CSI Grad on His Way to Conquering Global Warming

Staten Island Advance - Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Jet planes may one day run on fuel that is environmentally friendly -- thanks to the work of a former College of Staten Island student.

Soumitri Seshadri has found a way to ignite and propel missiles with microscopic particles of aluminum and metal oxide powder, instead of carbon dioxide-emitting hydrocarbons.

The brainy and athletic 21-year-old former Oakwood resident says it's not too much of a stretch to think that one day jet fuels can be similarly composed.

"If we replace hydrocarbon fuels with metal fuels, it takes out the greenhouse gases," Seshadri said last week in an interview at his alma mater. "There's no [carbon dioxide] emission."

Many scientists believe that an excess of greenhouse gases -- the byproducts of burning fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas -- has caused global warming.

GROUNDBREAKING WORK

His potentially groundbreaking work earned Seshadri, who rattles off mind-numbing scientific data with the ease of a waiter reciting the daily specials, a first-place award last month in the technical poster presentation category at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition.

Seshadri completed his work for a senior design project at CSI, where he received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering and physics in the spring.

Kenneth Bach, a CSI spokesman, said the project originally was sponsored by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) as a way of finding an alternative fuel source for submarines and missiles. A DTRA spokesperson could not immediately be reached last week for comment.

Seshadri now works for technology giant and military contractor Lockheed Martin in upstate Schenectady.

"I'm very proud of him," said Alfred Levine, professor of engineering science and physics at CSI, who said every engineering student must design a novel system before graduating. "This was the best project this year."

While Levine cautioned it's "much too early" to say whether Seshadri's technique and findings can be applied outside the laboratory, it's nonetheless intriguing.

'EXPLOSION VESSEL'

"It's a very exciting question," he said. "We have to look for alternatives to hyrdrocarbon fuels."

Seshadri said he began his experiments in the summer of 2006 at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), where the project was based. He carried out the tests for 10 months through his senior year at CSI.

The combustible elements were ignited in an "explosion vessel" in a small sealed room in NJIT protected by a steel door.

The work was a blast -- literally.

Once, after a dud, Seshadri tried to vacuum the unignited aluminum and molybdenum oxide powder out of the explosion vessel. The suction generated heat, igniting the powder, which weighed only a fraction of an ounce.

The powder exploded, throwing Seshadri back against a wall and covering his face in soot. Luckily, he was not hurt.

"I was seeing spots in front of my eyes," he said. "It made me realize how powerful this stuff can be."

But he soldiered on -- and it paid off.

A LOSS FOR WORDS

His poster presentation of his work -- a color-coded amalgam of high-tech facts, figures and conclusions -- and his discussion of it at the exposition in Seattle garnered him a first prize.

"At first, I was like, 'Oh, really?" Seshadri said, recounting his reaction when his name was announced. "Then I was at a loss for words."

With his eyeglasses, blue sleeveless sweater, white shirt and red-striped tie, the tall, slender, dark-haired Seshadri cuts a scholarly appearance. But he's no nerd.

A former MVP and captain of CSI's tennis team, he was named in May the school's Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Seshadri was an ESPN Academic All-American in 2006.

Lessons learned on the tennis court about dedication and perseverance extend to the lab, he said.

"It's important you have strong mental concentration," he said, citing tennis champ Roger Federer as an inspiration.

Gail Simmons, CSI's dean of science and technology, said Seshadri's success story isn't unique. Two other CSI students earned second-place finishes in the various categories at the mechanical engineering expo, and 15 years ago, another CSI student captured a first-place award.

"The object is to help students get a good start in science and technology and get out and get great jobs," she said.

By  Frank Donnelly
Reprinted here with permission from the