{"id":1896,"date":"2007-01-16T16:42:44","date_gmt":"2007-01-16T21:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/?p=1896"},"modified":"2014-12-16T16:43:17","modified_gmt":"2014-12-16T21:43:17","slug":"conversation-kate-stebe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/conversation-kate-stebe\/","title":{"rendered":"A Conversation with Kate Stebe"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Stebe,<\/a>
Stebe, whose research on fluid interfaces involves the physical properties of drops and bubbles, is the chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last July, professor Kate Stebe became chair of the Whiting School\u2019s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, a rapidly growing department with a faculty of 13.<\/p>\n

A member of the engineering school\u2019s faculty since 1991, Stebe has served on the university\u2019s Academic Council and was previously director of her department\u2019s graduate program. Her research interests include the engineering of fluid interfaces, nanomaterials, and microfluidics. She holds a joint appointment with the Department of Biomedical Engineering and secondary appointments in Materials Science and Engineering and Mechanical Engineering.<\/p>\n

At the start of the fall semester, the magazine\u2019s Abby Lattes sat down with Stebe, to talk about her vision for the future of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.<\/p>\n

ChemBE is a fast-growing department. Can you discuss that growth and how you\u2019re managing it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year alone we have 120 freshmen and have increased our graduate student yield by 100 percent\u2014 from 8 to 16 new graduate students.<\/p>\n

At the graduate level, we introduced a revised curriculum this past fall. We\u2019ve returned to the fundamental courses in each discipline and amended them to include more timely examples. We\u2019ve added required non-classical courses in topics such as interfaces and materials and others that emphasize opportunities and techniques in Biomolecular engineering.<\/p>\n

At the undergraduate level, we\u2019ve also seen explosive growth. This growth is due in part to students\u2019 understanding of the scope of the problems we attack and their relevance to bio-related industries, such as protein-based pharmaceuticals and lab-on-a-chip devices. Meeting the challenges this growth presents while honoring our commitment to quality education will require care, focus, creativity, and plain old hard work.<\/p>\n

In 2002 the department changed its name from Chemical Engineering to Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. What prompted that change? <\/strong><\/p>\n

This department is built on a clear understanding of our strengths. We were a chemical engineering department with half of our faculty working as applied scientists on biological themes. Our redefinition was a recognition of this strength and where we knew we could make the greatest impact.<\/p>\n

We have two centers of excellence in the department\u2014biomolecular engineering and our deep expertise in interfaces. We\u2019re configured very tightly around these areas and poised to do fundamental work at their intersection.<\/p>\n

How do you view advances in the field and your role as department chair?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chemical engineering expertise in interfaces, made possible through our ability to control surfaces at the molecular level, now has important applications in micro- or nano-fluidics devices, micro mechanical electrical systems, and controlling the interactions of nanomaterials.<\/p>\n

Since the early 1990s, there\u2019s been a lot of elegant work done by chemical engineers in bio-related problems\u2014where complex ideas about chemical systems far from equilibrium are applied to our understanding of synthesis in cells and cell-cell interactions, for example. There are important applications to this work that range from using cells to produce chemical products to understanding plaque formation in heart disease or metastatic events in cancer.<\/p>\n

As a department, we all took part in the process of redefining who we are and have a highly unified vision about the direction in which we\u2019re going. Now I\u2019m in the driver\u2019s seat to implement the vision.<\/p>\n

What is the most fundamental element to the program\u2019s success?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our faculty. They are individual experts in their fields and highly integrated throughout the department and across other departments, divisions, and research centers and institutes. They\u2019re young and ready to move in a common direction to pull us forward. This balance of individual expertise and shared vision makes the department a special place.<\/p>\n

What message do you give to female students looking at careers in academia? <\/strong><\/p>\n

The life balance issues will always be there for women and I talk about this with my students. For example, when I go home, I\u2019m \u201cMom,\u201d and turn my attention to my 5-year-old daughter. A tremendous advantage to working in academia is that we\u2019re measured according to whether or not we\u2019re productive and creative, not the hours we\u2019ve logged. It\u2019s an incredibly demanding profession, but it is also flexible. I don\u2019t know if the opportunities created by that flexibility are always made clear to young people of either gender considering academic careers. It is possible to make it all work and it can be very rewarding.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s on the horizon?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re defining what the field should be. We\u2019re attacking problems on the molecular and nano scale. We are poised to make a strong contribution to the fundamental issues in our field. It\u2019s an exciting time in our department.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last July, professor Kate Stebe became chair of the Whiting School\u2019s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, a rapidly growing department with a faculty of 13. A member of the engineering school\u2019s faculty since 1991, Stebe has served on the university\u2019s Academic Council and was previously director of her department\u2019s graduate program. Her research interests…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-development","issue-winter-2007"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Conversation with Kate Stebe - JHU Engineering Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/conversation-kate-stebe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Conversation with Kate Stebe - JHU Engineering Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last July, professor Kate Stebe became chair of the Whiting School\u2019s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, a rapidly growing department with a faculty of 13. 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