Freshman Hud Saeed of Barrington, Rhode Island, is double majoring in chemical engineering and Chinese. He has received a $5,000 American Chemical Society Undergraduate Scholarship designed to support the scientists of tomorrow who will use the transformative power of chemistry to address global challenges.

Applicants were evaluated based on their achievements in chemical sciences, their ability to recognize chemistry as a solution to solving global challenges, and their commitment to lifelong learning. The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization founded in 1876 and chartered by the U.S. Congress. The organization’s mission is to advance scientific knowledge, empower a global community, and champion scientific integrity.

We asked Saeed how he believes his work ethic and experiences helped him earn this scholarship and set him up for success.

What past successes do you believe led you to this scholarship?
Since I applied as a freshman, most of my application consisted of high school activities. Some are not STEM-related, but they helped with my application.

In assistant professor Yusong Bai’s lab at Brown University, I was a volunteer research assistant in 2023. This is where my interest in physical chemistry and quantum mechanics really blossomed. I was able to work on graphene exfoliations, and I shadowed a Ph.D. student during my time in the lab. I did not work there for that long, but the things I learned were profound. I was able to attend weekly laboratory meetings, where members discussed research and chemistry ideas, and although I did not understand much at the time, I was still fascinated by the field.

Because I am also interested in physics, I decided to shadow Ph.D. students in professor Xinsheng Ling’s laboratory at Brown University in the physics department. Ling’s lab welcomed me, and I got to see their research on analyzing colloid samples, and I was able to learn a lot about photolithography. I am grateful for this lab for propelling my interest in physics.

For both these lab positions, I sent spontaneous emails to professors and was able to get a volunteer position. There is no shame in simply asking. Sometimes you can get the best opportunities from simply asking.

A friend and I were also able to find two bioinformatics professors from Brown University who allowed us to work on a project through their mentorship. Our project consisted of analyzing gene expression in bladder cancer and researching its correlation with angiolymphatic invasion. We were able to get a second-place award at the Rhode Island Science Fair for our presentation.

How did your interest in Chinese come about?
The National Security Language Initiative for Youth Program is funded by the U.S. Department of State and allows high schoolers to study critical languages, such as Chinese, Arabic, or Persian. I participated in the Chinese program. I attended daily online Chinese classes from teachers based in Chengdu, China, at Sichuan Normal University. I was able to reach intermediate proficiency after this program. It really allowed me to explore the possibility of majoring in both chemical engineering and Chinese.

What other achievements helped you earn the American Chemical Society scholarship?
During my time in high school, I was able to have a leadership position in the Rhode Island Science Olympiad. In this position, I was able to help coaches during meetings, and assisted students at any of their events.

In a national invitational tournament at Brown University my partner and I were able to place first in the environmental chemistry event, which consisted of a written test and laboratory portion. These were some of the most notable activities I have done in high school, and I strongly believe these helped me in the application.

I also believe that being exposed to chemistry early on allowed me to gain a strong grasp of the subject. My first chemistry class was AP chemistry sophomore year of high school, and I had no experience before it which made it even more interesting. My teacher, Sonalaya Jayasuriya, was one of the main reasons I made the decision to major in chemical engineering. She made the subject extremely fascinating, and her way of teaching really helped me grow as not only a student, but a person, too. Another friend/mentor I had was Kamran Choudhry. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and he motivated me to get involved early in research. Thanks to his hard work and support, I was able to get research positions in high school and really get involved. A lot of the accomplishments I have achieved are thanks to his warm support.

One of my biggest inspirations for researching chemistry, and physical chemistry is Dr. Abdus Salaam. He was a Pakistani Muslim theoretical physicist who won a Nobel prize for his work on electroweak unification theory. He used his success to give back to his community. As a Pakistani Muslim myself, I see him as my role model and wish to do similar things he did with his work. He founded the International Center of Theoretical Physics in Italy, set up the space and nuclear programs in Pakistan, funded the education of many unprivileged students, and advocated for youth scientists.

What will this scholarship help you achieve?
This scholarship will allow me to fully concentrate on academia and research throughout my semester, without worrying about financial hardship. I am pleased to have the opportunity to have my education paid for through this scholarship. Not many people in the world are given this opportunity, and through this scholarship, I hope to thrive as a scientist and help to inform others of this type of opportunity across the world. A person is only a person through other people, and so my goal in the future is to create a nourishing and supportive environment in the field of STEM, especially chemistry.

What are your goals for the future as a chemical engineer?
As the semester has just begun, I am speaking to professors at URI to see how I can begin researching as early as possible. My long-term goals are to pursue research and get my doctorate. My desire is to become a professor, and lecture and research at the same time. Working in industry for a little while would also be awesome, just to gain experience.