1^st Place Again!

2008 AIChE National Student Design Competition

OSU ChE seniors Aleisha McCabe, Grant McCool, and Derek Sumner received a 1^st Place from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) for their team entry in the 2008 AIChE National Student Design Competition.  In this unusual year, two designs were so close to first that the AIChE awarded two first place honors for the tying teams.

The challenge was to design a chemical plant to create Methanol from the synthesis gas from coal gasification, and some of the major challenges were to select the best source of the supply coal.  Each coal type requires a unique best plant design.

All three students graduated in May 2008.  Aleisha McCabe (front row 3^rd from the right) is now an Applications Engineer for Zeeco in Tulsa OK.  Grant McCool (back row 2^nd from left) is a Plant Engineer for Linde BOC Process Plants, in Tulsa.  And Derek Sumner (front row far left) is a Production Engineer for ConocoPhillips in Sweeney, TX.  Congratulations!

The photo shows some of the May 2008 seniors who posed for a photo shoot after the Spring Banquet.

In the 14 years that AIChE has sponsored a team competition, OSU students won 1^st place five times, Honorable Mention once, and received additional awards in the safety and loss prevention category thrice.  The competition is open to all (about 160) chemical engineering departments in the United States.  No other university has won the team competition more than twice.  “OSU has an extraordinary performance record, which is evidence of the quality of students, faculty, and staff that make the program,” says Russ Rhinehart, School Head.

Aleisha, Grant, and Derek will represent OSU and their 1^st Place design at the AIChE National Meeting in Philadelphia, PA, this November.