Pradeep & Yan Selected as James K. Ferrell Outstanding Ph.D. Graduate Awardees

Two CBE Ph.D. grads have received the James K. Ferrell Outstanding Ph.D. Graduate Award for 2021. Shravan Pradeep (advised by Prof. Lilian Hsiao) was selected as the award winner and Jiaqi Yan (advised by Prof. Rich Spontak) was selected as an honorable mention.

Pradeep is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts where he studies nano and micron structured soft materials, colloidal microstructure and dynamics, suspension rheology, granular materials, confocal microscopy, image processing and complex fluids.

Yan’s research interests as a Ph.D. student included structure-property relationships of styrenic block copolymers suitable for use as membranes, biocompatibles and antibacterial/viral materials. She now works at Kraton Corporation as a polymer scientist.

The James K. Ferrell Outstanding Ph.D. Graduate Award recognizes an outstanding graduate of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Ph.D. program who distinguished themselves in scholarship through publications, research-based honors and presentations, as well as in service through teaching and TA performance, graduate student recruiting, GSA service and the mentorship of peers and undergraduate researchers. The award is named in memory of Dr. James K. Ferrell who was the first Ph.D. graduate from NC State’s chemical engineering program, a CBE faculty member and department head from 1966 through 1980. Funds for the award are made possible through the James K. Ferrell Graduate Student Memorial Fund.