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Department awards ceremony honors chemical engineering students, faculty, staff

At the annual awards ceremony for the Department of Chemical Engineering on May 13, the following awards were presented.

Junior Bradley Olsen from Brooklyn Park, Minn., was the winner of the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship, given out annually to one chemical engineering undergraduate in the United States. Olsen also received the Dow Chemical Co. Outstanding Junior Award for his balanced record of achievement in academics and campus professional and social organizations, as well as work experience.

Juniors Bukola Aina from Philadelphia and David Yin from Tyler, Texas received Merck Fellowships for 2002-03.

The Robert T. Haslam Cup was awarded to Hiroki Kaido , a senior from Greensburg, Penn., for outstanding professional promise in chemical engineering.

The Roger de Friez Hunneman Prize is the oldest in the department and is given to an undergraduate for outstanding scholarship and research. This year the award went to K. Jaisel Vadgama , a senior from Calgary.

The Edward W. Merrill Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award was presented to Kimberly Bryan-Kosto , a graduate student from North East, Penn., for her work with 10.302 (Transport Processes) in the fall. Matthew Lazzara , a graduate student from Temple Terrace, Fla., was recognized for his exceptional work as a graduate instructor for 10.302.

Every Monday, two third-year graduate students present the progress of their research to be evaluated by their peers. Two were recognized for giving outstanding seminars: Geoffrey Moeser of Burlington, Ontario (fall term) and Kevin Dorfman of Bensalam, Penn. (spring term).

Chemical Engineering Special Service Awards were given to Graduate Student Council president Jason Kralj of Houston. The current American Institute of Chemical Engineers president, Princess Imoukhuede of Matteson, Ill., also received a Special Service Award. Reuben Domike of Brookline and Roger Aronow of San Francisco were recognized for organizing the chemical engineering intramural athletic teams. Domike also received the Chemical Engineering "Rock" Award for outstanding athletics, for his active participation in a variety of intramural sports.

The Outstanding Employee Award was presented to Susan Lanza , administrative assistant for professors William Green, George Stephanopoulos and Daniel Wang. She was acknowledged for her exceptional dedication not only to those professors but to their students and the department as well.

The Outstanding Faculty Award from the graduate students went to Professor Daniel Blankschtein , while the Outstanding Faculty Award from the undergraduates was given to Professor Michael Mohr .

Administrative assistant Anne Fowler received the Individual Accomplishment Citation in recognition of her dedication to the department and hard work in the Graduate Student Office.

The chemical engineering graduate students were recognized with a plaque from the department for being the Phi Cup champions this year. Phi Cup is a charity ice hockey event hosted by Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority.

A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on June 5, 2002.

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