The 2025 AIChE Student Awards Ceremony, held on Sunday, November 2, at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA, celebrated the academic excellence, leadership, and innovation of AIChE student members from around the world. Students were recognized for outstanding achievements across technical competitions, scholarships, and student chapter leadership.
Below are highlights from this year’s awards and competitions.
Student Technical Presentation Competition
The 2025 AIChE Student Technical Presentation Competition recognized outstanding student research presented at the Annual Student Conference. This year’s top presenters represented regions across the U.S. and internationally.
- First place: Sophia Harrill, Lafayette College (Mid-Atlantic Region) — “Hydrolytic Degradability of Biobased Thermosets from Birch Bark”
- Second place: Alyssa Keptner, Trine University (North Central Region) — “Media Optimization for Biofuels from Cyclotella cryptica”
- Third place: Anna Carolina Rutsatz Bartz, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil (Brazil Region) — “Use of machine learning algorithms for plastic classification based on features from audio signals”
In addition to the overall winners, the following students were recognized as finalists after advancing from regional competitions:
- Nour Bou Alwan, University of Oklahoma
- David Ball, University of Alabama
- Maria Jose Torrado Gomez, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín Campus
- Sable Phillips, University of Tulsa
- Jesús Pavón Puente, Tecnológico de Monterrey
- Samantha Reising, Stanford University
- Carter Richards, Brigham Young University
Student Design Competition
This year’s Student Design Competition problem, titled “Blue hydrogen to improve the atmosphere (BIA),” was evaluated by a panel of judges who selected the top solutions in both the individual and team categories.
Individual category
- First place (A. McLaren White Award): Mia Vollkommer, Michigan State University
- Second place (A.E. Marshall Award): Parker Reichhart, Trine University
- Third place (Omega Chi Epsilon Award): Andrew Chadwell, University of South Florida
Team category
- First place (William A. Cunningham Award): Brandi Head, Kenna Lam, Nikole Salas, and Blakely Smith — Oklahoma State University
- Honorable mention: Julián Arturo Estrada Martínez, Julio César Chavez Gutierrez, Roberto Francisco Arellano Barragán, and Paula Del Prado Vargas — Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey
Process Safety Division Awards
The AIChE Process Safety Division also recognized excellence in inherent safety design with the Ted Ventrone, Ephraim Scheier & Walt Silowska Award. This year's winners were:
- Gabriela Olvera, Hannah Tomlinson, Lukasz Lacki, and William Hernandez — University of South Florida
- Brandi Head, Kenna Lam, Nikole Salas, and Blakely Smith — Oklahoma State University
- Margaret Cook, Cory Campbell, Tylee Kareck, and Keshawn Wallace — Oklahoma State University
- Parker Reichhart — Trine University
ChemE Jeopardy
Teams advanced from regional competitions to compete in the North American and International ChemE Jeopardy finals at the 2025 AIChE Annual Student Conference.
North American winners
- First place: Johns Hopkins University
- Second place: Georgia Institute of Technology
- Third place: University of Notre Dame
International winners
- First place: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Brazil)
- Second place: Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología (Peru)
- Third place: Combined team from the Institute of Chemical Technology and Indian Oil Campus Odisha (India)
John J. McKetta Undergraduate Scholarship
The John J. McKetta Undergraduate Scholarship, sponsored by The Dekker Foundation, was awarded to Sarah White, Virginia Commonwealth University.
The $5,000 scholarship is presented to an incoming junior or senior chemical engineering student planning a career in the chemical process industries and recognizes academic excellence, leadership, and service within AIChE.
Donald F. and Mildred Topp Othmer Scholarship Awards
The Donald F. and Mildred Topp Othmer National Scholarship Award of $1,000 is given to chemical engineering students for their outstanding academic achievement and involvement in student chapter activities. The following 15 students were recognized:
- Lama Abu-Hantash, An-Najah National University
- Nathan Archambeau, University of South Florida
- David Ball, University of Alabama
- Joshua Bowman, Mississippi State University
- Maximilian Chandzel, University of Michigan
- Maya Fetzer, Bucknell University
- Noah Glassman, Trine University
- Ashley Kang, Virginia Commonwealth University
- Aditya Kashyap, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology
- Shesha Krishna, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai
- Landon LaMarca, Georgia Institute of Technology
- Sarah Sergi, Lafayette College
- Emily Shore, North Carolina State University
- Jack Sullivan, University of New Hampshire
- Zachary Vinitski, The Pennsylvania State University
First- and Second-Year Student Recognition
The Donald F. Othmer Second Year Student Academic Excellence Award is presented to one student in each AIChE student chapter who has attained the highest scholastic grade point average during their freshman and sophomore years. In 2025, nearly 60 students earned this honor.
In addition, the First Year Student Recognition Award was presented to more than 60 students who demonstrated outstanding involvement in their AIChE student chapter during their first year. These students were recognized during a special awards ceremony.
ACE4G Challenge
The ACE4G Challenge returned in 2025, recognizing student-led projects that address real-world challenges in developing communities through sustainable, appropriate technology–based solutions.
Winners
- American University of Ras Al Khaimah: Thermo-Catalytic Compost Reactor — 1st place
- Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology: Solar-Biochar Textile Effluent Treatment System — 2nd place
- Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Bogotá: Production of Protein Extract from Hemp Seeds in Cauca, Colombia — 3rd place
Honorable mentions
- American University of Ras Al Khaimah: Defluorination of Fluoride-Contaminated Groundwater
- Northeastern University: CHITOCLEAR: Purifying Wastewater
Outstanding Student Chapter Advisor Award
This award recognizes an individual’s outstanding service and leadership in guiding the activities of an AIChE student chapter in accordance with AIChE principles. This year, the honor went to two advisors:
- Ryan Snyder, Bucknell University
- Christian Martin Cuba Torres, Georgia Institute of Technology
Outstanding Student Chapter Award
This year, 43 AIChE student chapters received the Outstanding Student Chapter Award for excellence in participation, programming, and community involvement.
- An-Najah National University
- Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology
- Birla Institute of Science and Technology
- Brigham Young University
- Bucknell University
- Centro Universitário FEI
- Dr. Vishwanath Karad MIT World Peace University
- Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering, Suez University
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember
- Institute of Chemical Technology Mumbai
- Iowa State University
- King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals
- Michigan State University
- Mississippi State University
- National Institute of Technology Rourkela
- North Carolina State University
- Notre Dame University – Louaize
- PEM Akamigas
- Purdue University
- Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology
- Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat
- Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet
- Tecnológico de Monterrey
- The University of Alabama
- Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología
- Universidad ICESI
- Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería
- Universidade Estadual de Campinas
- Universidade Federal do Ceará
- Universidade Federal do Paraná
- Universitas Indonesia
- University of California Berkeley
- University of California Los Angeles
- University of Florida
- University of Iowa
- University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- University of Michigan
- University of Missouri, Columbia
- University of South Florida
- Vellore Institute of Technology
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute
Check out the photo album below for highlights from the 2025 Student Awards Ceremony.
