The University of Kentucky’s American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) student chapter was very active in the annual meeting and centennial celebration in Philadelphia, PA. Twenty-six undergraduates attended this meeting and participated in the wide variety of events.
The UK AIChE student chapter was invited to present a workshop on leadership development and fundraising at the Centennial meeting to share strategies and best practices. This workshop was prepared and presented by Lauren Rosenbeck, Alex Montague, Aaron Hickey, and Don Johnson to students from other AIChE chapters in hopes that they would be able to learn from our experiences and take back the strategies to their chapters.
The UK AIChE student chapter also participated in the AIChE Computing and Systems Technology Division sponsored video contest. This contest required students to submit a video no longer than 7 minutes that demonstrated their use of creativity and articulated their vision about the future of chemical engineering. The University of Kentucky was awarded $200 for their efforts, and the video was showcased at the Annual Student Conference Bash. Students that contributed to the creation of the video were as follows: Don Johnson, Alex Montague, Stephen Batt, Corey Barnett, Joel Vice, and Lauren Rosenbeck.
Finally, the UK AIChE student chapter also had several students participate in the Undergraduate Student Poster Presentations, which required students to present their research in poster format. Alex Montague (Dr. Bhattacharyya, research advisor) presented his poster on “Poly-Acrylic Acid Functionalized Membrane for Iron Immobilization and Fenton Reaction.” Juan Carlos Cordova (Dr. Hilt, research advisor) presented his poster on “Biodegradable Hydrogel Systems as Orthopedic Implants for Growth Plate Regeneration.” Finally, Don Johnson (Dr. Hilt, research advisor) presented his poster on the “Synthesis and Characterization of Temperature Responsive Hydrogel Nanocomposites.”
The UK AIChE student chapter was honored as an outstanding chapter. Each year, only about 10% of student chapters receive that designation. Our Chapter received this national award for the 26th year in a row.
UK AIChE student chapter officers are: Lauren Rosenbeck (larose2@uky.edu), president; Don Johnson (dejohn4@uky.edu), vice president; Alex Montague (pamont2@uky.edu), secretary; and Aaron Hickey (athick2@uky.edu), treasurer. Dr. Bhattacharyya is the chapter advisor.