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 2025-2026 academic year.
SCS Teaching Awards
The 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 professor Charles Sing and graduate students Sohjeong Kim, Varun Nelavoy and Bryan Seo.
Charles Sing
Sing taught CHBE 525 (Statistical Thermodynamics for Chemical Engineers) and CHBE 594 (Statistical Physics of Polymers) this past academic year. He joined the department in 2014, bringing with him a strong academic background in charged polymers, polymer dynamics and biophysics. He received his BSE/MS from Case Western Reserve University and his Ph.D from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He completed his postdoctoral work at Northwestern University’s International Institute for Nanotechnology.
Sohjeong Kim
Kim obtained her B.S. in Chemistry from Brandeis University in Waltham, MA. Her research focuses on developing vascularized models of bone marrow to study the role of vascular niche on hematopoietic stem cell activity. Kim, who is advised by Brendan Harley, was an instructor for CHBE 421 (Momentum and Heat Transfer) in the fall 2025 semester and CHBE 475 (Tissue Engineering) in the spring 2026 semester.
Varun Nelavoy
Nelavoy received both his B.Tech and M.Tech degrees in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in India. His research focuses on understanding ion transport in polyelectrolytes at single-molecule level using fluorescence microscopy. Nelavoy, who is advised by Christy Landes, taught CHBE 494/594 (Special Topics) in the spring 2026 semester.
Bryan Seo
Seo earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical and Molecular Engineering from Stony Brook University, with a specialization in Materials Science and Nanotechnology. His research focuses on the recovery of critical elements from industrial byproducts and waste streams through redox-mediated electrochemical separations. Seo, who is advised by Xiao Su, taught CHBE 422 (Mass Transfer Operations) during the spring 2026 semester.
ChBE Teaching Awards
ChBE Teaching awards recognize graduate students for their exceptional contributions to the ChBE instructional mission each year. Yong-Cheol Cho, Elijah Harbut and Grace Kovakas are the awardees for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Yong-Cheol Cho
Cho attended the University of Wisconsin - Madison (UW-Madison), where he double-majored in chemical and biological engineering (CBE) and computer science (CS). His current research focuses on using machine learning to uncover protein dynamics (movements, allostery, etc). Cho, who is advised by Diwakar Shukla, taught CHBE 413 (Data Science for Chemistry and Engineering) during the spring 2026 semester.
Elijah Harbut
Harbut is a chemical engineering PhD student in Xiao Su's group. Before pursuing his doctorate, he studied biochemistry and philosophy through the University of Texas at Dallas’ McDermott Program and conducted research on gene therapies and cell engineering. He currently develops novel electrochemical separations techniques for bioproduct and critical mineral recovery. Elijah hopes to combine his experiences in biology and chemical engineering to help build the American bioeconomy, and he seeks to encourage cooperation, rather than competition, between synthetic biology and synthetic chemistry. He taught CHBE 430 (Unit Ops Laboratory) during the spring 2026 semester.
Grace Kovakas
Kovakas is finishing up her second year in the ChBE PhD program with her advisor, professor Simon Rogers. Her research is in the field of rheology with a focus on thixotropy and how soft materials can form and forget memories. She received her undergraduate degree at Auburn University in chemical engineering. During the spring 2026 semester, Kovakas taught CHBE 421 (Momentum and Heat Transfer).