AIChE Semester Newsletter May 2015 Newsletter · Chem-E-Car Takes Third Place at Regionals Page 4...

We strive to fulfill our mission

of assisting our fellow Chemi-

cal Engineering students. Next

semester the chapter aims to

host more guest speakers from

more diverse backgrounds to

help educate students of the

multitude of opportunities a

Chemical Engineering degree

can bring.

-Kenneth Mucalo

A lot of exciting things hap-

pened in the Chemical and Bio-

chemical Engineering depart-

ment and in the Missouri S&T

AIChE chapter during this

school year. Last semester (Fall

2014) we moved into a brand

new building, the James E.

Bertelsmeyer Hall, and now

that we have a new building we

are striving to improve services

to students as an organization.

A new committee, the Stu-

dent Advisory Council (SAC),

was formed to help the depart-

ment hear the concerns of the

students. AIChE and the SAC

had members from the Acade-

my of Chemical Engineers host

a variety of seminars and men-

toring sessions during the

month of April. These provid-

ed students with information on

how they can tailor their career

in Chemical Engineering.

In addition to helping to es-

tablish the SAC, the student

AIChE chapter hosted presen-

tations for representatives from

Mississippi Lime, Mustang

Engineering, Cargill, and Hon-

eywell. On top of that, we also

stepped up and began partici-

pating in PRO Days to adver-

tise our organization and the

Chemical and Biochemical

Engineering major to the in-

coming freshmen. This semes-

ter we also offered members a

volunteering opportunity at

Rolla Presbyterian Manor.

Our Chapter went to the Mid

-America regional Student con-

ference in Lawrence, KS. Our

Chem-E-Car team lead by

Gregg McDaniels Jr. and Aa-

ron Latal placed third, qualify-

ing for the national competition

in November. Shayan Sazdar

also placed third in the poster

competition. This Regional

conference was a success.

The changes and successes

this year are exciting for both

the department and the Mis-

souri S&T AIChE Chapter.

Another Step Forward

Missouri University of Science and Technology

May 2015

AIChE Semester Newsletter May 2015

Newsletter

Inside this issue:

All About the SAC 2

A Plethora of Presenta-

tions

3

Chem-E-Car Takes

Third Place

4

AIChE Expands Re-

cruitment Efforts

5

Corporate Mixer 5

We’ve Got a New Web-

site!

6

Thanks to All of Our

Donors

6

President Kenneth Mucalo

stands near our sign during a

highway cleanup.

Member Spotlight 7

Changes to the Consti-

tution

8

Research in Bertels-

meyer Hall

8

Regional Conference

Summary

9

AIChE Volunteers

Benefit Rolla Commu-

nity

9

The Future Leaders of

our Organization

10

The SAC was created to

give the departmental student

body a direct and constant

line of communication to the

department chair, Dr. Al-

Dahhan, in order to make

changes to improve the stu-

dents’ experience. The SAC

is a group of 12 Chemical/

Biochemical Engineering

students: 2 sophomores, 2

juniors, 2 seniors, 2 officers

from AIChE, 2 from OXE,

and 2 from AXE.

So far the SAC has met

with Dr. Al-Dahhan every

two weeks. During these

meetings SAC members

voice any concerns the stu-

dents have or changes they

would like to see made.

Though the SAC was just

created this semester, it has

been productive. Some of the

SAC’s accomplishments in-

clude getting a clock in the

student lounge, getting stu-

dents 24/7 access to the

building, and putting a timer

on the printing computer to

manage sharing of this equip-

ment. Works-in-progress

include adding sound-

dampening in the student

lounge and stools in the

Chem-E-Car lab. The SAC’s

most important current pro-

ject is obtaining 24/7 access

to a computer lab; several

options are being explored at

this point and even more

have been ruled out.

Another task the SAC has

undertaken this semester is

setting up mentoring sessions

in which alumni answer ques-

tions from students in a two

hour Q&A session. So far the

SAC has only had a few

academy members host ses-

sions but they have all been a

big success. The main objec-

tive of the mentoring is giv-

ing students a better idea of

how to achieve their career

goals. These sessions help

answer big questions such as

should I go to grad school?

Should I go into industry,

design, or research? Students

really appreciate getting

opinions from successful

alums, so if you are reading

about these mentoring ses-

sions for the first time, please

consider participating. These

sessions are not restricted to

academy members only and

they can even be over the

internet. The SAC would

love to have younger alumni

involved. If interested, please

call the office and tell the

secretary you are interested in

hosting a session.

Being officially appointed,

the SAC has empowered our

members to enact change.

