Last month, chemical engineering students and faculty attended the 2023 AIChE Annual Student Conference in Orlando, Florida. AIChE stands as the foremost global organization for chemical engineering professionals, boasting over 60,000 members from 110 countries.

At the conference, students participated in workshops, panels, and the undergraduate research poster competition. Over twenty Cooper students presented their research at the student conference. This year, multiple students took home awards thanks to the mentorship provided by the chemical engineering faculty and the support provided by Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Lab Technicians, Revans Ragbir and Khemet Calnek.
 

The student awards received from the AIChE Student Conference include:

• Emma Cohen BSE’24, placed 1st in the Undergraduate Research Poster Competition Material Science Division (advised by Associate Professor Jennifer R. Weiser)
• Caitlin Noonan ChE’25, placed 1st in the Undergraduate Research Poster Competition Overall Environmental Division Award and 1st in the Environmental Division I
• The Cooper Brue Team, placed 1st for Best Beer Label and placed 3rd in the Annual Beer Brewing Competition

In addition to the student awards and presentations, a memorial session was held for the late Professor of Chemical Engineering, Daniel Lepek ChE’04. A deeply beloved professor and colleague at the Cooper Union since 2009, Professor Lepek served as Chair of the Education Division of the AICHE, a role he saw as a long-term commitment in order to have a meaningful impact on chemical engineering education and increase diversity in the field. During the memorial, Professor and Chair of Chemical Engineering, Ben Davis delivered a heartfelt speech highlighting the profound impact and lasting legacy of Professor Lepek. The two had started as Assistant Professors at the Cooper Union within a semester of each other, 13 and a half years ago. The memorial session honoring Professor Lepek was successful, drawing 50 attendees who shared their cherished memories of him.

Students in attendance included: Ana Islamova ChE’23 MChE, Anthony Napolitano ChE’25, Cameron Tardy ChE’26, Emma Cohen BSE’24, Iram Rahman ChE’19 MChE’24, Isha Dave ChE’26, James Aravena ChE’25, Janina Li ChE’25, Julian Lam ChE’25, Kalvin Huang ChE’25, Kayla Lee ChE’26, Nada Shetewi ChE’24, Neha Nichakawade ChE’25, Sabrina Zhou ChE’24, Sid Pinto ChE’24, Tausif Tamim ChE’25, Ubaidullah Hassan ChE’25, Wesley Wong ChE’24, Abigail Lin ChE’26, Caitlin Noonan ChE’26, Harsh Reshamwala ChE’27, Sivan Spiel ChE’25, Zareena Al-Shehab ChE25’, Angela Huang ChE’22 MChE, and Yueling Chen ChE’24. 

We gratefully acknowledge the generous contributions of Alan Fortier ChE’79, Gerry Posner EE’69, and the Cooper Union Center for Career Development which supported the participation of students at the event.