As senior vice provost for academic and faculty affairs, Feke oversees faculty and academic affairs across all of CWRU’s schools, oversees the Office of the Registrar and University Center for Innovation in Teaching and Education (UCITE), and maintains CWRU’s institutional accreditation.
As a chemical engineer, Feke develops novel polymeric materials and ultrasonic-based separation processes for nano- and microscale multi-phase systems.
Teaching Information
Teaching Interests
Transport Phenomena. Mathematical methods.
Research Information
Research Interests
Research interests include particle science and processing, colloidal phenomena, dispersive mixing, and acoustic separation and materials processing methods. Our research focuses on the physical behavior and processing characteristics of multiphase (particle-liquid or fluid-liquid) dispersions, including suspensions of biological cells. These include fundamental studies of dispersive mixing phenomena for polymer composites and morphology development in emulsions that can be used as templates for advanced materials. We have also developed several methods that use resonant ultrasonic fields to perform sharp separations with applications in chemical and biochemical processing. This has been extended to the development of biochemical reactor configurations in which processing efficiency is enhanced through the application of ultrasonic fields. Additional studies are dedicated to the development of morphology in dispersions using acoustic processing techniques.
Awards and Honors
Publications
Reza Foudazi, Ryan Zowada, Ica Manas-Zloczower, and Donald L Feke, “Porous Hydrogels: Present Challenges and Future Opportunities,” Langmuir, 39(6), 2092-2011 (2023). ACS Editor’s Choice Feature Article.
Xuehui Gong Peipei Yang, Kristen Rohm, Yi Zhong, Boran Zhao, Ica Manas-Zloczower, Harihara Baskaran, and Donald L. Feke, “Porous Hollow Fibers with Controllable Structures Templated from High Internal Phase Emulsions," Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 138(30) 50739 (2021).
Xuehui Gong, Zhen Sang, Haochen Guo, Kai Ke, Ica Manas-Zloczower, and Donald L. Feke, “Piezoresistive Strain Sensors Based on Psyllium-Carbon Nanostructure Skeletons,” Composites B, 209, 108610 (2021).
Boran Zhao, Kristen Rohm, Fan Wang, Xuehui Gong, Ica Manas-Zloczower, and Donald L Feke, “A Compact Volume-Expandable Sorbent (CVES) for Oil and Solvent Capture,” ACS Applied Polymer Materials, 3(1), 494-503 (2021).
Xuehui Gong, Boran Zhao, Ica Manas‐Zloczower and Donald L. Feke, “Effect of Curing Bath Conditions on the Morphology and Structure of Poly(High Internal Phase Emulsion) Fibers,” Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 138(11), 50019 (2021).
Xuehui Gong, Kristen Rohm, Zihang Su, Boran Zhao, Julie Renner, Ica Manas-Zloczower, and Donald L. Feke, “Porous Hydrogels Templated from Soy-Protein Stabilized High Internal Phase Emulsions,” Journal of Materials Science, 55, 17284–17301 (2020).
Reza Foudazi, Boran Zhao,Polina Gokun, Ica Manas-Zloczower, Stuart J. Rowan, and Donald L. Feke, “The Effect of Shear on the Evolution of Morphology in High Internal Phase Emulsions (HIPEs) used as Templates for Structural and Functional Polymer Foams,” ACS Applied Polymer Materials, 2, 4, 1579-1586 (2020).
Boran Zhao, Gabriel Gedler, Ica Manas-Zloczower, Stuart J. Rowan, and Donald L. Feke, “Fluid transport in open-cell polymeric foams: effect of morphology and surface wettability,” Springer Nature Applied Sciences 2, 189-198 (2020).
Kristen Rohm, Ica Manas-Zloczower, and Donald Feke, “Poly(HIPE) morphology, crosslink density, and mechanical properties influenced by surfactant concentration and composition,” Colloids & Surfaces A, 583, 123913 (2019).