OSU AIChE Earns Outstanding Student Chapter Award

Friday, November 2, 2018

The Oklahoma State University student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) has won the Outstanding Student Chapter Award from the national chapter of AIChE. The award was presented at the 2018 Annual AIChE Student Conference on Oct. 28 in Pittsburgh.

OSU’s AIChE chapter is a student-led organization focused on promoting professional development of its members, maintaining a relationship between students and chemical engineering faculty at OSU, and contributing to the development of chemical engineering through activities involving the faculty and students.

“The AIChE student chapter engages in a number of professional development and social activities,” said Jindal Shah, assistant professor of School of Chemical Engineering and chapter adviser. “For example, the beginning of each academic year is always celebrated with a fall picnic, which is attended by a large number of faculty and students (from) across the school. Other social activities include board game nights, an annual golf tournament with industry representatives, movie night and tailgates, to name a few.

“Professional activities include industry speaker meetings, guest lectures for graduate school and leadership workshops. AIChE members all participate in the Annual Conference and Mid-America Regional Conference. The group has ongoing partnerships with the Oklahoma WONDERtorium and local schools, where we lead hands-on activities to promote scientific awareness and spark the interest of young children in science,” Shah said.

The Outstanding Student Chapter recognition is presented annually to student chapters that show an exceptional level of participation, enthusiasm, program quality, professionalism and involvement in the university and community.

“The award makes all of us in chemical engineering, and especially the 2017-2018 AIChE officers, very proud,” Shah said. “It is a reflection of the hard work and commitment our AIChE officers exhibit to organize various events throughout the year. Winning the award is quite gratifying, as the AIChE officers and volunteers put in countless hours last year to host the Mid-America Regional Conference and to ensure the conference was organized in the most efficient and professional manner.”

OSU has won this award 16 times before, most recently in 2015. There are 150 members in the OSU chapter.

AIChE is the world's leading organization for chemical engineering professionals, with more than 60,000 members from more than 110 countries, according to its website.

Current AlChE officers and their hometown are:

Joshua Sallee                            Broken Arrow, OK
Aubrey Schultz                         Newcastle, OK
Sarah Desharnais                     Coconut Creek, FL
Baxter Bradford                       Edmond, OK
Reagan Black                            Midlothian, TX
Noah Calhoun                          Katy, TX
Ryan Moran                              Flower Mound, TX
Joseph Culver                           Tulsa, OK
Sarah Rechtin                           Fayetteville, AR
Carley Eastep                            Jones, OK
Chris Groesbeck                       Norman, OK
Ibrahim Asad                            Tulsa, OK
Hunter Barnard                        Midwest City, OK
Patrick McDonald                     Tulsa, OK
Phillip Pergande                       Austin, TX
Mitchell Sullivan                       Carrollton, TX
Cara Meyer