The SAC has made quick

work of issues that may have

otherwise taken a whole se-

mester to remedy. The SAC

has been a catalyst for change

for the students by the stu-

dents. If there is anything

you would like to see

changed, leave a comment in

the SAC comment box in the

lounge.

-William Cowley

All about the SAC (Student Advisory Committee)


This computer has a 15 mi-

nute time limit to give stu-

dents quick access to print-

ing.

“Being officially

appointed, SAC has

empowered our

members to enact

change.”

The new clock in the student

lounge.

Members of the Missouri University of Science and Technology chapter of AIChE had the

opportunity to hear from many inspiring guest speakers this semester. Topics such as the

production and application of industrial/food grade lime, project management/operations

administration, and broad solutions to worldwide agricultural and energy issues provided

students quite the variety of presentations to listen to and opportunities to grow.

The Missouri S&T student chapter of AIChE would like to thank all of our speakers this

semester for the time they took to come and share their knowledge, experiences, and advice

with all of us. AIChE wishes you well and hopes to have you visit again!

-Jacob Tuia

A Plethora of Presentations

Mississippi Lime—AIChE welcomed Tom McCoy and Spencer Gillespie from Mississip-

pi Lime. These Missouri S&T alums shared exciting stories from the perspective of a long

time worker at Mississippi Lime (Tom), and of a “fairly new” employee (Spencer). They

told stories of climbing into massive grinding machines and blasting new quarry sections

in this engaging presentation. Good conversations between students and Mississippi

Lime’s representatives took place after the meeting.

Wood Group Mustang—Ed Palmer from Mustang Engineering visited the chapter and

spoke about his many different experiences at multiple different companies culminating

with his current position as the Downstream Process Design Manager at Wood Group Mus-

tang. It was great to hear his story about how he got to Rolla and decided on Chemical En-

gineering. He was able to offer the students a perspective that is quite different than that

of many other speakers.

Cargill—Brandi Andersen and Katie McCasey from Cargill gave a wonderful presentation

about their responsibilities at Cargill and various positions they have held. Their presenta-

tion gave members a look at what it would be like to work in the agriculture industry by

including some very intriguing real world example problems .

Honeywell—Ellen Kirk and Tricia Wilson drove to Missouri S&T from Honeywell to

speak to the members of the chapter about their different roles in the company and how

they interact with each other and other teams at their plant. It was very neat to see the pic-

tures of their new facilities to bring what students learn in the classroom to life. They not

only showed our members what they did on the job, but also gave advice on how to ad-

vance throughout our careers.

AIChE Semester News Letter May 2015

Tom and Spencer from

Mississippi Lime give a

presentation during a meet-

ing.

“Good conversations

between students and

Mississippi Lime’s

representatives took

place after the

meeting.”

Representatives from Honey-

well pose with the chapter

officers after a meeting.

The first run resulted in a disqualification because the team had to stop the car from run-

ning into a wall immediately beyond the stopping line to prevent damage to components of

the car. Despite this, the team tracked how long the reaction ran and calculated the difference

needed to improve for the second run. By factoring in additional delay time, the car was able

to travel within ten feet of the line on the second run, close enough to win 3rd place! This

means that the team qualified to compete at the 2015 Annual Student Conference. The con-

ference will be held at Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

-Gregg McDaniels Jr.

Chem-E-Car Takes Third Place at Regionals


The Spring 2015 Chem-E-Car

Team .

“(Box)7 is powered by

a six cell lead acid

battery, created by

alternating plates of

lead and lead oxide in

a sulfuric acid

electrolyte.”

The Missouri S&T Chem-E-Car Team traveled to the University of Kansas in Lawrence,

Kansas for the 2015 AIChE Mid-America Student Regional Conference which took place

April 3-4. The day began with the poster competition and safety review, with the performance

competition taking place later that afternoon. For the performance competition, the car must

be prepared to travel a distance between 15 and 30 meters while carrying a load between 0 and

500 mL of water. The car must be both powered and stopped by chemical reactions. The

teams receive the distance and load an hour prior to the competition’s start. The requirements

for this specific competition consisted of the car traveling a distance of 15.076 meters while

carrying a load of 400 mL of water.

Leading up to the conference, the team put a lot of time and effort into trying to implement

a thermo-electric generator. A few weeks prior to the conference, a lead-acid battery was used

in place of the generator when the generator failed to produce the amperage necessary for the

motor to run. From previous experience with the lead-acid battery, the team was confident in

its ability to run the car. The car received the name “(Box)7” because if the thermo-electric

generator had been used, there would have been a total of seven boxes all with a different

function on the car. The research team is currently working to find new stopping and power

mechanisms to implement into the next car.

