And the AlChE national win streak continues. Three more Spartan Engineers were awarded first place honors at the recent 2020 Virtual AlChE annual student competition. Students from the MSU Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science consistently place in the national student competition, which is a premier forum for chemical engineers interested in innovation.
AlChE is the global organization for chemical engineers. It has more than 60,000 members from 110+ countries. This year, AlChE's annual student competition sought alternatives to the current ammonia production supply chain. Contestants were asked to include an analysis of technical, economic, health and safety aspects in their projects.
This year's winners are:
Benjamin Farris won the A. McLaren White Award for Best Overall Design (individual category). Farris is a senior in chemical engineering.
His project was titled, "Modular Ammonia Production for Minnesota Fertilizer Market." He designed a small-scale gas processing plant that produces ammonia from natural gas and atmospheric nitrogen for the competition.
Christine Mason won the Walter Howard Design Award for Best Applications of the Principles of Chemical Process Safety (individual category). Her winning project offered a business model for modular distributed ammonia synthesis.
Mason received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in Spring 2020 and is now a production engineer at Dow in Midland.
Both Farris and Mason received recognition during the student design competition session at the 2020 Virtual AIChE Annual Student Conference on Nov. 16.
Additionally, a third MSU student was recognized for top honors at this year's conference.
Shay Ladd took the first place poster presentation award in AlChE's Group 7 during the national student contest.
Ladd's poster research was on "Modeling the Impact of Cerebrospinal Fluid Flow on Waste Clearance in the Brain." She works with University Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Christina Chan.
Ladd is a junior in chemical engineering.
R. Mark Worden, professor of chemical engineering and biomedical engineering, said MSU students have an established legacy of entering well written technical, environmental, and safety plans - earning them top recognitions each year.
"Winning this competition is among the best professional credentials a graduating senior chemical engineer can have on their resume," Worden added.
Read more on MSU's AlChE legacy by checking out last year's national honors: 2019.