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Five engineering majors recently traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah, to present their research at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ (AIChE) 2007 Annual Meeting, held Nov. 4-9.
The students participated in the student poster competition. Chemical engineering major Matthew Ide ’08 (Durham, Conn.) presented his research on the characterization of chitosan nanoparticles. He has been working with Patricia Darcy, assistant professor of chemical engineering. Ide took third place in one of the food, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology competitions.
Chemical engineering majors Scott Crown ’08 (Effort, Pa.), Jeshua Gonzalez ’09 (Alburtis, Pa.), and Briana Hecht ’08 (Chestnuthill, Mass.) and Nigel Martin ’10 (Elkins, W.Va.), who is pursuing an A.B. in engineering, also presented.
Crown, who also worked with Darcy, presented “Characterization of Enzymes in Reverse Micelles,” while Gonzalez shared his research on the production method for dimethoxymethane. Gonzalez worked with Javad Tavakoli, professor of chemical engineering.
Martin presented “A Roadmap to Sustainable Development,” which he had developed in collaboration with Gonzalez, chemical engineering majors Daniel Goldberg ’09 (Avon, Conn.) and Martha Were ’09 (Kampala, Uganda), and Alison Disbrow ’08 (Belvidere, N.J.), who is pursuing an A.B. in engineering. Tavakoli, Darlene Schuster, director of the Institute for Sustainability, and David Taschler ’75, director of Global Applications at Air Products & Chemicals, Inc., advised the project.
Hecht presented “Microfluidic Device Fabrication as A Tool for First-Year Chemical Engineering Education,” a project that she worked on with chemical engineering major Korin Kohen ’08 (Istanbul, Turkey), James Ferri, associate professor of chemical engineering, and Jeffrey Erickson of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C.
Ide, who also serves as the president of Ultimate Frisbee Club, a member of Tau Beta Pi, and a head resident of Keefe Hall, Ramer Hall, and Farber Hall, found putting together the presentation to be very educational.
“I’ve learned countless research tools that will help me in my pursuit of a doctorate at graduate school,” says Ide. “The oral presentation skills that I have learned are also quite valuable.”