(Box)7 is powered by a six-cell lead-acid battery, created by alternating plates of lead and

lead oxide in a sulfuric acid electrolyte. These plates are connected in series to provide a volt-

age of approximately 12.5 volts. A hydrogen peroxide reaction with potassium iodide was

used for the stopping mechanism. The concentrations are varied to control the amount of pres-

sure produced which pushes colored water to a photosensor, which then sends a signal to

switch a mechanical relay that cuts the power to the motor and stops the car.

Chem-E-Car team members work

on the car during one of their

meetings.

http://www.aiche.org/conferences/annual-aiche-student-conference/2015

The Spring 2015 semester

marks the second semester

that James E. Bertelsmeyer

Hall has been in use by stu-

dents and faculty of the

Chemical and Biochemical

Engineering Department here

at Missouri University of

Science and Technology. In

these two semesters, as the

building comes closer and

closer to being completed,

the department has fallen in

love with what the building

has to offer, and the opportu-

nities it will afford in the near

future. And while those al-

ready in the department are

enjoying the building, pro-

spective students continue to

be impressed by it during

tours given by the many tal-

ented members of the recruit-

ment committee.

As in the past, AIChE con-

tinues to administer depart-

ment and Open House tours

via the Recruitment Commit-

tee, a group of students quite

familiar with the department

who wish to see it grow.

With all the visitors to cam-

pus during the spring semes-

ter, the Recruitment Commit-

tee has been hard at work.

AIChE has begun participat-

ing in PRO Days on campus,

drawing interest from incom-

ing students. Participating in

PRO Days enables AIChE to

reach out to new students

earlier in their time at Mis-

souri S&T so that they can

begin learning about careers

in Chemical and Biochemical

Engineering sooner.

-Michael Niehoff

AIChE Expands Recruitment Efforts

Corporate Mixer

wards, giving students the

chance to inquire about their

specific interests and to hear

a response from each repre-

sentative.

After the formal presenta-

tions and Q&A session, stu-

dents and representatives

engaged in a casual mixer.

Refreshments were provided

for those present, as many

were hungry by this point.

After getting something to eat

and drink, students and repre-

sentatives began striking up

conversations. This was per-

haps the most important part

of the event, as it gave stu-

dents the opportunity to net-

work with representatives

from companies that might be

their future employer. Since

most of the representatives

present would also be at the

Career Fair the next day, this

was a beneficial way to have

a more extensive conversa-

tion with these companies.

Everyone present was not

only able to network with

companies of interest to

them, but also had a great

time. And that, ultimately, is

what AIChE seeks to offer

students.

-Michael Niehoff

The Corporate Mixer is an

important pre-Career Fair

opportunity for students and

companies. This semester

representatives from Clorox,

Honeywell, ADM, Cargill,

and Mississippi Lime came to

network with AIChE stu-

dents.

The mixer began with the

representatives from each

company giving a short

presentation about their com-

pany covering their business

goals and culture. All in all,

these presentations were very

informative, but they could

not possibly cover every top-

ic that students wanted to

hear about. For that reason, a

Q&A session was held after-


President Kenneth Mucalo presents

the AIChE booth during a PRO Day.

“Everyone present

was not only able to

network with

companies of interest

to them, but also had a

great time.”

Members network with a representa-

tive from Clorox at the Corporate Mix-

er.

This semester a new web-

site for the Missouri S&T

AIChE chapter was created.

Previously, our chapter paid

$750 annually to maintain the

website domain. In order to

reduce this expenditure, the

chapter requested a domain

hosted through the Student

Life and Campus Support

Facility and built a new

AIChE webpage for the S&T

Chapter at no cost.

The new AIChE webpage

features a simplified setup

scheme and OrgSync integra-

tion. OrgSync provides a

public URL, website hosting,

and a website builder that

allows changes to be made to

page contents, templates, and

other elements.

The webpage is not only

for the AIChE student chap-

ter members, but also pro-

vides information to the pub-

lic and people interested in

the S&T AIChE chapter. In

the future the chapter hopes

to add even more features to

the website like an AIChE

sponsor page, online event

sign-ups, and a way for mem-

bers to pay dues through the

webpage. Check out the new

page at mst.orgsync.com/org/

aiche.

