A few of the members who have helped plan the conference (left to right): Lindsay Gray (fundraising chair); Emily Rhodus (registration chair); Nickolas Winquist (conference chair); David Spencer (AIChE president); Sean Whitfield (poster competition chair); Ashley McClean (banquet chair)

The southern conference is the largest regional conference among AIChE’s student chapters and between 350-400 students from 25 universities are expected to attend the event, with participants traveling from Louisiana, Florida and even Puerto Rico.

Although the conference kicks off Friday, April 5, the bulk of the activities will take place on Saturday. The highly anticipated Chem-E Car competition will be held at Alumni Gym on the UK campus. Teams will be required to produce a chemical reaction that will move their car a predetermined distance. Extensive precautions are taken to ensure the safety of the participants. The winners will advance to the Chem-E Car competition at the national AIChE conference in San Francisco next November. In addition to the Chem-E Car contest, Chem-E Jeopardy and a paper competition will also give contestants an opportunity to compete at the national conference. A poster competition will also be held on Saturday.

Saturday will feature a Futures Fair, where chemical engineering companies will be on hand to discuss potential future employment with attendees. Students are encouraged to submit their resumes beforehand in order to take advantage of the networking opportunities available with industry representatives.

UK’s AIChE student chapter has a long legacy of excellence, having recently received the distinction of Outstanding Chapter for the 25^th straight year—the longest such streak of any student chapter in the nation. Chapter president David Spencer says the bar is high.

“Hosting a regional conference like this is expected of Outstanding Chapters, which is why we are looking forward to hearing about the great research others are doing and seeing participants have fun,” he said.

“We have received a lot of guidance and support from Dr. [Zach] Hilt, Dr. [Dibakar] Bhattacharyya and Dr. [Douglass] Kalika,” added conference chair Nickolas Winquist. “Additionally, Chelsea Hansing, Libby Weir, Nancy Miller, Betty Hickey, Lisa Atkinson and Mary McBeath have been invaluable in helping us with everything from tracking accounts to handling logistics.”

Over the weekend, schools will bid to host the conference that will take place two years from now. Next year’s conference will be held in Puerto Rico.

The post University of Kentucky to Host AIChE Southern Regional Conference appeared first on College of Engineering.

“It is an honor to join my colleague and UK faculty member Dibakar Bhattacharyya as a Fellow of the AIChE. Our department has a very strong tradition of service to AIChE, and I have reaped many professional benefits from my involvement in the Institute,” said Kalika.

Kalika has been on the faculty of the UK College of Engineering since 1990 and chair of the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering since 2009.

The post Kalika Elected AIChE Fellow appeared first on College of Engineering.

UK Paducah sophomore William Croft won 1st place in Environmental Science and Engineering II for his poster titled, “A Renewable Process for Producing Low-Cost Biofuel and Biochar for Rural West Africa.”

The Lexington UK AIChE student chapter had eight students participate in the undergraduate student poster session and competition, along with three students from the Paducah campus student chapter. The competition required students to present their research in poster format.  The specifics of the presentations are given below:

Landon Mills, “Microalgae Cultivation in Closed-Loop Photobioreactors: Biofilm Characterization, Prevention and Removal” (Dr. Crocker, research advisor)

Ashley McClean, “Protein Diffusion Through Oriented Thin Film Silica Membranes” (Drs. Knutson and Rankin, research advisors)

Jaime Shoup, “Conversion of Triglycerides and Fatty Acids to Hydrocarbons Using Supported Nickel Catalysts” (Dr. Crocker, research advisor)

Lindsay Gray, “An Improved in Vitro Model for the Study of Endothelial Cells Using Micropatterned Surfaces” (Drs. Anderson and  Eitel, research advisors)

David Spencer, “Multiple Macromer Hydrogels for Multiphase Drug Release” (Drs. Hilt and Puleo, research advisors)

Alex Tsoras, “The Development of Three-Dimensional Lung Multicellular Spheroids in Air and Liquid Interface Culture for the Evaluation of Anti-Cancer Therapeutics” (Drs. Anderson and Hilt, research advisors)

Adrianne Shearer, “Characterization of Liposomal Nanoparticles for in Vivo Conjugation to Adoptive Transferred T-Cells” (Dr. Irvine, research advisor from MIT REU Program)

Nick Winquist, “Light Sensitive Block Copolymer Cross Linked Nanoassemblies for Drug Delivery” (Dr. Bae, research advisor)

Maxwell Croft, “A Project Developing a Process for Sustainable Low Cost Biofuel and Biochar for Rural West Africa”(Dr. Seay, research advisor, Paducah program)

William Croft, “A Renewable Process for Producing Low-Cost Biofuel and Biochar for Rural West Africa” (Dr. Seay, research advisor, Paducah program)

Landon Mott, “Inductive Methods of Teaching Batch Distillation through Simulation” (Drs. Silverstein and Seay, research advisors, Paducah program)

Four Lexington students were recognized with prestigious poster awards:  Lindsay Gray, 1^st Place Poster Award for the Materials Engineering and Sciences Section;  Ashley McClean, 2^nd Place Poster Award for the Separations Section;  David Spencer, 3^rd Place Poster Award for the Materials Engineering and Sciences Section; and Alex Tsoras, 2^nd Place Poster Award for the Food, Pharmaceutical, and Biotechnology Section.

Two Paducah students were also recognized with poster awards: William Croft, 1^st Place Poster Award for the Sustainability Section; and Landon Mott, 3^rd Place Poster Award for the General Engineering and Engineering Education Section.

Both of the UK AIChE student chapters were honored as outstanding chapters. Each year, only about 10% of student chapters receive that designation.  The Lexington Chapter received special recognition for winning this national award for a record 25^th year in a row. The Paducah Chapter received this award for the 11^th consecutive year.

UK AIChE student chapter officers are: David Spencer, President; Adam Lyvers, Vice President; Adrianne Shearer, Secretary; and Jaime Shoup, Treasurer. Dr. Zach Hilt is the chapter advisor.

UK Paducah AIChE student chapter officers are: Landon Mott, President; Neil Trammell, Vice President; Amber Deming, Secretary; and Christina Willett, Treasurer. Dr. David Silverstein is the chapter advisor.

The post UK Chemical Engineering Students and AIChE Student Chapters Recognized for Outstanding Achievements at AIChE Annual Meeting appeared first on College of Engineering.