November 25, 2025
Trine University chemical engineering graduate Parker Reichhart has earned national recognition, receiving two awards in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Annual Student Design Competition. The awards were presented during the 2025 Annual Student Conference, held Nov. 1–4 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Reichhart’s success continues Trine’s strong record of national excellence in chemical engineering design competitions.
The design awards were just part of an exceptionally successful weekend for Trine University’s McKetta Department of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, which brought 11 students to the conference.
2025 graduate wins 2 national awards
The 2025 AIChE competition challenged undergraduate students to address a major modern energy challenge: developing a technical design for producing blue hydrogen. Blue hydrogen is a low-carbon fuel produced from natural gas, with carbon dioxide captured and permanently stored underground rather than released into the atmosphere.
Students were tasked with designing a process capable of converting natural gas into 250 million standard cubic feet per day of hydrogen while sequestering more than 90% of the generated CO₂.
Reichhart earned two national awards for his exceptional work:
"Receiving national recognition for this design project is incredibly rewarding," Reichhart said. "This project was a culmination of four years of in-class learning, labs and hands-on experience, and it feels extremely validating to see that work acknowledged on such a large scale.”
Reichhart’s design achieved approximately 94% CO₂ capture and incorporated significant heat integration to reduce utility costs and increase process efficiency. His safety analysis included an extensive hazard evaluation and explosion analysis, with additional safeguards to mitigate impact and risk.
“Producing blue hydrogen required a balance of energy efficiency, high hydrogen yield, and effective carbon dioxide capture,” added Reichhart, who recently accepted a full-time position as a quality engineer with Michelin. “This project strengthened my ability to think like a real engineer, which will directly support my career at Michelin.”
“I couldn’t be more-proud of Parker. It takes a lot of talent to synthesize the multiple dimensions involved in AIChE competition cases. To lead the nation in Inherent Safety and take home second place overall is really a great recognition of the strength of our curriculum," noted Jacob R. Borden, Ph.D, AIChE student chapter advisor and senior design professor.
Trine senior recognized for academic and chapter leadership
Current chemical engineering senior Noah Glassman was honored with a $1,000 Donald F. & Mildred Topp Othmer Scholarship, a highly selective award granted to only 15 AIChE student members annually, based on academic excellence and strong contributions to student chapters.
“When I learned I had received the Othmer Scholarship, I felt both excited and deeply honored. It meant a great deal to be recognized not only within the Trine University chapter but also among student leaders from chapters across the country,” said Glassman.
Throughout his time at Trine, Glassman has served as AIChE Student Government representative, vice president and president. He has been an active member of Trine’s nationally competitive Jeopardy, ChemEsports, and ChemE Car teams. During his tenure, the chapter enhanced its leadership structure by distributing responsibilities across the executive board.
“This shift not only improved our organization and efficiency but also allowed us to host more meetings, expand our activities, and build a much more connected and engaged chapter community,” said Glassman, who also helped lead the chapter to its first Outstanding Student Chapter Award in 2024.
"Noah really set a new bar for AIChE presidents to reach. Through his leadership, the chapter fielded more student events than prior years, he was a key contributor on the ChemE car team at AIChE regional and national competitions, and all the while excelled in the classroom. As vice president, he increased our external fundraising by an order of magnitude from prior years," said Borden.
Glassman, set to graduate in May, has accepted a full-time position as a water engineer with Strand Associates in Columbus, Indiana. He credits AIChE for providing transformative academic, professional and personal experiences.
“These experiences strengthened my ability to design and run experiments, troubleshoot under pressure, and work effectively with a team on tight timelines,” Glassman noted. “Through ChemE Car, I also gained important safety experience, including preparing Job Safety Analyses (JSAs) and Management of Change (MOC) documents. Attending conferences in cities like Boston and San Diego—places I had never visited—also helped me grow and create unforgettable memories with friends.”
Trine chemical engineering demonstrates depth of talent
Recent graduate Alyssa Keptner earned second place in the Undergraduate Research Technical Presentation competition for her work, “Media Optimization for Biofuels from Cyclotella cryptica,” during her time as a student.
Junior Megan Conner received the Donald F. Othmer Second Year Student Academic Excellence Award, awarded to the top academic student in each chapter who is actively involved within the chapter.
For his exceptional academic performance, chemical engineering enthusiasm, and active participation in both undergraduate research and ChemE Jeopardy, current sophomore Sudeep Iyer was awarded the First Year Student Recognition Award.
Several additional Trine students showcased their talents across competitions and presentations. Juniors Conner and Lauren Swiggum presented their ongoing undergraduate research during the undergraduate poster sessions. Students also competed in ChemE Jeopardy, a trivia competition testing knowledge of chemical engineering coursework, and ChemEsports, an optimization and safety skills competition where teams use a Distributed Control System (DCS) to maximize profitability and safety of a simulated chemical process unit.
“The ability to send a significant fraction of our undergraduate chemical engineering students to the AIChE Annual Student Conference is thanks to the combination of dedicated students in both curricular and extra-curricular pursuits as well as financial support from this year’s corporate sponsors, including Michelin, Sekisui Voltek, Shambaugh and Sons, Univertical, and Axalta,” acknowledged Matthew Liberatore, Ph.D., department chair.
Students in Trine University’s Capstone in Sport Management class won their second National Collegiate Sports Sales Championship (NCSSC) showcase event of the fall, then went on to place in the national Super Showcase.
Come to the MTI Center on Thursday, Dec. 4, for Trine University’s ninth annual Research and Design Symposium from 1-3 p.m.
Amanda Malefyt, Ph.D., professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering at Trine University, has been elected to serve as a director within the Education Division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), beginning her four-year term this month.