2023 Undergraduate Scholarship and Awards Ceremony

4/14/2023

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The department of chemical and biomolecular engineering held the 2023 Undergraduate Scholarship and Awards Ceremony on April 14, 2023, 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. Christopher Rao, hosted this event as the new department head along with Gunsalus Scholar Professor Simon Rogers and Reid T. Milner Professor Deborah Leckband.

"The students here today have diverse backgrounds, interests, and career goals yet they are united by their commitment to excellence." Said Rogers, "They excel in the classroom and in the lab. They are leaders who volunteer to tutor other ChemE students, organize outreach efforts, and advocate for many causes. No doubt, with us today, are future chemical engineering professors and professionals as well as CEOs, diplomats, entrepreneurs, marketers, and more."

"It is incredibly rewarding to recognize two alumni whose new scholarships will be presented here today for the first time", Said Rao.

"Michael J. and Renee M. Konen, have established a scholarship to benefit students who have graduated from high school in Illinois, supporting students who want to go to college in their home-state. Michael Konen earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 1978 and went on to earn an MBA from Oklahoma State University in 1989. He has spent his career in marketing and finance. Michael and Renee live in Scottsdale, Arizona."

"Secondly, The Woodmansee Family Scholarship, this scholarship honors Donald “Don” Ernest Woodmansee, who earned his doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1968; his research focused on wave propagation in multiphase flows. Prior to attending Illinois, he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware. Woodmansee enjoyed an illustrious 40-year career with the General Electric Corporation. Throughout his life, he donated his time and personal funds to help others discover the wonders of engineering and physics. With his wife Phyllis, he established this scholarship to support prospective students who are interested in studying chemical engineering, which he often cited as an important area of study to the betterment of society."

Next, Simon Rogers recognized the 2022-2023 scholarship recipients. (See the full list of recipients below.)

The 16th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium was judged by Jim Grant, a graduate from 1969, who was most recently a Hazardous Materials Manager for TSA in Washington DC, Ken Jaconetty who earned his BS in ChE in 1982, and is currently an Intellectual Property attorney, and Mike Swift who graduated with his BS in ChE in 1991, and is a Regional Engineering Manager at BSI Engineering, Inc.

The research symposium winners were announced by Omega Chi Epsilon president Riley McDonald who helped organize the event. Megan Shamsi (advised by Professor Brendan Harley) won first place, with her project "Developing an Injury Model for Bone Regeneration". Yourong Weng ( advised by Professor Jefferson Chan) won second place with the poster titled "Hydrolysis-Resistant Ester-Based Linkers for Development of Activity-Based NIR Bioluminescence Probes". In third place was Achal Anand (advised by Professor Sara Pedron Haba) for the project "Environment-mediated Tumor Progression in Bioengineering Model of Glioblastoma".

The ceremony was followed by a brief reception with refreshments.

Look at photos from the ceremony

Named Scholarships

Riley McDonald *John Martin Ankenbauer Memorial Scholarship*	Brennen Thomas *Franklin A. Boyle Scholarship*	Cathy Li Burcham and Gumble Family Scholarship
Isabel Hughes Mary S. and Dr. Howard W. Cox Jr. Scholarship	Gunhee Han Philip and Anne Drago Scholarship	Giselle Soares Donald E. Eisele Memorial Award
Emily Chow Robert S. Frye Chemical Engineering Scholarship	Bobby He Clarence G. Gerhold Memorial Scholarship	Gavin Metzger Dr. Joseph and Donna Glas Scholarship in Memory of Professor James Westwater
Manasi Vaidya James K. Grant Chemical Engineering Scholarship	Sydney Nelson Chester W. Hannum Scholarship	Max Polanek Chester W. Hannum Scholarship
Juan Rojas Dr. Jerrod A. Henderson Scholarship	Edward Kruszynski Dr. John L. "Jack" Hudson Legacy Scholarship	Julie Frederickson Kenneth E. Jaconetty Scholarship
Charles Carroll Earp F. Jennings Scholarship	Donnie Watson Michael J. and Renee M. Konen Scholarship	Zachary De Leon John W. Latchum, Jr. Scholarship
Jacob Milo Arthur F. and Harriet Neville Limper Scholarship	Tommy Cahill Dr. Ray A. Mentzer Scholarship	Yourong Weng Kirk Nass and Michael Gillespie Scholarship
Aileen Escobar Marchoe Dill Northern Scholarship	Kingsley Okeke Marchoe Dill Northern Scholarship	Chikako Barnes Edward I. Onstott Scholarship
Kwanghyun Kim Raymond M. Pasteris Scholarship	Ela Eames Worth Huff Rodebush Scholarship	Kevin Chen Roger and Ruth Schmitz Scholarship
Mary Ehmann Ronald and Janet Van Mynen Scholarship	Anomitra De Alex J. Vogel Scholarship	Mackenzie Fieser Alex J. Vogel Scholarship
Yixuan Li John A. Weedman Scholarship	Tae Yeun (David) Yang John A. Weedman Scholarship	Yujie (Vincent) Yang Bruno H. Wojcik Scholarship, School of Chemical Sciences Award
	Chinmay Sahasrabudhe Woodmansee Family Scholarship