Graduate students meet with state senator
August 6, 2009
by Rizza Barnes - Graduate Division
Acting Graduate Dean Frances Leslie, Senator Tom Harman, and students Mary Amasia and Shane Stephens-Romero.
UC Irvine doctoral students and Public Impact Fellows Shane Stephens-Romero and Mary Amasia today discussed their groundbreaking research with State Senator Tom Harman, as part of the legislator’s campus visit.
Harman, who represents the people of Irvine and more than a dozen other cities in the 35th Senate District, met with the students and Acting Graduate Dean Frances Leslie over lunch to discuss the environment, healthcare and the importance of graduate education.
“There are more bioscience and high-tech companies here in Orange County than there are in the Silicon Valley, and I think a lot of that is directly tied to this university,” he said.
Leslie agreed.
“Our graduate students produce intellectual property that encourages the establishment of new businesses in this area,” she said. “The research they produce also provides solutions to real-world problems. Shane and Mary’s work, for example, have enormous potential to benefit society.”
Amasia, a chemical engineering doctoral student, is developing an automated CD-based system that can detect anthrax in one hour, versus the 2-3 days required by current detection methods.
“If we have a system that’s fast and portable, it can be stored in places like airports, schools — and help prevent the spread of infection,” said Amasia, who hopes to finalize her prototype within the next year.
Shane Stephens-Romero and Senator Tom Harman discuss alternative transportation fuels.
Meanwhile, environmental engineering doctoral student Stephens-Romero presented his research on hydrogen as a transportation fuel. Already his work with Professor Scott Samuelsen and other UC Irvine faculty and staff have resulted in a new methodology to assess the impacts — in terms of pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and efficiency — of deploying alternative transportation fuels.
The methodology has been applied to a southern California case study for hydrogen infrastructure deployment, and early results have been presented to policy makers and leaders in the automotive and energy sectors.
“I had no idea, until I came to UCI, how much the new research and technology created by universities is mutually beneficial to companies,” Stephens-Romero said. “My project, for example, has benefited from feedback and resources provided by industry leaders, in conjunction with federal and state government agencies. This university truly creates a nice environment for that kind of synergy.”
After speaking with the students, Harman met with Professor Samuelsen, director of UCI’s National Fuel Cell Research Center, and later with Chancellor Michael V. Drake. Liz Toomey, assistant vice chancellor for community and government relations, and Kathy Eiler, director of advocacy and government relations, were instrumental in arranging the visit.
