokinetics-Hydrodynamics (EKHD) that is built on Physics of Transport, Kinetics (both organic and biological reactions), applied and computational mathematics,colloidal sciences, pore's theory in biological tissue, soils, and biopolymers, among other pillars.

With a careful balance among fundamental principles, selected experiments, and analytic-computational approaches, students in Dr. Arce’s group are interested in advancing technologies for a faster healing of the human body and/or to prevent that environmental factors could harm human or other form of life. Complementary efforts include new design methodologies for high performance materials in electrochemical-reacting powered systems such as fuel cells and advanced batteries.

Dr. Arce has a life-long interest in improving learning in students and helping instructors to become facilitators of learning. His contributions in these areas have led to numerous awards and recognitions from students, colleagues, and organizations. During the last few years his group has focused on the effective integration of learning spaces, technology and pedagogy as a unique path to the development of an efficient environment conducive to a new professional in engineering and in other STEM disciplines. Central to his efforts are Constructionism-based Approaches (following S. Paper's Model) to learning and Organizational Creativity Models.

Acknowledgments: Dr. Arce acknowledges collaboration with and partial support from the Center for the Management, Utilization and Protection of Water Resources, Center for Energy System Research, the Center for Manufacturing Research, the Office of Research, Provost Office and the School of Art and Sciences at Tennessee Technological University as well as International Government Organizations and collaboration with the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Institute (GFDI) at Florida State University, the Arturo Pratt University (Chile), the Sao Paulo Technological University (Brazil) and the University of Antofagasta, Antofagasta, Chile.

Dr. Arce feels extremely proud that his students have received a number of very important recognitions and awards for their academic and professional accomplishments. They are in research and managerial positions at leading companies and as faculty or postdoctoral students in academic departments. A significant portion of the students mentored by Dr. Arce come form underrepresented groups including woman and minorities.

Publications

Technology Driven: (Selected)

  1. N. Koutahzadeh, M. Rabbani Esfahani, P. Arce,“A Sequential use of UV/H2O2 – (PSF/TiO2/MWCNT) mixed matrix membranes for dye removal in water purification: Membrane permeation, fouling, rejection and decolorization”, Environmental Engineering Science, In press, (2016), (DOI: 10.1089/ees.2016.0023)
  2. Carranza, V, A. Sherill,J. R. Sanders, P. E. Arce and R. Guidici, "Performance Assessment of Protein Electrophoresis by Using Polyacrylamide Hydrogel with Porous Structure Modified with SDS Micelles as Template," Journal Appl. Pol. Sciences (Accepted, 2016).
  3. Simhadri, J., H. Stretz and P. E. Arce, "Role of Chaneel Morphology in Electrophoresis Separation: An Optimization by Differential Evolution," Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering, (Accepted, 2016)
  4. N. Koutahzadeh, M. Rabbani Esfahani, P. Arce,“Removal of acid back 1 from water by pulsed corona discharge advanced oxidation method”, Journal of Water Process Engineering 10, 1-8, (2016).
  5. ·Arce, P. E. Top Five Article Selection in Transport and Reaction for the 50th Anniversary of the Journal of Chemical Engineering Education, submitted in Fall 2015 and Published in Vol 50(1), Winter Issue, 3-13, 2016. Dr. Arce’s selection include the following articles (with comments):Bird, R. B., “Who was Who in Transport Phenomena,” CEE, 35(4), 256 (Fall 2001)-Romagnoli, J.A., Palazoglu, A. and Whitaker, S., “The Dynamics of a Stirred Tank Heater,” CEE, 35(1), 46 (Winter 2001)-Stokes, K. and Ramkrishna, D. “On the Tensorial Nature of Fluxes in Continua Media,” CEE, 16(2), 82, (Spring 1982)-Cassano, A. E., “The Rate of Reaction: A Definition or a Result of a Conservation Equation,” CEE, 14(1), 14 (Winter 1980)-Scriven, L.E. “Flow and Transfer at Fluid Interfaces- Part I: Lessons from Research,” and “Part II: Models,” CEE, 2(3), 150 (Fall 1968) and CEE, 3(1), 26 (Winter 1969).
  6. Simhadri, J., H. A. Stretz, M. A. Oyanader and P.E. Arce, “Assessing Performance of Irregular Microvoids in Electrophoresis Separation,” I&E Chemistry Research (invited for publication in Professor D. Ramkrisna’s Festschrift), 54 (42),10434-41 (2015).
  7. Thompson, J, H.A. Stretz, P. E. Arce, H. Gao, H.J. Ploehn, and J. He, "Effect of Magnetization on the Gel Structure and Protein Electrophoresis in Polyacrylamide Hydrogel Nanocomposites," Journal of Applied Polymer Sciences,126 (5), 1600-1612 (2012).
  8. Pascal, J, M.O. Oyanader, P.E. Arce, "Effect of Capillary Geometry on Predicting Electroosmotic Volumetric Flowrates in Porous or Fibrous Media, Journal of Colloid and Interfacial Science, 378 (1), 241-50, (2012).
  9. Arce, P. E. "Nanomaterials", Invited Chapter in Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Society, David Guston, PhD, Arizona State University, General Editor, Golson Books, Ltd, Publisher, New York, NY, 2010.
  10. Thompson, J., H. A. Stretz, and P. E. Arce , "Preliminary Observations of the Role of Material Morphology on Protein-Electrophoretic Transport in Gold Nanocomposite Hydrogels" I&EC Research, 49(23), 12104-12110, 2010.
  11. Simhadri, J., H. Stretz, P. E. Arce, and M. Oyanader, "Morphology of Nanocomposite and Template Gels and its Role in the Separation of Biomolecules: A Review,” I&EC Research, 49(23), 11866-11877, 2010.
  12. Camp, J., D. George, M. Wells, and P. E. Arce, “Monitoring Advanced Oxidation of Suwannes River Fulvic Acid, Environmental Chemistry, 7, 225-231, (2010).
  13. Pascal, J.A., M.A. Oyanader, and P.E. Arce, “Effect of Wall Velocities on the Determination of Optimal Separation Times in Electrical Field Flow Fractionation,” The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, 88(3), 384-391, (2010).
  14. Kasavajjula, U.S., C. Wang and P. E. Arce, “A Discharge Model for LiFePO4 Accounting the Effect of Solid Solution Range and Particle Size,” Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 1159 (11), A866-A874, (2008).
  15. Oyanader, M., P.E. Arce, and A. Dzurik, "Design Criteria for Soil Cleaning Operations in Electrokinetic Remediation: Comparative Hydrodynamic Aspects in a Rectangular, Cylindrical and Annular Geometry," Journal of Porous Media (JPM), 11(8), 733-750, (2008).
  16. Pascal, J. A, R. O’Hara, M.A. Oyanader, and P.E. Arce, “Optimal Separation Times for Electrical Field Flow Fractionation with Couette Flows,” Electrophoresis, 29, 1-9, (2008).

