|
|
LAWRENCE -- A graduate from the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Kansas has kept a winning streak alive at a prestigious national engineering design competition.
MaeLuen Kuo, who is from Lenexa and graduated from KU in May 2002 with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering, took second place in the 2002 American Institute of Chemical Engineers' student design competition.
The honor adds to KU students' string of successes in this national contest. Since 1980, KU's chemical engineering students have won 16 awards in the AIChE design competition: seven first-place awards, six second-place awards, two third-place awards and one honorable mention. KU students have won more awards in this event than students from any other university.
Kuo, who is a process engineer for ExxonMobil in Houston, was thrilled with the announcement of her second-place finish.
"This was a huge surprise for me," Kuo said. "I'm really honored."
The title of Kuo's project was "Reactor Design for Polyether Synthesis." The project was completed as part of the Chemical Engineering Design II course taught by Colin S. "Chip" Howat III, associate professor of chemical and petroleum engineering at KU.
"MaeLuen is a terrific engineer and her success on this problem confirms it," said Howat, who extended his congratulations to Kuo. "I was honored to have her in my classroom. KU students earning these national awards -- while an individual, well-deserved honor -- reflect on the merit of the entire class. KU chemical engineers are superb!"
Kuo said that during a one-month period she spent about 120 hours on the project outside of class.
"I actually wasn't real confident with my solution when I completed the project because I hadn't been able to figure out how to do it the way that I thought would be right," Kuo said. "So I just went with the only solution I could come up with that worked. I guess I did better than I thought."
Bala Subramaniam, Dan F. Servey distinguished professor of chemical and petroleum engineering and chair of the department, was pleased with the news.
"Congratulations to MaeLuen," he said. "Our department is proud of this continuing tradition."
-30-