Graduate Student Advisory Council
The Graduate Student Advisory Council (GSAC) is the representative body of graduate students that acts as a liaison between the graduate students and the department administration. We organize social, professional, outreach, and recruitment events including the Graduate Research Symposium, professional networking, welcome week, recruitment weekends, Toys for Tots, and the annual Food Drive. We provide bonding opportunities for students and foster a sense of community.
Co-President
Natalie Crowner
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Kenis
Research Topic: Nanoparticle Flow Synthesis
Hobbies: Board games and making art
Alma Mater: Trine University
Why Illinois? The research options and I can drive to my family
Co-President
Leah Kidder
Faculty Advisor: Elizabeth Rogers
Research: Studying Fisher-Tropsch synthesis in zeolites
Hobbies: I like to travel, hike, sew, and puzzle!
Alma Mater: University of Michigan
Why Illinois? I chose Illinois for its strong, supportive community.
Vice President + Symposium Chair
Megan Pierce
Research Topic: Engineering biomimetic membrane systems to understand how lipid environments regulate membrane protein signaling
Hobbies: Volleyball, crocheting, and playing the drums!
Alma Mater: The University of Alabama
Why Illinois? I wanted to join a collaborative department with a supportive community of graduate students.
Treasurer
Paul Williams
Faculty Advisor: Baron Peters
Research Topic: Characterizing site heterogeneity and reactivity in single atom metal catalysts on amorphous supports
Hobbies: Biking, fishing, video games and sardines
Alma Mater: University of Rochester
Why Illinois? Illinois has a great breadth of computational and theoretical research; the faculty and students are cool, friendly and welcoming, and the town(s) are interesting, bikeable and have amazing food.
Community Engagement Co-Chair
Noah Garrick
Faculty Advisor: Mary Kraft
Research Topic: Organization of lipids and proteins in the membrane of microalgae when in contact with bacteria
Hobbies: Exercising, cooking, video games, basketball, doodling
Alma Mater: University of Dayton
Why Illinois? I chose Illinois because I was impressed by the opportunities for growth as a student and an individual. Not only were there a wide variety of labs to join, I could tell the faculty and other graduate students would be interested in my own personal journey to becoming a scientist and pioneer in my field. I felt a true sense of community and knew this is where I wanted to be.
Community Engagement Co-Chair
Jacob Liboy
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Theresa Schoetz
Research Topic: Tailoring electrochemical interfaces for improved pseudocapacitive charging
Hobbies: I love to play video games, dance/sing/play music with others, and I am trying to get back into sewing.
Alma Mater: Florida State University
Why Illinois? I chose Illinois because I wanted a change of scenery, and I really enjoyed my visit to Chicago the year prior to enrollment and thought I could leave here. When I discovered that Illinois had a great engineering program, it was a no brainer for me.
Communications Chair
Soyoon Yoon
Faculty Advisor: Simon Rogers
Research Topic: My research topic is psychorheology, linking sensory perception to rheology
Hobbies: Drawing and felting
Alma Mater: University of Minnesota
Why Illinois? I chose Illinois because of the faculties and supportive environment of the department.
Outreach Chair
Katie Selvaggio
Research Topic: Using electrochemistry for separations and process intensification
Hobbies: Baking, hiking, playing the flute, reading, sleeping
Alma Mater: Calvin University
Why Illinois? I chose Illinois because I think the department has exciting, high-quality research while not compromising collaboration, support, and balance.
External Vice President
Elliot Barton
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Hyun Joon Kong
Research: Catalysis material synthesis and controlling bubble dynamics
Hobbies: Hiking, tennis, flying/private pilot's license
Alma Mater: California State University, Long Beach
Why Illinois? The ChBE Program is a highly ranked graduate program and takes great care of their graduate students. I knew that I would be able to do cutting edge research in an environment where I would find success.
Professional Development Chair
Nadir Ziane
Faculty Advisor: Charles Sing
Research: Soft matter and polymer physics
Hobbies: Baking, music, playing sports
Alma Mater: University of Washington, Seattle
Why Illinois? Illinois is a major hub for computational research. It felt like the right place for me.
Past Student Advisory Councils
2025-2026
Co-President: Alison Kim
Co-President: Benjamin Chiu
Treasurer: Parsa Mashayekh
Symposium and Professional Development Co-Chair: Princy Kaitharan Chacko
Symposium and Outreach Co-Chair: Harita Vasamsetti
Professional Development Co-Chair: Akshay Gurumoorthi
Symposium Co-Chair and Communications Chair: Rashi Sultania
Community Engagement Co-Chair: Sahand Shafeei
Academic Networking Co-Chair: Ryan C. Chow
2024-2025
President: Freddy Ward
Vice-President: Aryaman Joshi
Treasurer: Chintan Shah
Symposium Co-Chair/Outreach: Jiye Lee
Symposium Co-Chair/Professional Development: Michael Chen
Professional Development Chair: Harini Srikant
Outreach/Community Engagement Chair: Juan Rojas
Communications Chair: Parham Ghasemiahangarani
2023-2024
President: Tony Pham
President / Symposium Co-Chair: Alyssa Spencer
External Vice President: Melanie Fournier
Vice President: Michael Taleff
Treasurer: Trevor Gayer
Community Engagement / Symposium Co-Chair: Priyotosh Bairagya (Priyo)
Professional Development Chair: Emmanuel Ejiogu
Outreach Chair: Austin Lomas
Communications Chair: Lela Manis
2022-2023
President: Destiny Collazo
External Vice President: Rajarshi Samajdar
Internal Vice President / Symposium Co-Chair: Suchi Vijayaraghavan
Professional Development Chair: Gunnar Thompson
Outreach Chair: Darien Raymond
International Chair / Symposium Co-Chair: Sonji Lamichhane
Communication Chair: Melany Opolz
2021-2022
President: Lauren Endress
External Vice President / Symposium Co-Chair: Richa Ghosh
Internal Vice President / Treasurer: Kyle Timmer
Communications Chair: Rachel Gaines
International Chair / Symposium Co-Chair: Jarom Sederholm
Professional Development Chair: Gunnar Thompson
Outreach Chair: Darien Raymond
2020-2021
President: Victoria Kriuchkovskaia
External VP: Tianhao Yu
Internal VP/Treasurer: David Potts
International Chair/Symposium Co-Chair: Azzaya Khasbaatar
Symposium Co-Chair: Aashutosh Boob
Outreach Chair: Yash Kamble
Webmaster: Jemin Jeon
Professional Development Chair: Jiachun Shi
2019-2020
President: Chris Torres
Vice President: Lili Bello
Treasurer: Danielle Meyer
Secretary: Caroline Li
Webmaster/Symposium Co-Chair: Armin Shayesteh Zadeh
Outreach/Symposium Co-Chair: Aliki Kolliopoulos