During the 67th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference (2017 CSChE Conference) held from October 22-25 in Edmonton, ChemE had serveral outstanding moments:
Two members from our ChemE community were selected to present their research at the inaugural Emerging Leaders in Chemical Engineering Plenary Session. ChemE Associate Professor Cathy Chin gave a talk entitled, Heterogeneous Catalytic Strategies for Sustainable Synthesis of Fuels And Chemicals. Professor Benoît Lessard from the University of Ottawa and former Banting Post-Doctoral Fellow supervised by ChemE Professor Tim Bender gave a talk entitled, The Future of Organic Electronics and what it means for Chemical Engineering. Only four emerging leaders were invited to present.
In addition, ChemE members were also recognized with the following awards:
- Our undergrad club won the top CSChE Student Chapter Award for 2017
- Cuilian Fang (ChemE 1T9) and Claire Velikonja (ChemE 2T0) placed first and second respectively in the Robert G. Auld Student Paper Competition
- ChemE Associate Professor Alison McGuigan (ChemE PhD 9T5) received the 2017 Hatch Innovation Award, which recognizes an outstanding researcher under the age of 40. She also received the 2017 Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering Lectureship Award, which honours significant research conducted in Canada and performed by an individual who received their first professional appointment in Canada seven years ago or less. Professor McGuigan’s research is focused on engineering in vitro tissue platforms that can generate physiologically relevant and high value data for understanding fundamental tissue biology and identification of novel therapeutics.
- David Beckman (ChemE MASc 8T1) received the 2017 Award in Design and Industrial Practice presented on the basis of innovative design or production activities accomplished in Canada. Beckman is President and CEO of Zeton Inc. Since forming the company shortly after graduating, Beckman and his team have grown the firm to be the world’s leading designer and fabricator of pilot and demonstration plants specializing in the oil, gas and energy sectors.
Congratulations to all ChemE participants of the 2017 CSChE Conference, and a big thank you for being such great ambassadors for our Department.