-Yae Lin Lee

would like to thank all of the

volunteers who came out and

made these events prosper-

ous. As always, fundraising

would not be effective with-

out the support of all of the

chapter members. With the

help of these volunteers, the

chapter was able to raise over

On the behalf of the chapter,

AIChE thanks all of the or-

ganizations for their generous

donations. Alongside dona-

tions, the chapter has had 3

very successful fundraisers

this semester: a pancake

brunch, a trivia night, and a

donut fundraiser. The chapter

$430 this semester. There are

already fundraisers planned

for next semester; with the

help of AIChE members

these fundraisers can be even

more successful than ever.

-Ehab Dabbagh

We’ve Got a New Website!

Thanks to all of our Donors!


Members enjoy hot chocolate and

games during the hot chocolate

social at the beginning of the se-

mester.

“The chapter would

like to thank all of the

volunteers who came

out and made these

events prosperous.”

Volunteers make pancakes for hun-

gry ChemE students at the Pancake

Fundraiser.

It has been a long and exciting semester for the Missouri S&T AIChE student chapter, but

instead of reading another article, perhaps you may just want to learn about what some of

our fantastic members have to say about this semester. Whether it be through participating

in general meetings, recruitment events, Chem-E-Car, or showing leadership, Valerie

Teson, Aaron Latal, Joseph Myers, and Cody Spratt help make our events and organization

great. When asked why they enjoy participating in AIChE and what their favorite memory

from AIChE this semester was, this is what they had to say!

Member Spotlight


Members hang out under the

pavilion at the End of Semester

outing.

“AIChE has helped

facilitate my growth as

a person, as a student,

and as a

professional.”

Valerie Teson, Freshman Why I enjoy AIChE: “It helps me to learn about more companies that attend the career fair as well as the jobs of chemical engineers within them.” Favorite memory: “The end of the year outing.”

Aaron Latal, Sophomore Why I enjoy AIChE: “I enjoy getting to hang out with all of the other mem-bers of AIChE and all of the (career and networking) opportunities that AIChE offers.” Favorite memory: “The Regional Conference at the University of Kan-sas. It was great to get to compete and take third place at the Chem-E-Car competition.”

Joseph Myers, Junior Why I enjoy AIChE: “I enjoy participating in AIChE because it allows me to get to know both students and teachers in the department and gives me contact with people in industry.” Favorite memory: “I really enjoyed the Corporate Mixer. It allowed me to

talk to reps in a relaxed environment and gave me a better idea of what companies are looking for in a new hire and what some jobs entail.”

Cody Spratt, Senior Why I enjoy AIChE: “AIChE greatly enhances student professional de-velopment. AIChE has helped facilitate my growth as a person, as a stu-dent, and as a professional.” Favorite memory: “I particularly enjoyed the discussion with Mississippi Lime in which the company guest speakers provided a comedic anec-dote regarding the hiring of Mizzou engineering students for their co-op positions.”

-Shayan Sazdar

Members listen to Ed Palmer

speak about his experiences in

industry at a meeting.

The S&T AIChE chapter

will be seeing some changes

with the new revisions to the

constitution. These changes

will streamline operations

and encourage more paying

members and national mem-

bers.

The number of officer po-

sitions has been reduced from

11 to 7; some positions are

being combined and the du-

ties have been shifted to bet-

ter distribute the work load.

The vice president positions

have been combined, and the

new position will oversee all

fundraising and employer

contacts. The national liaison

position has been removed

and the President will now

fulfill those duties. The Ex-

ternal Activities Coordinator

will now oversee all volun-

teer efforts in addition to rep-

resenting AIChE in the Stu-

dent Council.

In addition to officer

changes, the chapter will re-

duce local dues by $5 for

national AIChE members.

-Nathan Breshears

dioxide from the flue gas

coming from the power

plants. This process will be

much cheaper than the cur-

rent benchmark technology

which uses amines dissolved

in water. The carbon dioxide

can then be safely stored un-

derground or used for synthe-

sizing other commodity

chemicals.

Patrick's main focus is

Among all the greenhouse

gases, carbon dioxide is the

main cause of climate

change. With carbon dioxide

emissions on the rise, new

methods need to be created to

capture the chemical from

large sources of emissions,

such as power plants. The

research being done now uses

amines in porous hollow fi-

bers to capture the carbon

functionalizing various types

of polymeric and ceramic

hollow fibers with the amines

and other chemicals and test-

ing the samples to find which

one can hold the greatest

amount of carbon dioxide.

-Patrick Brennan

Changes to the Constitution

Research in Bertelsmeyer Hall


External Activities Coordinator

Nathan Breshears explains the

changes to the constitution

before a vote.

“With these

nanoparticles we have

seen excellent

purification of

endotoxin.”

