Whether coordinating the logistics of challenging SAE Baja Racing events in Rochester or helping organize overnight programs with current and prospective engineering students, Marca Lam has taken a non-traditional approach to educating engineers. Coupling these experiences with teaching interesting courses across the curriculum such as optimization, system dynamics, and engineering vibrations, Lam has made an impact as a teacher, mentor, adviser, and friend over her 30-plus years as an educator. ‌ Provided Each year, Marca Lam coordinates travel for a group of RIT students to attend the annual SWE conference and organizes a meet and greet with engineering alumni who are also members of the organization. Lam is being honored with the Distinguished Engineering Educator Award, presented by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) at its annual conference in October. The prestigious award is given to individuals who make significant contributions to engineering education over at least 20 years. It is one of the highest honors given by the international organization to celebrate the achievements of female engineers, particularly those considered role models who advance engineering as well as the careers of future engineers through learning, advocacy, professionalism, and leadership. Since arriving at RIT in 2006, Lam has served multiple academic, administrative, and service leadership roles within RIT and the Kate Gleason College of Engineering. She began as a visiting associate professor and advanced to the undergraduate program director for the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Throughout her career she has developed, improved, and taught many courses with the goal of finding the best ways to present the challenging materials essential to sending skilled engineers into the workforce. As part of SWE since 2009, Lam served as secretary, webmaster, and eventually president of the Rochester professional chapter. In 2010, she became adviser for RIT’s student chapter of SWE, a position she has held for 15 years. Many young women such as Amanda Weissman ’09 (electrical engineering), ’09 MS (materials science), one of Lam’s nominators, look back at careers that were encouraged and supported because of her mentorship, advocacy for students, and her role in fostering strong connections between current students and alumni. “It's Marca's personal investment in students that’s always impressed me,” said Weissman, principal systems engineer for Lockheed Martin. Weissman designs combat systems for surface navy ships and works at the company’s Adelaide, Australia, site. “Not only knowing their names, but building relationships with them, encouraging them, and helping them understand how an organization like SWE can help them in their careers. I am thrilled to see Marca recognized with this award.” Prior to coming to RIT, Lam taught at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City. She taught design courses in the undergraduate engineering program and began on a path to develop courses not yet a regular part of the curriculum in the areas of control systems, materials science, and dynamics. Her work in this area significantly increased the number and variety of elective options for students. This pattern would continue when she came to RIT in 2006 and began to collaborate on new courses and adaptations to current content with peers from each of the Kate Gleason College departments. She led the second-year engineering student honors courses about the new product design cycle, which included coordinating national and international travel excursions for students to engineering companies. “It is a privilege to have been nominated for this award. It reflects all the work I have done to support students in general, and women specifically. This is truly the career award for me,” said Lam. “My teaching philosophy has always been that you create an interactive learning environment by asking good questions of the class, paying attention to answers, and covering theory but also working through exercises that are tied closely to real-world problems.” This is the second award and recognition given to Lam, who was honored as SWE Outstanding Faculty Advisor in 2015. The SWE Distinguished Engineering Educator Award will be presented at the annual SWE conference scheduled for Oct. 23-25 in New Orleans.

Researchers at the New York State Center of Excellence in Advanced and Sustainable Manufacturing (COE-ASM) at Golisano Institute for Sustainability (GIS) are helping advance a lab-born breakthrough into viable climate technology. Project lead and GIS mechanical engineer Catherine Swail is leading efforts to scale a method that captures carbon dioxide and locks it into rock-like materials using industrial waste. The sequestration process was developed and patented at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and licensed to Carbon To Stone for scale-up deployments. Their researchers developed a method to accelerate a naturally occurring mineralization process using a reusable, low-energy solvent system. The process starts with gaseous industrial waste streams that are introduced to a chemical solution, which is mixed with byproducts of heavy industry, such as steel slag or cement kiln dust. These elements react in a slurry to form a solid carbonate that is filtered, separating the solvent for reuse from the solid “mineralized material.” This sustainable material can be used in cement or concrete production, thereby permanently locking away the captured carbon dioxide. The potential is two-fold for industry partners, as they can utilize their waste resources to help meet emission regulations and generate carbon capture credits as well as revenue through the sale of the mineralized products. Successful laboratory demonstration of this crystallization technology prompted the founders of Carbon To Stone to form the startup in 2022, with the goal of scaling the process for real-world industrial impact. That’s where COE-ASM comes in. Swail and a multidisciplinary team of engineers and technicians have spent the last nine months designing and building a mobile prototype system. The goal is to capture tons of carbon dioxide per year from an industrial waste stream, a step toward commercial use. “It’s not as simple as just doubling everything,” Swail said about bringing the system to scale. “The goal is to stagger the timing of the reactions between the two reactors by adding semi-automated controls and measurement to enable more continuous carbon capture.” Among the many upgrades Swail and her team implemented are a custom flue gas conditioning system (including a chiller and heat exchanger), a second reactor, an upgraded filtration press to handle more material throughout, and LabVIEW based software to communicate with a programmable logic controller. The custom software developed by the GIS team gives an operator control over valves, pumps, sensor readings and shutdowns as well as records data for analysis from a computer interface. The system is mounted within a trailer, which will allow the startup to be more mobile, piloting the technology at various partner sites. “Material handling has been a challenge, especially with the slurry,” Swail said. “You need specific types of pumps and compatible materials, and even small details like pressure and height differentials in the lines make a substantial difference. We’ve been testing and redesigning as we go, adding things like a compressed air line to clear blockages. It’s all part of the iterative design process.” The partnership began through Scale for ClimateTech, when RIT Technical Program Manager Mark Walluk conducted a manufacturing readiness level assessment of Carbon To Stone’s technology and recommended the RIT team’s support given the company’s preparedness to scale. “Working with COE-ASM significantly accelerated our product development timeline,” said Sravanth Gadikota, CEO of Carbon To Stone Inc. “They bring a team with broad expertise in various disciplines, including mechanical, electrical, machining and project management. Further, the funding support from New York state agencies made it possible for us to access such incredible skills, right here in Upstate New York. Working with this team is a no-brainer.” Funding for the project was provided by the New York State Department of Economic Development. “New York state funding allows the Center of Excellence to offset the cost of helping companies advance their green technologies,” added Walluk. “It’s very rewarding to help startups like Carbon To Stone on their journey to bring new and impactful technology to the market.” Note: Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the DED.