On April 25 and 26, the Lehigh student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) hosted the 2025 Mid-Atlantic Student Regional Conference.
Nearly 400 undergraduate students from across the Mid-Atlantic region joined Lehigh students in activities including ChemE Jeopardy and the ChemE car competition as well as presenting research in poster and oral presentations sessions. The Mid-Atlantic Region includes schools in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virgina, West Virginia, and Washington DC. Honored speaker, Dr. Christine Seymour (B.S. Chemical Engineering, 1989) of Takeda Pharmaceuticals, addressed the attendees and President Joseph J. Helble (B.S. Chemical Engineering, 1982) - served as the Keynote Speaker for the conference.
The conference was organized by a student team led by CeCe Wekstein (B.S. Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 2025). "As a chemical engineering student, it was incredibly rewarding to give back to the supportive and inspiring community that has shaped so much of my academic and professional growth." Cece will be pursuing her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania starting this fall semester."Cece and her student team were critical to the success of this conference," says Associate Chair and AIChE Student Chapter Advisor Joseph Menicucci, "we believe it is the first time Lehigh University has ever hosted this event." Menicucci continued, "The Mid-Atlantic Student Regional Conference is typically held at one of the larger universities in the region so it is also a testament to the dedicated employees at this university that we were able to accommodate a conference of this size - especially on the same weekend as LehighFest."
Paul Bader, Jamie Lenhart and - especially - Margie Barry, Cody Turner, and Megan Roth provided significant support for the conference on behalf of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE), Don Loebsack and the catering team developed a menu that worked around the myriad dietary needs of the attendees and delivered high quality food to our guests, and Allen Biddinger, Dan Burke, and their teams provided phenomenal support for the ChemE car competition held in Stabler Arena."
The 2026 Mid-Atlantic Student Regional Conference will be held at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.
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