A small group of undergraduate and graduate students represented the University of Rhode Island’s chemical engineering department at this year’s American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) conference in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Held Oct. 28 – Nov. 2, the AIChE conference is the largest event in the world for chemical engineering professionals.

Workshops were offered on topics such as leadership habits, today’s energy distribution, simulation technology in our future, negotiation practices and green chemistry. There were also keynote speakers, a question and answer panel with industry professionals, networking opportunities and graduate school information.

“I was inspired by the advice that was shared by chemical engineering professionals who are specializing in a wide variety of concentrations,” said URI chapter president Caroline Hammett, a senior from Waretown, N.J.

Some of the most meaningful advice was shared with the students during lunch.

“My classmates and I had the chance to interact with a 35-year employee of Exxon who played a role in creating their Singapore facility and professor from the University of Virginia who had a direct hand while working for Merck to create the AIDS vaccine,” Hammett recalled.

At the poster session, graduate student Elisa Torrico Guzmán won first place for her poster in the category of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. Her project was titled, “Evaluation of Mucus-Penetrating Nanocomposite Microparticles for Cystic Fibrosis-Related Infections.”

This was the fourth time in four years that Guzmán has won an award in this competition. This year, she beat out 44 other presenters.