Azmat Naseem, Environmental Engineering PhD student with Dr. Ghosh, was awarded the best poster presentation for COEIT and Sahar Souizi, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Ph.D. student with Dr. Blaney, won the runner-up award for the 3 Minute Thesis competition (3MT). Congratulations!

GEARS GSA proudly hosted the 2025 Research Symposium and Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, celebrating the innovation, passion, and dedication of our student researchers across disciplines.

Research Symposium Winners
Each awarded $500 for excellence in research:

• Best of CAHSS: Diane Placide

• Best of CNMS: Lekan Ajiboye

• Best of COEIT: Azmat Naseem

• People's Choice Award: Navya Sree Manikonda

3MT Competition Winners

• Winner: Prajna Bhandary ($500)

• Runner-Up: Sahar Souizi ($250)

• People's Choice Award: Seraj Mostafa ($250)

Congratulations to all participants for showcasing the power of research and storytelling. Your work continues to inspire and elevate the UMBC community.

See you all next year!

To access all pictures of the events, go to the following links:

Research Symposium Pictures

3MT Pictures

Original Post: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/gsa/posts/149026

Maya Schreiber’s scientific abstract was accepted to the Society of Women Engineers Collegiate Competition for Undergraduates. The CBEE student then attended the 2025 Society of Women Engineers WE Local Conference in Cherry Hill, New Jersey on March 7-8, 2025.

Maya gave a 10 minute oral presentation titled “Measuring Oxygen Consumption to Understand Optimal Chronic Wound Healing Environments” and engaged in a Q&A session about her work with the judges and attendees. Her research poster was also displayed for the duration of the conference. The judges evaluated the presenters and awarded Maya with first place in the Undergraduate category. Congratulations to Maya on all of her success! 

See Maya Schreiber’s Linked In post: https://shorturl.at/nknIb 

PHOTO CREDIT: Maya Schreiber

We are excited that Chemical engineering students, Amaya Carroll and Mikayla Bryant, were highlighted in the UMBC magazine (2024, December). Both Amaya and Mikayla are chemical engineering majors on the environmental engineering and sustainability track.

You can see Amaya in the cover photo and Mikayla in the photo within the article.

To read full article: https://umbc.edu/stories/the-world-is-finally-watching-womens-sports/

Left to right: Katana Nelson, Jada James, Mikayla Bryant.

UMBC AIChE chapter members and faculty mentors at the AIChE conference in San Diego. (Photo courtesy of Neha Raikar)

UMBC chemical engineering students excelled again at the annual meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), held in San Diego this fall. The UMBC ChemE Jeopardy team, led by senior chemical engineering student Colin Jones, claimed third place at the national competition held during the conference; the K – 12 STEM outreach team, led by senior chemical engineering student Jemma Pryzbocki, won the top judges’ award in the high school category for designing a module to teach concepts of heat exchange; and the UMBC AIChE club won a best student chapter award.

The UMBC ChemE car team, which designed a car that starts and stops by chemical reactions, also performed respectably in a competitive field. The team was led by senior chemical engineering student Ben Welling. Several students also received individual recognitions—senior chemical engineering and biochemistry student Pavan Umashankar won a Donald F. & Mildred Topp Othmer Scholarship Award and senior Meredith Morse, chemical engineering, took third place in the student poster session in the food, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology division.

K – 12 STEM outreach team members (from left to right) Daniel Miranda, Meredith Morse, and Jemma Przybocki demonstrate their teaching module, “The Chilly Chameleon Heat Exchanger.” (Photo courtesy of Neha Raikar)

ChemE car team members (from left to right) Ben Welling (team captain), David Ni, Afrah Ahmed, Jacob Craft, and Michael Dinan prepare their car for competition. (Photo courtesy of Neha Raikar)

“The students deserve a big round of applause for all their dedication and hard work,” says Neha Raikar, a senior lecturer in the Department of Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering (CBEE) and one of the advisors to the student AIChE chapter. 

“The chemical engineering major demands exceptional attention to detail and hard work,” says Mariajosé Castellanos, another CBEE faculty who advises the AIChE chapter. “It is truly inspiring to see our students consistently apply their skills and make a lasting mark on the national stage!”

UMBC students have achieved impressive AIChE conference success for many years running. The ChemE Jeopardy team has reached the final every year since 2020, and the K – 12 STEM outreach team, which only began competing last year, has won awards at each event. Earlier this year, the UMBC student chapter showed off their growth and talents by hosting a regional meeting of AIChE for the first time.

ChemE Jeopardy team members (from left to right) Jonathan Wu, Pavan Umashankar, Colin Jones, and Joshua Lewis take their places behind the buzzers. (Photo courtesy of Neha Raikar)

Fifteen CBEE students attended the 2024 AIChE Annual Student Conference in San Diego, CA from October 25, 2024 to October 28, 2024. 

ChemE Jeopardy - 3rd place, National Competition