 Engineering Education: (Selected)

  1. Pascal, J., R. Tijaro-Rojas, M. Oyanader, and P. Arce, "Acquisition and Transfer of Knowledge of Electrokinetic-Hydrodynamics (EKHD) Fundamentals: An Introductory Graduate-Level Course", Journal of European Engineering Education, (accepted, 2016).
  2. Tijaro-Rojas, R., A. Arce-Trigatti, J. Cupp, J. Pascal, and P. Arce. "A Systematic and Integrative Sequence Approach (SISA) for Mastery Learning: Anchoring Bloom’s Taxonomy to Student Learning", Education for Chemical Engineers-Official Journal of the European Federation of Chemical Engineers (accepted, 2016).
  3. Loggins, L.; Arce-Trigatti, A.; Sanders, J. R.; Pascal, J.; Biernacki, J.; Geist, M., Wiant, K., and P.E. Arce, “The Renaissance Foundry”. Critical Conversations, TBR- Journal, Vol II,176, 2015- Winner of the Zone II Best Paper Award of the ASEE-2015 and Invited Plenary Session, ASEE Annual Meeting, New Orleans, June 2016.
  4. Maxwell, L., P. E. Arce and J. Pascal, “A Pedagogical Approach to Introduce Green’s Functions to Engineering Students,” Proceedings of the American Society of Engineering Education, ASEE, South-East Section, Annual Meeting, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, March 13-15, 2016.
  5. Pazos-Revilla, M. and P. E. Arce, “MoLE-SI: A Mobile Learning Environment for Engineering Education,” Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) 26th International Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, March 2-6, 2015. Paper appeared in the proceedings of the conference.
  6. Pascal, J., C. Torres, and P. E. Arce, “The Soccer Ball Model: A Useful Visualization Protocol for Scaling Concepts in Continua,” Journal of Chemical Engineering Education, 44(2), Spring Issue, (2010).
  7. Pascal, J., P. E. Arce, M. Oyanader, and S. Sauer, "Electrokinetic-Hydrodynamics: A Much needed Framework for Applied Electrical Field Sensitive Technologies," American Electrophoresis Society, Newsletter, 14, (3), 3, August 2009.
  8. Chemical Engineering at Tennessee Technological University, Invited Profile in Journal of Chemical Engineering Education, 42(3), 118-124, Summer Issue (2008).
  9. Arce, P. E., Oyanader, M., and Whitaker, S. “The Catalytic Pellet: A Rich Learning Environment for Up-Scaling, “Journal of Chemical Engineering Education, 41(3), 187-194 Summer Issue, (2007). 2008 Thomas C. Evans Award for the most outstanding paper in Engineering Education - ASEE, Southeastern Section.

Patents:

  1. Thompson, J.W., H.A. Stretz, and P.E. Arce. “Thermoresponsive microparticle composite hydrogels for electrophoresis”. 12/275,253
  2. Thompson, J.W., H.A. Stretz, P.E. Arce, J. Simhadri, and M. Oyanader. “Nano-templated hydrogels (NTH) for electrophoresis and methods of preparation” Submitted 10/10
  3. Thompson, J.W., H. A. Stretz, and P.E. Arce. “Magnetizable nanocomposite hydrogels for electrophoresis and methods of preparation” Submitted 7/12

Recent Courses Taught

Undergraduate:

  • ChE 3121: Transfer Science II (Fluid Mechanics: Experimental Prototype, Spring 2013; 2015); Full Course (Spring 2012).
  • ChE 4990 Undergraduate Research Research (Spring 2015, Summer 2015; Spring 2016)
  • ChE 4379 Professional Opportunities for Chemical Engineers (Spring 2016)

Graduate:

  • ChE 7970: Physics of Transport-II (Spring 2013)
  • ChE 7970 The Art and Science of Modelling (Spring 2013)
  • ChE 6810 Physics of Transport-1 (Fall 2015)
  • ChE 7970 Biorheology of Blood and Bio-Microcirculatory Flows (with Dr. J.R. Sanders)- Spring 2016.
  • ChE 6210 Advanced Kinetics (Spring 2016)
  • ChE 7970 Electrokinetics Hydrodynamics (Fall 2016)
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