2022 News Archive
2023 Advocacy and Action Award
Congratulation Professor Astrid Mueller for winning the 2023 Advocacy and Action Award for the Presidential Stronger As One Diversity Awards.
Danielle Getz and Quinn Yu Win Fall TA Awards
Congratulations to seniors Danielle Getz and Quinn Yu for winning the Fall 2022 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award! The Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Award (UGTA) recognizes an undergraduate student(s) whose service as teaching assistant in a Chemical Engineering course has been outstanding during that semester. Well done!
Congratulation to our 2022 DEI Award Winner
Congratulation to this year's DEI award winner, Sean Rodrigues. The award was giving to Sean during the yearly DEI Panel on November 4.
Alumni News
Chemical engineering alumnus Wen-Chang Chen ’93 (PhD) has been named president of National Taiwan University (NTU). After earning a BS at NTU, Wen-Chang did his PhD work here under Samson Jenekhe, a professor of chemical engineering, chemistry, and materials science. He then returned to join the faculty at NTU, eventually becoming dean of the college of engineering. In 2021, he was awarded a National Chair Professorship in engineering and applied science. Wen-Chang is also the chair of NTU’s Optoelectronic Polymer Laboratory, which studies the electronic and optical properties of donor-acceptor polymers through chemical structure design, charge transport, band gaps, and light-emitting characteristics. Learn more.
Samantha Cox Wins Research Symposium Award
Congratulation Sam on being one of the winners at the GEPA Annual Graduate Student Symposium. Over 50 students gave 10-minute presentations to audiences that included students, faculty and staff. These talks shared the breadth of outstanding research and scholarship going on across AS&E!
ChE Post Doc wins Steadman Prize
Parinaz Esbah, a postdoctoral associate in chemical engineering, won the Award for Interdisciplinary Research at the recent Steadman Family Postdoctoral Associate Prize in Interdisciplinary Research competition— exactly one year to the day after receiving her doctorate in engineering physics from Ghent University in Belgium. Parinaz, who works with Wyatt Tenhaeff’s research group, was recognized for research that represents a unique and impactful synthesis of theory/experiment and methodology from multiple disciplines of study. Her presentation was entitled “Surface science and its application to biomedical and optical coatings.” Parinaz was among five finalists who gave three-minute oral presentations to a panel of judges, who weighed not only the scientific merits of the presentations, but the ability to communicate to a general audience.
Outstanding Student
Danielle Getz ’23 decided in high school that she wanted to dedicate herself to mitigating climate change. This summer she worked in theresearch group of Marc Porosoff on cutting edge research aimed at addressing the problem. The chemical engineering major and Grand Challenges Scholar says she’s “really motivated when I have awesome people I am working with, who are passionate and excited – that’s what I love about the University of Rochester.”
Sandra Willison wins ACE Award
Congrats to department administrator Sandra Willison for winning the August 2022 ACE Award. This award is given to staff who are integral to making the University "Ever Better". During a time of severe personnel constraint in one of the SAS departments, Sandra "graciously offered her support to assist in completing a required compliance activity" per Roger Smith in the AS&E Dean's Office. "We sincerely appreciate her spirit of cross-divisional collaboration". Sandra, who has been with the department for 21+ years, has made a lasting impact with her hard work and dedication. Well done!
Abby Zabrodsky Wins the 2022 Young Alumni Award
Professor Porosoff Selected as Scialog Fellow for Negative Emissions Science
Professor Marc Porosoff has been named a Fellow for the Scialog initiative, Negative Emission Science (NES). Scialog: NES is cosponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA), with additional support from the Climate Pathfinders Foundation, the ClimateWorks Foundation, and the Thistledown Foundation. The series will hold its third conference on November 9-12, 2022, in Tucson, AZ.
Outstanding ChemE Student
Andrew Rojnuckarin ’23, a chemical engineering major, didn't understand how important those factors would be when he enrolled at Rochester. But he does now. Rochester’s smaller size made it easier for Andrew to participate in student leadership roles. He is president of the University’sEngineers Without Borders student chapter, for example.
Congratulation Professor White
Congratulation to Professor Andrew White on being recognized by the 2021 Kate Gleason Young Engineer of the Year.
AIChE Highlights Professor Mueller
Today for #WomensHistoryMonth we highlight Prof. Astrid M Müller! Dr. Müller is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Rochester. Prior to starting at the University of Rochester in 2018, Prof. Müller earned a PhD in Chemistry from the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, with an emphasis on ultrafast reaction dynamics. Her postdoctoral work centered on developing a fundamental understanding of the interactions between lasers and matter. Her independent research program is now focused on the synthesis of #nanomaterials using pulsed laser methods. These techniques offer unprecedented flexibility and control over the size and composition of metal nanostructures. This uniquely positions Prof. Müller’s group to understand how composition, geometric structure, and electronic structure impact the performance of nanomaterials in electrocatalysis and #greenchemistry applications. Some recent highlights from her group include a review of pulsed laser methods for the controlled synthesis of catalytic nanomaterials; a perspective on water oxidation; a mini-review of selective methods for CO2 electroreduction; and an award from the ACS-Petroleum Research Fund to support research into selective electrooxidations using novel nanocatalysts.