The Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry (ChemE) is thrilled to announce the co-winners of the inaugural MEng Project of the Year Award: Naayaab Nagree and Tianjie Feng. This new award recognizes their exceptional contributions and groundbreaking research in their respective fields.
Naayaab Nagree, a talented MEng student in the Food Engineering Research Group, has been named one of the co-winners. Under the guidance of Professor Levente Diosady, Naayaab’s project, titled Engineering Approach to Iron Fortification of Milk Tea, focuses on fortifying tea granules with iron to combat anemia in his native country of India. Despite being a coffee lover, Naayaab embarked on this innovative research endeavor, aiming to improve the health outcomes of generations through iron-fortified tea. His dedication and passion for solving nutritional challenges have earned him this well-deserved recognition.
Reflecting on Naayaab’s work, Juveria Siddiqui, Research Associate and Lab Manager of Food Engineering, humorously remarked, “Sometimes, we step out of our comfort zones and try new things in scientific discovery – who knows, maybe Naayaab’s work will lead to a new trend of iron-fortified coffee that he can enjoy as well!”
Tianjie Feng, another remarkable MEng student, shares the honor of being the co-winner of the MEng Project of the Year Award. Tianjie is supervised by Professor Charles Jia in the Green Technology Lab. His project, Creating a High-Performance Supercapacitor Cell with Fast Pyrolyzed Maple-derived Biochar Monolith as Electrodes, reduces the production time of biochar, a tool against climate change. Tianjie’s innovative approach successfully decreased the production time from 72 hours to an impressive 12 hours while maintaining the quality, resulting in significant energy savings and enhanced efficiency.
Professor Jia commended Tianjie’s work, stating, “Tianjie’s research enables us to create high-performance, low-cost nanoporous biocarbon ten times faster for storing renewable energy.”
Naayaab Nagree and Tianjie Feng both exhibited outstanding commitment and dedication to their research, making substantial contributions to their respective fields. The department is proud to have these exceptional students as part of its academic community and looks forward to their continued success in their future endeavors.
Naayaab and Tianjie would like to express their gratitude to their respective supervisors, Professors Diosady and Jia, for their guidance and support throughout their projects. They also extend their appreciation to their lab mates for their invaluable assistance and encouragement.
Please join us in congratulating Naayaab Nagree and Tianjie Feng on their remarkable achievements and wishing them the very best for their bright futures.