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U-M ChE Professor Nicholas Kotov, Adjunct Professor Karl Jacob and PhD student Harsh Agarwal were honored with individual awards and the U-M AIChE Student Chapter was named Outstanding Student Chapter for the 12th consecutive year.
Faculty and graduate students from the U-M Department of Chemical Engineering were honored with awards at the annual meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) in November.
Professor Nicholas Kotov and Adjunct Professor Karl Jacob were honored with individual awards in recognition of their work. PhD student, Harsh Agarwal received an inaugural Transport and Energy Processes (TEP) Graduate Student Award and the U-M AIChE Student Chapter was named Outstanding Student Chapter for the 12th consecutive year.
The life and achievements of H. Scott Fogler were also honored in the form of a special invited talks session. View the full session recording here.
Nicholas Kotov, Irving Langmuir Distinguished University Professor of Chemical Sciences and Engineering and the Joseph B. and Florence V. Cejka Professor was honored with the 2021 Nanoscale Science and Engineering Forum Award. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to advancing Chemical Engineering through scholarship, education, or service in the fields of nanoscience or nanotechnology.
The award is sponsored by the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Forum (NSEF) of AIChE. Nominees for the award are reviewed by a committee of academic and industry representatives.
“I am most grateful to the American Institute of Chemical Engineers for recognizing the importance and outcomes of the research on chiral nanostructures,” said Kotov. “This occasion also gives me an opportunity to highlight the contribution of my most enthusiastic junior colleagues in the group who put their vigor and talent in the development of this new field of chemical engineering.”
Kotov founded the Kotov Lab to pursue, on a global scale, the understanding of the roles of biomimetic nanostructures in nature.
U-M ChE Lecturer Karl Jacob was honored with the 2021 Ansys Particle Technology Forum (PTF) Service Award. The award acknowledges a forum member’s scientific and/or technical contributions to the field of particle technology throughout their lifetime. These achievements can be made through leadership roles as well as the promotion of scholarship, research, development, service, and/or education within the field.
“While this is an individual award, it doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” said Jacob. “I’m very grateful to many others who have helped me move the particle technology needle forward over the last 35+ years, without them this would not have been possible.”
Karl Jacob joined U-M ChE as a Lecturer in 2015. Jacob worked for The Dow Chemical Company in Midland, Michigan from 1982 until 2018 and he is the founder of the Solids Processing Lab. In 2010, he was inducted as an AIChE Fellow, and is a recipient of the Lawrence B. Evans Award for Chemical Engineering Practice and PTF Award for Lifetime Achievement in Particle Technology. His research interests focus on a broad range of solids processing and particle technology. Recently, he has focused specifically on phase pneumatic conveying, powder mixtures flowability, and thermal conductivity of bulk solid systems.
For the 12th consecutive year, U-M ChE AIChE Student Chapter has been recognized with the Outstanding Student Chapter Award. The annual award recognizes student chapters which go above and beyond typical participation, enthusiasm, program quality, professionalism, and involvement with both their university and local community.
“Our chapter is ecstatic to win the AIChE Outstanding Student Chapter Award,” said Lena Young, president of the U-M AIChE student chapter. “Despite many of our programs and events being modified due to COVID-19, we are proud to say that all of our innovation and hard work throughout the pandemic has paid off.”
The AIChE Student Chapter is open to both undergraduate and graduate students in U-M ChE. The goal of the chapter is to provide students with opportunities for professional development to supplement their academic education.
One of the group’s main initiatives is a mentorship program that pairs underclassmen with upperclassmen. The chapter also operates an industry-focused mentorship program to pair all levels of students with chemical engineers currently working in the field.
Harsh Agarwal, U-M ChE PhD student, is the first recipient of the Transport and Energy Processes (TEP) Graduate Student Award. This award was started by the TEP Division to honor the research and innovation of graduate students in addition to professionals.
“I am honored by the recognition and really glad that the presentation was well received,” said Agarwal. “I hope to continue doing the hard work and answer some challenging questions in the field of energy storage.”
The TEP Division focuses broadly on the field of heat transfer, reporting on up-and-coming technologies that could have a nationwide impact, such as alternatives for fossil fuels.
The TEP Graduate Student Award recipients are determined by the session chairs of the TEP Division and external judges. They consider candidates based on their papers related to transport phenomena. More specifically, they focus on renewable feedstocks, alternative and/or flexible fuels, energy efficiency, energy storage and conversion, and clean technologies.