The focus of Mason’s

research, supervised by Dr.

Sutapa Barua, is to engineer

nanoparticles and use their

properties to better the health

of society. His project focus-

es on the development of

polymeric nanoparticles to

purify endotoxin from water.

Endotoxin causes sepsis in

the body and is the leading

cause of death in hospitals. Dr.

Barua and Mason have seen

excellent results with these

nanoparticles.

-Mason Donnell

Patrick works in the lab.

This semester the AIChE

Mid-America Conference

was held at the University of

Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.

Ten members of the chapter

participated by attending

presentations and cheering on

chapter members who were

competing in various compe-

titions that day.

The group left at noon on

Friday and began the 5 hour

drive. The group arrived

around 5:30, checked in, and

got settled. Not long after the

group arrived, they attended

the opening meeting of the

conference where they heard

from the dean of the KU en-

gineering department and a

member of the AIChE Young

Professionals. Afterwards,

the group went to dinner on

Massachusetts Street, return-

ing to the hotel after a deli-

cious Thai meal to rest up for

the big day ahead of them.

The Chem-E-Car Poster

competition was held at 8

AM on Saturday. Directly

after that, the Research Poster

competition was held, which

Shayan Sazdar competed in.

Members watched Shayan

present his poster and then

headed out for lunch. After

lunch it was time for the

Chem-E-Car competition

which was very exciting for

all those in attendance. The

venue was barely large

enough for the competition

and the walls created more

drama than a typical competi-

tion.

After the competition was

over the group went out to

Massachusetts Street to ex-

plore some of the unique

stores and restaurants. Final-

ly, at 6 PM the group headed

to the awards dinner where a

KU professor offered advice

for budding chemical engi-

neers and awards were an-

nounced. The group returned

to Rolla directly after the

dinner, which meant that the

trip was a very short one.

Regardless, the members in

attendance managed to pack

many different events and a

lot of fun into that time.

-Aaron Latal

our many fundraisers this

semester.

In addition to the normal

volunteering opportunities,

AIChE began a new volun-

teer program at the Rolla

Presbyterian Manor, a retire-

ment home here in Rolla.

The students brought cheer to

the facility by playing board

games with the residents,

talking with them about their

AIChE has always provided

volunteering opportunities to

its members and this semester

there were even more oppor-

tunities to take advantage of.

The chapter held two very

successful highway cleanups.

After finishing the clean up,

the volunteers were treated to

Steak ‘n Shake as per tradi-

tion. Members also had the

opportunity to volunteer with

many different experiences,

and planting flower pots to

brighten the rooms.

AIChE is proud of our

service-minded members and

is pleased to offer these vol-

unteering opportunities.

Thank you to our members

for making them successful.

-Aaron Latal

Regional Conference Summary

AIChE Volunteers Benefit Rolla Community


Members enjoy dinner at a Thai

restaurant in Lawrence during the

conference.

“AIChE is proud of

our service-minded

members and is

pleased to offer these

volunteering

opportunities.”

Participants of the highway clean up

stand at a sign near the section of I-

44 that AIChE maintains.

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Congratulations to those who will be

leading AIChE next semester. The of-

ficer positions were restructured to

streamline future operations. There

were many great candidates that ran for

all of the positions this year. There was

much discussion before the chapter vot-

ed on these officers.

We also welcome a new faculty advisor,

Dr. Christi Patton Luks, who joined the

faculty in August 2014. She invites you

to contact her at [email protected].

The Future Leaders of Our Organization

We’re on the Web! mst.orgsync.com/org/aiche

Acknowledgements

The newsletter was prepared by news-

letter committee leader Aaron Latal.

This newsletter would not have been

possible without the help of all those

who prepared articles and Dr. Luks.

Spring 2015

Officers

President

Kenneth Mucalo

Vice President Internal Julie Nguyen

Vice President External Jacob Tuia

Secretary Aaron Latal

Treasurer Ehab Dabbagh

National Liaison Mason Young


Nathan Breshears

Student Advisory Council Rep.

William Cowley

Recruitment Officer Michael Niehoff

Chem-E-Car President Gregg McDaniels Jr.

Fall 2015 Officers

President

Kenneth Mucalo

Vice President Shayan Sazdar

Secretary Mathias Whitworth

Treasurer Michael Clemmons


Tarique Ahmad

Recruitment Officer Mickey-Lee Branscum

Chem-E-Car President Folabomi Opakunle

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AIChE Semester Newsletter May 2015 Newsletter · Chem-E-Car Takes Third Place at Regionals Page 4...

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