Department celebrates chemical engineering at research and career symposium
Fourth Annual Research & Career Symposium Heading link
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Students and faculty in the UIC Department of Chemical Engineeringgathered April 5 to discuss and celebrate their research at the department’s annual Graduate Research and Career Symposium.
The event featured speed thesis talks, a research image competition, and a research poster competition. Attending students also heard from several panels discussing how to be successful researchers and graduate students and took part in a workshop on effective teaching and mentoring.
Panel speakers included College of Pharmacy Professor and Vice Chancellor of Research Rich Gemeinhart, who shared his thoughts about being an effective graduate student. Assistant Professor Ezinne Achinivu and Visiting Research Professor Said Al-Hallaj also led a panel that discussed the importance of mentoring.
Event organizer and Research Assistant Professor Naveen Dandu said the event featured great inspirational talks on career advice from the department’s faculty members and guest speakers.
“These talks and tips can help students to get motivated on finding the right career, either in academics or industry,” Dandu said. “I think both new and graduating students can learn very essential tips from these panel discussions to excel in their studies and career.”
Professor and Department Head Vikas Berry said the day was a big success and said it was great to see all the students together in one room celebrating their success stories.
“After missing the last few years, it was great to have our students and faculty come together to celebrate our success in research,” Berry said. “Our students are building great new technologies, developing scientific theories, and engineering sustainable systems, all of which was on display at the symposium.”
Winners from this year’s competition included:
- Best High Impact Publication: Nishithan Balaji and Ayankola Ayansiji
- Most Active Publisher: Carina Martinez and Sungjoon Kim
- Best Poster Presentation: Sheldon Cotts
- Best Research Image: Cheryl Slykas and Vihar Trada