ChemE Showcase

Curious about what students in Chemical Engineering do during their degree? Check out these projects from current chemical engineering students that they are currently working on or work they have done during their work term!

If you are working on a project or have done work that you want to show and tell other ChemEs about then email us at chemical@ualberta.ca to submit photos and a biography to be uploaded on our Instagram and the website.

Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race (GNCTR)

While our co-VP Student Services, Jenna Piercey is a part of ChESS she is also a part of the GNCTR where she is their Engagement Coordinator!

The GNCTR is the University of Alberta's longest-running engineering vehicle project. They build a toboggan and every part that touches the snow has to be made out of concrete! Schools from all over Canada race their toboggans down the hill in three categories; Drag Race, Giant Slalom, and King of the Hill. This year they had their first in-person race since 2020 in Kelowna. Our theme was Hannah Boggtana: The Best of Bogg Worlds, and the 2024 competition will be held back home, where she is from, in St. John’s, Newfoundland!

If you are interested in learning more about GNCTR you can visit our Instagram @uofagnctr or our website at http://ualbertagnctr.squarespace.com/ ! You can always see last year's toboggan in NREF!

Dean's Research Award: Growth of Mycobacterium Biofilms and Study of Phage Infection Dynamics

Ever thought about the biology side of chemical engineering? Our co-president, Sheila Co, will be sharing her experience with research on that side of chemical engineering! Over the past year and a half, Sheila has been working under Dr. Dominic Sauvageau supplemented by a Dean’s Research Award (DRA) and two NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA).

Several bacteria grow as biofilms– an assembly of cells adherent to surfaces– which display high resistance to antimicrobial agents. Biofilms are involved in many diseases, e.g., cystic fibrosis, as they facilitate infections by organ and medical device colonization. These biofilms are very difficult to eliminate due to a specific layer on their outer membrane. Bacteriophages (phages) – viruses that infect and kill bacteria – have great potential for several health-related applications, including the treatment and reduction of biofilms. Phage-based technologies, including therapies and bacteria control, in general, exploit the phage's ability to attach to specific pathogens, transfer its genome, and cause lysis. As such, phages are a promising strategy to break down biofilms.

In her time in the lab, Sheila has been investigating the kinetics and dynamics of phage infection of biofilms created by the model bacteria for tuburculosis, mycobacterium smegmatis. Throughout her research, she has been able to learn many different techniques and theories that you would not typically be introduced to in a chemical engineering class setting. Her work is in hopes of contributing to the validity of using phage therapy to mitigate biofilm growth in the lungs. Alongside her project, Sheila has also been able to work on many different projects such as phage testing for the use in inhalers, the use of phages to target gut microbiome bacteria, as well as environmental bioprospecting of phages.

AlbertaSat: Design, Build, Manufacture, and Operate Satellites in Low-Earth Orbit

It’s not everyday that you get to look up to the sky and say “something I worked on is flying up there at 7 km/s. With the AlbertaSat Student group you can. The group works through all phases of a mission from initial concept design, prototype design, manufacture, and testing, flight model assembly and testing, all the way up to operations and decommissioning from space. While all this is happening, the group also has several smaller-scale projects which include designing and building payloads for balloon, rocket, and microgravity missions.

As a Chemical Engineering Student, I started on the Mission Design Team by running simulations, optimizing simulation processes, and high level coordination. I soon found myself in leadership roles and am currently the President and Program Manager. In these leadership roles I have come to realize that Chemical Engineers love to optimize processes, and managing a team and delivering a product is not much different in that practices, procedures can all be optimized and made lean similarly to chemical processes.

If you are interested in joining the team please contact Nikhil Velagapudi (velagapu@ualberta.ca) or visit https://albertasat.ca/

Co-op Term with Corrosion Services

Our co - VP External Kylie Thomas, shows us the work that she did with Corrosion Services during her previous co-op term. With Corrosion Services you can get a lot of experience working there. Most of the time co-op students will work on various types of cathodic protection surveys of either pipelines, stations, or depths. Other types of tasks they complete are the installation of cathodic protection equipment like anodes, monitoring devices, test posts, junction boxes, etc. Most of the work done is done remotely out in the field. You get to see a lot of Alberta/Canada, especially the nature and wildlife. The knowledge and skills developed during this job will be very useful and transferrable for any future work term/life experiences ahead of you.

University of Alberta Formula Racing Team

From the Formula Racing team we have fourth-year chemical engineering traditional student Ainsley Gulliford! To further her interest in motorsport and gain valuable design and manufacturing experience, Ainsley decided to join the UofA’s Formula Racing team. Each year a team of dedicated students designs and builds their own race car, then travels to Michigan to compete in the FSAE Michigan competition with other post-secondary institutions from across North America. This project has provided her with beneficial experience in taking a project from a simple set of design goals and ideas to a fully-fledged, completed product. It has also provided her with hands on manufacturing experience and an understanding of how to design a product with manufacturability as the end goal.

If you are interested in learning more about the Formula Racing team or want to join, visit their website at this link: https://www.ualbertafsae.com . Feel free to come speak to current members and see last year’s car at the UofA Clubs Fair, Engg Carnival, and more!

Certificate of Sustainability Integrative Project on Eco-Friendly Polymers in Mature Fine Tailing (MFT) Ponds Treatment

This featurette comes from our VP Communications, Janelle Henderson. To specialize her studies towards sustainability, she decided to do the Certificate of Sustainability. Doing the certificate allowed her to take electives that focuses on the shift towards sustainability and greener initiatives. As part of a requirement, she had to do an integrative project that looked at the areas in the chemical engineering discipline and engage the core features of sustainability. While working with Dr. Soares' lab over this past summer, Janelle became interested in the synthesis of new polymers used for the treatment of tailings ponds' mature fine tailings (MFT). Thus her integrative project focuses on the mature fine tailings’ treatment, and how environmentally friendly polymers are being synthesized to replace ones currently in use.

Interested in doing or learning more about the Certificate of Sustainability and checking out other projects done by other students in other faculties? You can check out the link here.

Page updated

Report abuse