UNL chemical engineers active at AIChE National Conference

More than 10 UNL Chemical Engineering faculty and students headed to Pittsburgh for the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ national conference, Oct. 28 – Nov. 1. The annual event gathers thousands of chemical engineers from industry and academia.

The UNL Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department had several key commitments at the event:

• Senior Travis Jackson received one of the AIChE Donald F. and Mildred Topp Othmer National Scholarship Awards for the 2012-2013 academic year. The award consists of a $1,000 check to assist with chemical engineering educational expenses, including living costs, plus recognition at the 2012 Annual Student Conference’s Awards Ceremony in Pittsburgh.

• At prior regional events, Nebraska Engineering’s Chem-E car qualified to race at the AIChE National Student Conference. The car, about as big as a coffeemaker, must run between 50-100 feet and carry a 50-100 mL payload of water. The car must be assembled onsite (when distance and payload specifics are revealed) with power supplied by designated chemical reactions, and it must adhere to a 30-page safety document.

• Graduate student Hunter Flodman earned the AIChE Separations Division Graduate Student Research Award. This highly competitive award receives global nominations. Flodman gained $200 and a plaque at the Separations Division’s Dinner during the event in Pittsburgh.
  
  
• CHME's Dr. Sri Kidambi chairs a Biomaterials session and two of his research group members—Amita Daverey (postdoc) and Allison Drain (undergraduate/UCARE)—gave presentations with him on Patterned Co-Culture of Breast Cancer Cells and Stromal Cells As an in Vitro Breast Cancer Model and on Topography Mediated Regulation of HER-2 Expression in Breast Cancer Cells. UNL Biological Systems Engineering Assistant Professor Angela Pannier chaired a Gene Delivery session, and BSE grad students Tim Martin and Tadas Kasputis also gave oral presentations at the AIChE event.

• Nebraska hosts its first-ever conference reception at the AIChE national gathering, attracting candidates with interest in the department’s current chair search, as well as connecting Nebraska Engineering CHME alumni in the mid-Atlantic area; and
  
  
• UNL was named an Outstanding Student Chapter for 2011-12 from national AIChE.