Opportunities for Research

When one takes the cost of industrial compliance with RCRA to handle currently generated wastes and adds the cost of Superfund to clean up the wastes of the past, it becomes obvious that there are strong incentives for technology development in the area of waste minimization and treatment, and many opportunities for research and employment for chemical engineers. 

In this review we have attempted to present a unified treatment of this emerging area. By relating the diverse developments we hope that we have succeeded in pointing out some new opportunities for research and innovation and reducing the likelihood of overlaps and rediscoveries. The subject area of this review has hitherto fallen outside the scope of traditional chemical engineering instruction. We hope that this review will stimulate efforts to introduce such material into the classroom. 

There are (at least) two major opportunities for research by those interested in this topic. On the computational side, there is definite room for improvement in simulation methods. Right now none of the simulation approaches has the user friendliness that has brought electronic-structure calculation into the realm of routine applicability by nonspecialists. Nor has the field seen the development of the qualitative or semiquantitative models that did so much to make the results of molecular orbital calculations useful to organic chemists. On the experimental side, it will be obvious to the reader that the techniques for detecting the effects of nonstatistical dynamics are still very rudimentary and indirect. There is clearly room for creative scientists to come up with techniques whose results can give us more direct insight into these issues. 

Research on wild species in the temperate zones is limited by low species diversity and population density, but in tropical and subtropical areas cockroaches are surprisingly diverse, and valuable field observations in chemical ecology have been made in the tropics. Nevertheless, some temperate zone species, such as Parcoblatta in the New World and Ectobius in the Old, offer excellent opportunities for research under natural conditions. 

Once the inhalation exposure questions have been identified, the specifications for each personal monitor must be determined and the monitor must be validated for the contaminant being measured. Table I, updated from Samet et al. (14), identifies currently available personal monitors, and Table II, taken from an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report (15), shows the projected needs in the 1990s. There are a number of opportunities for research on personal monitors Table II indicates that relatively few commercial units are currently available for either particulate or gas-phase species. For compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a two-stage sampler is required because some PAHs exist simultaneously in the gaseous and particulate phase (16). Consequently, research must be ranked with respect to the significance of the air pollution problem, and the technological developments required to provide reliable samplers must be defined. 

Because of vibrations, power stability, and particularly corrosion, commercial laboratory robotic systems available today would have problems on ships. This problem provides an opportunity for research engineers to develop means to modify some sections of the ship to improve power and platform stability. Environmental constraints of a sea-based system were never factored into the design of today s laboratory robots, but the systems could be modified somewhat to reduce these problems. For now, robots would be most feasible for land-based measurements. In the future, however, robots could be important for at-sea measurements, because continuous or repeated measurements are often made over the course of many days. 

The discovery of pathogenic mtDNA mutations and the establishment of animal models with mtDNA mutation have provided an opportunity for researchers to... 

The series Advances in Industrial Control aims to report and encourage technology transfer in control engineering. The rapid development of control technology has an impact on all areas of the control discipline. New theory, new controllers, actuators, sensors, new industrial processes, computer methods, new applications, new philosophies..., new challenges. Much of this development work resides in industrial reports, feasibility study papers and the reports of advanced collaborative projects. The series offers an opportunity for researchers to present an extended exposition of such new work in all aspects of industrial control for wider and rapid dissemination. 

First, avoid asking questions to which you do not know the answer. This is not an opportunity for research or general education. Make certain you thoroughly understand the requirements and guidance relevant to your product, and craft questions that do not merely seek factual summary. 

The purpose of this paper was to plant seeds for thought in the area of new methods of wood preservation, which are not based on broad spectrum toxicity for their effectiveness. The present concern for our environment has created the opportunity for research in this area to find alternative wood preservatives which are effective in preventing attack by organisms and, at the same time, not harmful to the environment or man. 

Transport phenomena in MOVPE reactors operating at atmospheric and reduced pressures are affected by buoyancy-driven flows caused by large thermal and concentration gradients [15]. The buoyancy-driven flows superimpose on the main flow to yield complex mixed-convection flows, the study of which provides ample opportunities for research in computational fluid dynamics. An understanding of the origin and nature of fully three-... 

Renewable electrolysis can help overcome one of the key barriers to realizing a hydrogen based economy by replacing the carbon intensive one that exists today. There is an excellent opportunity for research in renewable hydrogen production both in terms of understanding the operation of the electrolyzer under variable sources and optimizing, in terms of efficiency, cost, and robustness, the link between a renewable source and electrolyzer stack. 

Willcock had been inspired by the lectures of Hopkins, recalling that the impression left on her mind was less a statement of information than a realisation of the existence of vast unexplored tracts and the unfolding of immense opportunities for research. 29 Resulting from this fervour, Willcock became a Bathurst Research Student (1904-1905) and a Newnham Research Fellow (1905-1909) with Hopkins, and it was her work with him between 1905 and 1909 for which she should be remembered. 

Nurses and professionals in other disciplines must plan ahead and thinkthrough the opportunities for research forall areas of focus— specifically prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. It is critical that evaluation be done from an evaluation-research approach. 

Chemical separations and isotopic analysis capabilities have been established for a number of the elements of the periodic table However the inability to ionize many other important elements efficiently has posed a major problem and has provided opportunities for research in a critical area Recent developments in resonance ionization thermal formation of positive molecular ions and of negative ions on complex emitting surfaces promise to expand the ability to form and measure ions at varying levels of sensitivity for nearly every element in the periodic table These developments are expected to have a broad Impact on the measurement of stable concentrations of essential and to lead to studies of these elements in metabolic In this review thermal... 

Private nonprofit research foundations provide opportunities for research in toxicology to 4% of the toxicologists. Numerous public and private research foundations employ toxicologists to conduct research on specific problems of industrial or public concern. Toxicologists at all levels of education might find employment with these research foundations. 

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