AIChE has named the recipients of its 2026 35 Under 35 Award, recognizing 35 early-career members whose achievements are already making a difference in chemical engineering.
Presented every three years since 2017, the AIChE 35 Under 35 Award honors members who are 35 or younger and have made significant contributions to the profession and the AIChE community. Honorees are selected in seven categories and recognize achievements in research, industry, education, entrepreneurship, leadership, and safety.
More than 70 professionals were nominated for the 2026 award. This year’s recipients represent universities, research institutions, and companies around the world. Chemical and Materials is the largest category, with 10 honorees, followed by Energy and Environment with eight, and Bioengineering with five.
The 2026 honorees will be recognized during the 2026 AIChE Annual Meeting, taking place November 8–12 in Minneapolis. Each recipient will also be featured in the January 2027 issue of Chemical Engineering Progress and on AIChE’s social media channels.
The 2026 AIChE 35 Under 35 Award winners
Bioengineering
- Blaise Kimmel • The Ohio State University
- Rebecca Pinals • Stanford University
- Srivatsan Ramesh • Astellas Gene Therapies
- Kurt Ristroph • Purdue University
- Hannah Zierden • University of Maryland
Chemical & Materials
- Madelyn Ball • Michigan State University
- R. Kōnane Bay • University of Colorado Boulder
- Camille Bilodeau • University of Virginia
- Rose Cersonsky • University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Connor Coley • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Ria Corder • University of Tennessee, Knoxville
- Stavroula (Alina) Kampouri • Rice University
- Albert Liu • University of Michigan
- Aditya Nandy • University of California, Los Angeles
- Andrew Rosen • Princeton University
Education & Outreach
- Lorena Grundy • University of Pennsylvania
- Alexis Prybutok • University of Washington
Energy & Environment
- Chibueze Amanchukwu • University of Chicago
- Xueli Chen • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Robert DeJaco • Ardent Process Technologies
- Yayuan Liu • Johns Hopkins University
- Emily Pulcher • Burns & McDonnell
- Jacob Saldinger • bp
- Yuhe Tian • West Virginia University
- Calvin Tsay • Imperial College London
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
- Prashanth Chandran • Optimized Gas Treating, Inc.
- Alexander Cruz • Baker Hughes
- Morgan Hahnert • Covation Biomaterials
- Kara Meyers • 3M
Leadership
- Hashim Al Hajji • Saudi Aramco
- Deven Baser • Dow
- Rishabh Gupta • ExxonMobil
- Roman Ventura • Datwyler Group
Safety
- Francieli Ribeiro • DNV
- Zhe Wu • National University of Singapore
Support the next generation of honorees
The AIChE Foundation established the 35 Under 35 Award Endowment to provide lasting support for the program. Every gift helps AIChE continue recognizing and elevating early-career members whose ideas, leadership, and service are strengthening the profession.
