Chemical and biomolecular engineering faculty and graduate students recently received teaching awards from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Chemical Sciences (SCS) and the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE). These awards recognize the recipients for their efforts throughout the 2024-2025 academic year.
SCS Teaching Awards
SCS Teaching Awards are given annually in recognition of the entire scope of SCS educational efforts, from course development to in-class instruction. This year's awardees include chemical and biomolecular engineering assistant professor Alexa Kuenstler and graduate students Aderiyike Aguda, Jiye Lee and Banhee Shikha Roy Brishti.
Kuenstler taught CHBE 565 (CHBE Seminar), CHBE 321 (Thermodynamics), CHBE 594 (Special Topics) and CHBE 455 (Polymers Synthesis and Industrial Applications) this past academic year. She joined the department in 2023, bringing with her a strong academic background in responsive polymeric systems and additive manufacturing of soft materials. She earned a B.S. from the University of Rochester in 2015, a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2020, and finished a post-doctorate from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2022.
Aguda is a Ph.D. candidate in the Su Group. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. Aguda’s research focuses on developing redox-mediated flow-based separations for waste valorization. This past academic year, she taught CHBE 422 (Mass Transfer Operations) and CHBE 494/594 (Special Topics).
As a member of the Rogers Group, Lee utilizes rheology to study the brittle and ductile yielding of hydrogels. Lee received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Florida. In the spring 2025 semester, she taught CHBE 221 (Principles of Chemical Engineering).
Brishti is a Ph.D. student in the Mironenko Group focusing on the electroseparation of alkenes and the development of tight-binding models. Brishti earned an undergraduate degree from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. Brishti taught CHBE 321 (Thermodynamics) during the spring 2025 semester.
ChBE Teaching Awards
ChBE Teaching awards recognize graduate students for their exceptional contributions to the ChBE instructional mission each year. Aaron Chen and Genesis Ríos-Adorno are the awardees for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Chen completed his undergraduate degree at National Cheng Kung University, where he majored in chemical engineering. He also received a master’s degree in polymer science and engineering from the National Taiwan University. Chen’s research focuses on synthesizing Au nanowire as electrocatalyst and rare earth element recovery nanocomposite. Chen, who is advised by Hong Yang, taught CHBE 424 (Chemical Reaction Engineering) in the spring 2025 semester.
Ríos-Adorno's thesis focuses on how to incorporate soft materials into porous materials to fabricate scaffold materials that can be used to repair musculoskeletal tissues. She holds an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. Ríos-Adorno, who is advised by professor Brendan Harley, also recently received a Chemical Sciences through Community (C²) Outstanding Mentor award. In the spring 2025 semester, she taught CHBE 475 (Tissue Engineering).