The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering has selected six outstanding alumni as recipients of 2024 ChBE Alumni Achievement Awards, in recognition of professional distinction through outstanding leadership, contributions to the field, creativity and entrepreneurship as well as service to society, the professional community, and the department, college or university. Three of the winners will receive Young Alumni Achievement Awards, which honor graduates from the previous 15 years. All awardees will be recognized at the ChBE Alumni Awards Ceremony.
2024 Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award winners:
Kenneth E. Jaconetty (BS 82)
Ken Jaconetty is a retired Intellectual Property attorney. Formerly, he was Senior Director and Associate General Counsel, IP Legal Lead for IP Transactions at Astellas Pharma US, and Assistant General Counsel for IP at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Jaconetty earned his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Illinois in 1982 and his JD from George Washington University Law School in 1988. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, he established scholarships at both of his alma maters to combat institutional racism and create a more inclusive system. He has served as a judge for the Undergraduate Research Symposium and was the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Convocation speaker in 2022.
Ray Mentzer (BS 74)
Ray Mentzer earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (1974), followed by master’s and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from Purdue University. He enjoyed a long career with ExxonMobil, working around the world on assignments in a variety of areas including oil and gas facility design and operation, research, financial management, safety, health and environment, and public affairs. After retiring from ExxonMobil, he taught chemical process safety and oil and gas processing courses at Texas A&M University and oversaw process safety research with graduate students. He now teaches at Purdue University, where he also serves as executive director of the Process Safety & Assurance Center.
Helen Yang (MS 86, PhD 88)
Helen Yang is an international executive with 30 years of corporate experience, including 20 years in the Asia Pacific region, in a Fortune 500 company. She is currently Founder and President of New Horizons Management Consulting Co., where she specializes in providing strategic business and leadership solutions to clients. In addition to her professional achievements, Yang has demonstrated a strong commitment to community service. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Asia Initiatives and of WomenStrong International, two non-profit organizations dedicated to improving the quality of life in local communities in the areas of education, healthcare, economic security, and sustainable development.Yang holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated with Summa Cum Laude honors.
2024 Young Alumni Achievement Award winners:
Fikile R. Brushett (MS 09, PhD 10)
Fikile R. Brushett is a full professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he leads a group focused on advancing the science and engineering of electrochemical technologies for a sustainable energy economy. Brushett has received several honors for his research and teaching including the AIChE Allan P. Colburn Award (2022), the ECS Charles W. Tobias Young Investigator Award (2022), the NOBCChE Lloyd N. Ferguson Young Investigator Award (2020), and the MIT ChemE C. Michael Mohr Outstanding Faculty Award (2014, 2017). Brushett received his B.S. (2006) in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and his M.S. (2009) and Ph.D. (2010) from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he worked in the laboratory of Professor Paul J.A. Kenis on microfluidic fuel cells as flexible power sources and electroanalytical platforms.
Eryn C. Schneider (BS 09)
Eryn C. Schneider is currently the Americas South Regional Fuels Manager at ExxonMobil, helping meet the energy needs of the Southern US and Latin America. She received her bachelor's in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with a Minor in Technology and Management. Schneider interned with ExxonMobil twice before starting full-time at their Baytown, Texas refinery. She has occupied numerous managerial roles in the manufacturing and commercial sectors of the business, living in Houston, Chicago and Baton Rouge. She has enjoyed all of these locations with her family – husband Bob (MS Civil Engineering, 2009) and two boys (Will age 7, Drew age 3) – with passions in traveling and outdoor adventure. Outside of work, Schneider has also served on the University of Illinois Liberal Arts & Sciences Alumni Board as well as the Louisiana “Industry Makes” coalition.
Amy K. Stabell (BS 07)
Amy K. Stabell has always enjoyed making and building things. After graduating in 2007 from Illinois, she has held different engineering roles, always focused on manufacturing. She has made car paint, polymer resins, amorphous silica, nanomaterial dispersions, and now aerospace adhesives. She has served in many roles in manufacturing, proving more of a ‘generalist’ than a ‘specialist,’ but in all of them, she has used statistics, logic, and structured problem-solving to improve processes. Stabell has designed nano dispersion processes, built, procured, and constructed production plants, hired large teams, served as a safety officer, and implemented global processes, such as packing boxes, rebuilding pumps, filling bottles, and doing inventory.
Currently, Stabell works in quality in aerospace composites at Henkel as Global Quality Network Head of Experts. Some notable accolades during her career include receiving the STEP award from the manufacturing institute in 2014, being named FORBES 30 under 30 in 2015, and being a co-inventor on a patent in the EU and US. She lives with her partner and son in Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK.