Wayne Seames to present Robinson lecture Wednesday The Chester Fritz Library will host the 17th annual Elwyn B. Robinson Lecture from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20, in the East Asian Room of the Chester Fritz Library (fourth floor). Wayne Seames (chemical engineering) will speak on "Energy and Modern Human Civilization.” A reception will follow his presentation. Seames received his B.S. in chemical engineering at the University of Arizona in 1979. After a 16 year industrial career as a process engineer, engineering supervisor, and project manager, he returned to Arizona and earned his doctorate in chemical engineering in July 2000. Seames joined the UND chemical engineering department in 2000 where he currently serves as an associate professor. Among his academic awards are the 2007 University of North Dakota Award of Individual Excellence for Research, the University of North Dakota School of Engineering and Mines 2006 Professor of the Year and 2004 Olson Professor for outstanding research, and the University of Arizona School of Engineering and Mines 1998 Faculty Award of Excellence at the Student Interface recognizing his teaching and advising contributions to the chemical engineering department. Seames is the director of the Sustainable Energy Research Initiative and Supporting Education (SUNRISE) group and is the state’s Department of Energy EPSCoR program director. He is named on six submitted UND patent applications and is recognized as the principal inventor of UND’s biojet fuel technology, one of the University’s first commercially licensed technologies. He has authored over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles plus over 120 public and private reports and other publications. Dr. Seames currently manages a research portfolio of over $4 million. The Robinson Lecture series began in 1991 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Professor Elwyn B. Robinson's publication, "A History of North Dakota." Robinson, whose career spanned 35 years at UND, was a distinguished member of the history faculty. The lecture, together with the library’s compilation of a bibliography of faculty and staff publications, is designed to recognize the scholarly and creative accomplishments of the UND community.