Trine graduate captures national design safety award

Trine graduate captures national design safety award

 

ANGOLA — Trine University’s McKetta Department of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering captured national awards for the fourth consecutive year from the Safety and Chemical Engineering Education (SAChE) committee at a conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, in November.

“This type of performance by one department is unprecedented in the long history of the contest,” Dr. John Wagner said. “It is certainly a great tribute to the type of students that we teach each day.”

Ryan Gruell, who graduated from Trine University in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, won a design safety award for his project, “Manufacturing Facility for Monoclonal Antibodies.” Wagner explained that his project analyzed an alternative treatment to cancer that involves using the body’s immune system to fight the disease. After graduating in May, Gruell went to work as a chemical engineer for Parker Hannifin.

Each student typically spends between 120 and 200 hours in a one-month timeframe working on his or her senior project.

“It’s been a great honor working with such high caliber students,” Wagner said. “I am so proud. The entire class created really good designs. So many were so good, but Ryan’s stood out.”

Wagner explained that he selects one or two senior projects each year to submit to national contests for the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and SACHE. In three of the last four years Trine students have won national awards from AIChE and SACHE. Trine subsidized the cost of the trip so that all senior chemical engineering students could travel to the AIChE’s national conference in Salt Lake City.

“Not only is it important for students to see the work of other top students from around the country,” Wagner said. “It’s also vital for them to network with others in the industry.”

“A Trine University student has, once again, demonstrated the exceptional quality of education offered here,” said Dr. David Finley, vice president for academic affairs at Trine.