The AIChE Annual Meeting is the premier educational forum for chemical engineers interested in innovation and professional growth. Academic and industry experts from across the world come together for this event to cover a wide range of topics relevant to cutting-edge research, new technologies, and emerging growth areas in chemical engineering.
One of the major sessions encompassed during the meeting is the student conference. Over a series of days, students participate in mock interviews, networking mixers, ChemE jeopardy, recruitment fairs, Chem-E-car competitions, and research poster sessions. This year, eight undergraduate students from the Chemical and Biomolecular Department (ChBE) of Lehigh University had the opportunity to attend the conference in Orlando, FL., and share their work amongst the fellow engineering community.
Teja Patrice '25: Synthesis of CoMoO4/NiMoO4 Composites as Supercapacitor Electrodes
Kylie Park '25: Understanding of Alcohol and Aldehyde Oxidation Behavior of Gold Nanoparticles with Carbonaceous Layers in HMF Oxidation
Lauryn Holgado '24: The Oxidative Coupling of Methane: A Mesoscale Kinetic Model of the Surface and Gas Phase Reaction Network
Sydney Volheim '25: Building Phase Diagrams for Coacervate Systems with Low Volume Samples
Shane Haycock '26: Redesign of a First Year Undergraduate Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Laboratory
Juliana Forero Arevalo '24: Designing Peptide-Polymer Conjugates for Cell-Mediated Scaffold Degradation
Brianna Sauder '24: The Active Sands of Time: Flow of Granular Microrollers through Funnels
The interactive sessions help to polish students for the next chapter of their career journey. “Attending the AIChE conference was such a great experience. I cannot thank everyone enough for the opportunity to participate. I learned so much” says Sydney Volheim ’25. Juliana Forero Arevalo ’24, who serves as President of the Lehigh Un. AIChE Student Chapter, was also part of the poster session. “You go to the conference not knowing anyone more than your core school group and come home with a phonebook full of new connections.” Keyri Sorto '25 joined the student group to further represent the student chapter and collaborate with fellow student reps on club engagement strategies.
Faculty could also be found networking with colleagues amongst the workshops and university receptions. Alumni, Daniel Burkey ’98, lead the Future Faculty Mentoring (EDU) Program Reception and was recipient of the 2023 David Himmelblau Award for Innovations in Computer-Based Chemical Engineering Education. As the crowds continued to converse, one could take a moment to meet the AIChE Board of Directors, which includes Lehigh ChBE Professor Elsa Reichmanis and alumnus Jim Beilstein ’90. Burkey and Beilstein are both active members of the Lehigh ChBE Department Advisory Council which plays a key role in inspiring the future makers.
Next year, AIChE heads to San Diego, CA. – catch ChBE there Oct. 27-Nov. 1, 2024!
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