2022 Undergraduate Scholarship and Awards Ceremony

The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering held the 2022 Undergraduate Scholarship and Awards Ceremony on April 1, 2022, at the Illini Union Ballroom. The annual event honors the department's scholarship recipients and donors and recognizes the judges, participants, and winners of the Undergraduate Research Symposium held earlier that day. 

"After holding this event remotely last year, it is exciting to be together again — in person — for an event that is at the heart of our undergraduate program," said assistant professor Simon Rogers, who presided over the ceremony. "It is meaningful to be able to recognize our students who have gone above and beyond, particularly in such challenging times."

During the ceremony, Rogers recognized three alumni who have established new departmental scholarships: 

"Kenneth Jaconetty (BS ’82) has established a scholarship to support our students from backgrounds that are too little represented in academia. Being able to provide our chemical engineering education to a diverse student body is crucial for our state, nation, and industry. Endowments like the Jaconetty Scholarship Fund help us achieve this goal by supporting students who might not otherwise be able to attend Illinois. Thank you, Ken, for being here today and giving back to our students."

"Dan Hanus (BS ’86) recently retired from Procter & Gamble and established a unique scholarship to support our students who are pursuing co-ops to complement their education. The scholarship is named in honor of Rebecca J. Simon, a longtime advisor and former director of the SCS Placement Center who is remembered by many as an ever-faithful student advocate and a voice of encouragement and reassurance. Although Dan could not be here today as planned, we are grateful for his efforts to memorialize a special member of our community and to help our students pursue real-world experiences."

"Last but not least, it is my pleasure to recognize Joseph Drago (BS ’72), who as you may have seen in our latest edition of Mass Transfer, served as our December convocation speaker.  This year marks the 50th anniversary of Drago’s own graduation, and he has remained faithfully committed to his alma mater and future generations of students ever since. Joe has served as a research symposium judge, a frequent guest speaker for the CHBE 494 Process Safety course, and earlier this week, he attended our CHBE 121 Poster Sessions, an event that he has sponsored several times. To commemorate the golden jubilee of this graduation, Joe has established the Philip and Anne Drago Scholarship Fund in memory of his parents. Philip Drago earned a bachelor’s degree (1948) and a master’s degree in the teaching of French (1950) from the University of Illinois. Joe is a nuclear and industrial safety expert, and therefore it is fitting that this scholarship is awarded to a student their senior year who has a focus on chemical process safety, nuclear safety, or bio-related safety. Joe, thank you for being here today—and congratulations on your ChBE golden jubilee!"

Next, Reid T. Milner Professor Deborah Leckband recognized the 2021-2022 scholarship recipients. (See the full list of recipients below.)

The 15th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium was judged by Gonzalo Campillo-Alvarado, an Illinois Distinguished Postdoctoral Research Associate; Kenneth Jaconetty (BS ’82), the senior director, IP legal lead for IP transactions at Astellas Pharma U.S.; and Paul Jahn (BS ’81), the Chief Operations Officer of the Battery Anode Materials Project for Syrah Technologies, an Australian minerals and technology company. 

The research symposium winners were announced by Omega Chi Epsilon president Devin Schinski, who helped organize the event. Maxwell Polanek (advised by professor Brendan Harley) took first place with the poster titled: "Investigating the Effect of Mineralized Collagen Scaffolds on the Immunomodulatory Capacity of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells." Edward Neves (also advised by professor Brendan Harley) placed second with "Biomaterial-based Tumor Models to Analyze the Role of Glioma Extracellular Matrix in Therapeutic Efficacy." David Yang (advised by professor Damien Guironnet) placed third with "Programmable and Automated Shape-controlled Synthesis of Bottlebrush Polymers." 

The ceremony was followed by a brief reception with refreshments. 

Download the event recording and ceremony photos. 

Named Scholarships

	Edward Neves John Martin Ankenbauer Memorial Scholarship		Briana Sobecks Chester W. Hannum Scholarship		Chantal Korde Rebekah Schiff-Berger Memorial Scholarship
	Joel Klecka Franklin A. Boyle Scholarship		Kathryn Southon Dr. John L. “Jack” Hudson Legacy Scholarship		Melissa Manetsch Roger and Ruth Schmitz Scholarship
	Jacob Milo Mary S. and Dr. Howard W. Cox Jr. Scholarship		Andrea Mejia Kenneth E. Jaconetty Scholarship		Serena Escalona Rebecca J. Simon Memorial Scholarship
	Joel Klecka Philip and Anne Drago Scholarship		Kwanghyun Kim Donald B. Keyes Award		Nicholas Cys Ronald and Janet Van Mynen Scholarship
	Darshan Patel Donald E. Eisele Memorial Award		Wei Ping Lam John W. Latchum, Jr. Scholarship		Mary Ehmann John A. Weedman Scholarship
	Julie Frederickson Robert S. Frye Scholarship		Edward Kruszynski Dr. Ray A. Mentzer Scholarship		Kyle Gray John A. Weedman Scholarship
	Manasi Vaidya Clarence G. Gerhold Memorial Scholarship		Kaitlin Wixted Kirk Nass and Michael Gillespie Scholarship		Anh Nguyen John  A. Weedman Scholarship
	Emily Bolger James K. Grant Scholarship		Jared  Buabeng Marchoe Dill Northern Scholarship		Sujay Someshwar John A.  Weedman Scholarship
	Beichen “David” Xiong James K. Grant Scholarship		Beth Born Raymond M. Pasteris Scholarship		Vikram Mubayi Bruno H. Wojcik Scholarship
	Emily Chow Chester W. Hannum Scholarship		Isabel Hughes Worth Huff Rodebush Scholarship

Corporate Scholarships 

	Zachary De Leon BP Scholarship		Ja Yoon Lee Phillips 66 Scholarship
	Megan Shamsi BP Scholarship		Rachel Park Phillips 66 Scholarship
	Landon Turvey BP Scholarship		Chikako Barnes Rohm & Haas Scholarship
	Devin Schinski Exxon Foundation Scholarship		Haoyu Chen Rohm & Haas Scholarship
	Fatimah Alghanim Phillips 66 Scholarship		Jonathan Klein Rohm & Haas Scholarship