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Villanova Engineers Recognized with AIChE Delaware Valley Section Awards

Jenna Pugliese ’15 ChE and Callie Estreicher ’15 ChE accept the 2015 Zeisberg Award from Daniel Sujo, chair of the AIChE Delaware Valley Section.
Jenna Pugliese ’15 ChE and Callie Estreicher ’15 ChE accept the 2015 Zeisberg Award from Daniel Sujo, chair of the AIChE Delaware Valley Section.

The Delaware Valley Section of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ (AiChE) 2015 Student Awards Banquet was recently held at the Villanova Conference Center. Villanova engineers were among the award recipients in a variety of categories.

Zeisberg Technical Writing Award
Villanova Chemical Engineering seniors Callie Estreicher and Jenna Pugliese won the Zeisberg Best Research/Plant Design Report Award for “Design of Upstream Gas Processing for a Methanol Plant.” The report reflects the students’ investigation of the economic potential for smaller, distributed methanol plants, which was the focus of their senior design project.

Instituted in 1941, the Zeisberg Award recognizes the best written laboratory and research/plant design reports. Nominees are selected from each accredited chemical engineering department in the Delaware Valley Section of AiChE. A jury of chemical engineers working in industry and academia determines the winner based on report organization, accuracy, conciseness and clarity, grammar, neatness and general effectiveness.

Outstanding Student, Alumni and Faculty Awards
Mark Breault ’17, Brandon Wesley ’16 and Jessica Nozzi ’15 were named Villanova’s 2015 Outstanding Student Award winners. This award recognizes Chemical Engineering students in the Delaware Valley who demonstrate outstanding academic performance, professionalism, leadership, interest and promise in the successful application of an engineering education.  The nominees are appointed by the faculty of their university. Christopher Neely ’17 received the Donald F. Othmer Sophomore Academic Excellence Award, which is presented to the one national AIChE student member in each student chapter who has attained the highest scholastic grade-point average during his/her freshman and sophomore years, on recommendation of the student chapter advisor.

Also presented at the 2015 Student Awards Banquet, the Outstanding Alumni Award recognizes the contributions of alumni to their universities, the profession and professional organizations. Katherine Duggan ’13, a run plant (production) engineer with Dow Chemical Company, won the award for Villanova University.

Finally, Chemical Engineering Assistant Professor Justinus Satrio, PhD, was the University’s nominee for the Outstanding Faculty Award. This award recognizes a faculty member, preferably within the first five years of his/her appointment, who has contributed to the profession through publications and presentations, demonstrated commitment to teaching and students, and has a strong record of service to the department, college, university and professional organizations.