AIChE Student Chapter at the 2023 AIChE Southern Regional Student Conference

This article was written with Dr. Kim Roberts, the AIChE student chapter advisor.

In early March, 26 members of the AIChE student chapter attended the 2023 AIChE Southern Regional Student Conference. The Conference was hosted by the University of Florida Student Chapter in Gainesville, Florida and was the first in-person regional conference since 2019.

The Chapter acknowledges a number of members for their participation across every session offered at the conference:

TECHNICAL PRESENTATION COMPETITION

The technical presentation competition gives undergraduate researchers the opportunity to present their research and earn recognition for their work. The first place winner advances to represent the Southern Region in the national competition.

• Katie Traynelis – 1st place Investigating the Residue Specificity of p300 in Human Histone Peptides; advised by Dr. Albert Keung and Dr. Balaji Rao and mentored by PhD candidate Alison Waldman.

Katie’s win represents the second time an NC State Chapter member has won the Regional Conference Technical Presentation Competition in the past three years.  The Chapter looks forward to supporting Katie this fall at the Annual Student Conference national competition in Orlando, Florida.

STUDENT POSTER COMPETITION

Five Chapter members presented their research during the poster competition:

• Hannah Dickerson; Advisor: Dr. Abolhasani
• William Gross; Advisor: Dr. Keung
• Zacharia Nyambega; Advisor: Dr. Dickey
• Christine Stark; Advisor: Dr. Abolhasani
• Titus Szobody; Advisor: Dr. Dickey

The posters and presentations were well received and we look forward to supporting these students as they present at the Annual Student Conference this fall.

Chem-E JEOPARDY COMPETITION

Captain James Kurdi led the team of Katie Weston Cregger, Kaden Steinmann, and KatieTraynelis and alternates Christine Stark and Sam Wysocki to a semifinal showing. Casee Loudermilk served as the MC during training.

Chem-E CAR COMPETITION

Team chair Jaden Leatherman led the team of Gedler Arevalo, Jacob Ferace, Ryan Sedlacek, Cade Tharrington, and Nick Zezza to its first Chem-E Car entry in many years.  The Chapter views their efforts as an outstanding foundation for future years of participation.

Of particular note, five first-year/new transfer students represented the Chapter at the conference: Jaden Leatherman, Ryan Sedlacek, Jacob Ferace, Gedler Arevalo and Nick Zezzas.  The Chapter is extremely proud of their efforts and looks forward to their future involvement.

The conference concluded with a banquet where student presenters and teams were recognized for their efforts during the conference.  The Chapter was incredibly proud to hear remarks from Dr. Billy Bardin, national AIChE President and alumnus of the (then) Department of Chemical Engineering at NC State (B.S. ’95).  Dr. Bardin was an active member of the Chapter and took time during his speech to recognize the impact that Dr. George Roberts, the Chapter advisor at that time, and the AIChE had on him during his time at NC State.