Johns Hopkins chemical and biomolecular engineering students received multiple honors at the 2024 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Annual Student Conference in San Diego in late October. Students won awards in both research and non-research categories.
The department was represented by nine student research poster presenters, six of whom received awards during the conference. This includes Payal Patel, a senior, who won first place in the Food, Pharmaceutical, and Biotechnology category for her research titled “The Unique Metabolite Landscape of the Aged Microenvironment Dictates Melanoma Migratory and Invasive Capacity.”
“My research focuses on identifying metabolites elevated in the melanoma tumor microenvironment of older patients that enhance cellular mobility and metastatic potential,” said Patel. “We identified CPT1A, an enzyme enabling fatty acid oxidation in mitochondria, as a key driver of increased mobility and metastasis in the aged tumor microenvironment. I am deeply honored by this recognition and hope this work contributes meaningfully to advancing our understanding of cancer metastasis.”
The department also saw four second-place winners in the research presentations: juniors Adam Tobin-Williams and Victor Wu in the Materials Engineering and Sciences category, as well as seniors Michelle Sandag in the Materials Engineering and Sciences category and Jarett Ren in the Computing and Process Control category. Melina Mohammadi, a junior, was the department’s only third-place winner in the Food, Pharmaceutical, and Biotechnology category.
ChemBE students also earned three non-research awards. Lavanya Gupta, junior, received the Donald F. Othmer Second Year Student Academic Excellence Award, and sophomore Sia Badri received the First Year Student Recognition Award. Adam Tobin-Williams was recognized with the Donald F. & Mildred Topp Othmer Scholarship Award, based on academic achievement and involvement in student chapter activities. Each year, the scholarship awards $1,000 to 15 AIChE student members.
“It’s an honor to be recognized for my work, and I’m excited to continue contributing to AIChE and ChemBE,” said Tobin-Williams, who serves as president of Johns Hopkins’ AIChE student chapter and the national director for AIChE’s Executive Student Committee. Tobin-Williams also led two of the national meetings for the conference: the Executive Student Committee Meeting and the Student Chapter Presidents Meeting.
Finally, ChemBE students placed 5th in ChemE Jeopardy before getting knocked out in semifinals by regional rival UMBC, and the ChemE car team reached 19th place. This was both teams’ best score to date.
“Achieving these recognitions at the AIChE Annual Conference is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our students and competition teams,” said Lilian Lam Josephson, a chemical and biomolecular engineering lecturer who advises AIChE’s Johns Hopkins’ chapter with Assistant Professor Yayuan Liu. “I am excited to see the students build on these accomplishments and head to Boston next year with even more to share.”