UTC student Eric Snider, an undergraduate chemical engineering major, won a second place research award at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, Minneapolis.
Eric Snider
Snider competed in the catalysis and reaction engineering section with two- dozen undergraduates from around the country and the world. Other competitors in his section included researchers from Georgia Tech, West Point, Case Western Reserve and North Carolina State. This work will also be presented at the AIChE Southern Regional Convention at Clemson, South Carolina, in April 2012.
Snider is a departmental honors student who will graduate in May 2012. His poster, entitled Catalyst Studies with Implications on Design and Fabrication of Microreactors is a presentation of his thesis research. His research is focused on making biodiesel fuel using micro-scale chemical reactors, which he worked on in the micro-chemical technology research lab run by Dr. Frank Jones, UC Foundation Professor of Chemical Engineering.
“Eric is an amazing student. He’s also a good researcher. Sometimes being a good student doesn’t always mean being good at research, but Eric is very talented. He doesn’t wait for me to figure it out for him. He digs and digs until he gets it right,” Jones said.
Additionally, Snider won the Donald F. & Mildred Topp Othmer National Scholarship at the AIChE Annual Meeting. This national award is annually bestowed upon fifteen AIChE Student Members on the basis of academic achievement and involvement in student chapter activities.
He plans to pursue a doctorate in Biomedical Engineering with the goal of someday being a professor.
