Stony Brook AIChE Chapter Attends San Diego Conference

Students from the Stony Brook chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) attended the 2024 AIChE Annual Student Conference in San Diego, where they met with and competed against fellow chemical engineering students. Stony Brook faculty also attended to serve as judges for certain competitions.

The goal of AIChE is to expand students' knowledge of the opportunities offered in chemical engineering. AIChE also aims to promote interest and unite students in the chemical and molecular engineering program as a whole.

"I think these conferences are important because they offer opportunities for students to sort of learn on their own," said William Chen, president of AIChE. "It's really great for people who really want to learn about chemical engineering."

The 2024 AIChE Annual Student Conference was held between October 25 and 28 with over 200 schools participating. The event aims to unite chemical engineering students in addition to industry professionals through social events and competitions.

"The students get to work towards a project," said Steve Nitodas, assistant professor of practice in Materials Science and Chemical Engineering. He operates as a faculty advisor for the Stony Brook chapter of AIChE. "It's like working in a lab. They acquire experience in the field including how the reactions are run, how to set up the battery and how to learn about safety."

Events students participated in included: ChemE Car, ChemE Sports and research presentations.

In ChemE Car competitions, students design and construct a car that starts and stops from a chemical reaction. It involves a poster presentation competition in addition to the actual event - assembling a car and making it run.

Mary Calandra placed second within the Catalysis category.

ChemE Sports involves a computer industry simulation. At this conference, it was a gas treating plant simulation. Competitors act as chemical engineers and go around the computer simulation, maintaining certain states in the system.

"I thought ChemE Sports would be really cool to be involved in just because it could give me a little bit of heads up of what the future might be like in my career," said Julia Randazzo, treasurer of AIChE. "It's also a great problem solving activity. You work with a team of three so it gives you an opportunity to practice communication and teamwork and it's fun."

Students also have the opportunity to present their research that is independent from their involvement in AIChE. One student, Mary Calandra, placed second within the Catalysis category.

"AIChE provides me with the opportunity to present my research at the national and regional conferences," said Calandra. "I was able to go with our chapter and present at the poster competition, and it was very nice for me to come back with an award for second place."

The competitions and other events hosted at the AIChE conferences pose many benefits for students. They have the opportunity to learn and network with leading industry professionals.

"You need to be able to be confident and take a step forward and do things that are hard or scary," said Randazzo. "And I find that conferences are a great opportunity to do so."

The students of AIChE are looking ahead at securing more funding for a new car mechanism for their ChemE competitions. The Stony Brook chapter is currently preparing for a regional competition that they will attend in the spring at Lehigh University.

- Angelina Livigni

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