2010 McCormack Award Winners
Recipient: Chris Wolcott
University: Illinois Institute of Technology
Description: Chris Wolcott has demonstrated a dedication to the profession through involvement
in the Illinois Institute of Technology AIChE Student Chapter as well as undergraduate
research. Within the student chapter, Chris was a driving force, serving as Treasurer
and President and put together the first ever Knovel Scavenger Hunt. On the subject
of research, Chris was involved in studying Li-ion battery thermal effects using
micro- and differential scanning calorimetric methods (with Professor Prakash). In
the summer of 2009, Chris participated in the Research Experience for Undergraduates
program at the University of Delaware, studying the effects of temperature and pressure on CO adsorption
to Pt surfaces (with Professor Lauterbach) His current plans are to attend graduate school at the University
of Washington in chemical engineering.
Recipient: Eric Graves
University: University of Illinois at Chicago
Description: Eric Graves first attended college at the University of Missouri – Columbia where he
graduated with an honors degree in English. A year after graduating, and a year of
enduring the job market of an English major, he moved to Chicago from his hometown
of Kansas City, Missouri and entered into the chemical engineering program at
the University of Illinois at Chicago. While at UIC, he was a member of AIChE and
achieved a 3.75 grade point average. He will graduate from the UIC chemical engineering
program in May 2010 with a concentration in biochemical engineering. After
graduating, he plans to find a position in the industry and begin working as a
chemical engineer.
Recipient: Nicholas Ruggero
University: Northwestern University
Description: Nicholas Ruggero will be graduating from Northwestern University this June, and
will be attending graduate school for chemical engineering at Stanford University in
the fall. Upon completing his PhD, Nicholas plans to pursue a career at a national
laboratory or in industry. He has been employed as a co-op with Applied Thin
Films Inc. for the past three years, and has been involved with Northwestern's Gateway
Science Workshop program for the past four years as a peer facilitator.
2009 Shining Star Award Winner
Recipient: Dima Alfawakhiri
University: University of Illinois at Chicago
Description: The Chicago Section of the American Institute of Chemical
Engineers is pleased to present to Ms. Dima Alfawakhiri a special
recognition award for her service to the Chicago Section of AIChE and the
community. Dima has maintained a 3.91 GPA in her four years at UIC. She has
been involved in the planning and implementation of the last three Chicago
Section Symposia. In addition to these activities she has been an officer in the Society of
Women Engineers and American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning
Engineers. She has also been a teaching assistant for Engineering 100 classes, a UIC Math Learning
Center Tutor, and a science fair judge. Among the numerous awards made to Dima is the
University of Illinois Alumni Association Student Leadership Award. She has been awarded
numerous scholarships from AIChE, Society of Women Engineers, and other organizations and several
travel grants to attend meetings or summer school. We wish her the best in future endeavors.
2010 Poster Session Competition Winners
The winners of the poster fair on Wednesday April 14, 2010 are:
1st Place Undergraduate: Pravina Mokashi, Nidhin Thomas, Nakul Gulati, Nishant Patel, Steven Ngan, and Jiang Li(UIC) Title: “Production of Polyethylene from Sugarcane”
2nd Place Undergraduate: IIT IPRO 348(IIT)
Title: “Silver Nanorods as Indication of Thermal History”
1st Place Graduate: Sahil Gupta(IIT)
Title: “On the Molecular Origins of Anisotropic Thermal Transport in Oriented and Stressed Polymers.”