the sides of the house, and at-

tached boards on the front

patio. On October 29th, mem-

bers of AIChE helped run a

mummy wrap at MSUs annual

Halloween carnival. Children

from the community had the

opportunity to be wrapped as

mummies or wrap one of the

volunteering members. In the

spring semester, AIChE spon-

sored a Girl Scout Merit Badge

day and a similar event for mid-

dle school girls to learn about

chemical engineering.

Throughout the year, the

American Institute of Chemical

Engineers members participate

in outreach events and service

projects to help the community.

Since last summer, AIChE has

volunteered at local schools,

during summer programs, at the

Palmer Home for Children

Thrift Store, and with Habitat

for Humanity. AIChE has also

participated in MSU-sponsored

annual community events such

as the Halloween Carnival and

the BIG EVENT.

Each summer, AIChE con-

ducts outreach activities despite

the reduced number of AIChE

members on campous. Last

summer, AIChE held a LEGO

robotics project and provided

lunch for 24 students and 12

counselors from Westpoint

High School’s Upward Bound

summer program. Our chap-

ter also held an activity for

camp Jigsaw (a summer camp

for high school and college

students on the autism spec-

trum). Campers learned

how to build and program

LEGO NXT robots.

On Saturday, September

14th and 28th, members of

AIChE dedicated their time

to help Palmer Children’s

Home. From nine to noon,

over fifty students arrived at

the thrift store and helped

hang, price, and shelve a large

volume of used clothes. Af-

terwards, AIChE went to

Bulldog Lanes for Lunch n’

Bowl. Also on September

28th, AIChE volunteered for

Habitat for Humanity, helping

to build a home in Starkville

on Beattie Street. Members

worked on the roof, painted

Service Projects

I N S I D E

T H I S I S S U E :

Student Highlight:

Warren Hem

2

Alumni Highlight:

Bonnie and Jim

Chapman

2

Faculty Highlight:

Dr. Neeraj Rai

3

Student Highlight:

Kelsey LeSaicherre

3

Future Events 4

D A V E C . S W A L M S C H O O L

O F C H E M I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G

S E P T E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 1 4 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

S P E C I A L

P O I N T S O F

I N T E R E S T :

Service Projects

Faculty, Student,

and Alumni

Highlights

AIChE General

News

Future Activities

By: Rachel Carlton

After several years’ absence, the AIChE newsletter is back and better than ever!

The 2013-14 Academic Year was an eventful year for the Swalm School of Chemical Engineering and the MSU AIChE student chapter.

In the fall semester, we learned that our student chapter had received the 13th consecutive Outstanding Student Chapter award (one

of sixteen chapters chosen among almost 200 active chapters around the world). The spring 2014 semester brought change in the

School as Dr. Jason Keith, our Director, stepped into a new role as Interim Dean for the Bagley College of Engineering and Dr. Bill

Elmore, our Faculty Advisor, assumed responsibilities as the Interim Director for the School of Chemical Engineering. Our chapter

attendance at the fall AIChE Annual Student conference in San Francisco and spring Southern Regional Conference in Puerto Rico were

outstanding opportunities to strengthen friendships and network among chemical engineering students from around the country and

even from around the world with attendance by some international AIChE student chapters. Our chapter continues our strong em-

phasis on K-12 outreach and community service. In this edition of the newsletter, we highlight several areas of interest both within

AIChE and the School of Chemical Engineering.

We invite your feedback and contributions for future editions.

General News

Warren Hem

From Long

Beach, Mississip-

pi, Warren Hem

grew up an LSU

fan. His dream

was to one day

become a tiger.

However, that

all changed

when he took a

trip to visit a few friends in Starkville.

Surrounded by a friendly environment

and a nice campus, he fell in love with

Mississippi State. His passion for prob-

lem-solving and mathematics led him

to the engineering field. Having a good

Chemistry and AP Chemistry teacher,

he found himself in the field of chemi-

cal engineering.

In the beginning, he wavered back

and forth between mechanical and

chemical engineering. Surprisingly, he

did not make his final decision based

purely on academic reasons. Instead, the

American Institute of Chemical Engi-

neers (AIChE) “is a big reason why [he]

stuck with it.” Warren believes that

along with having the best sponsor ever,

AIChE is a great way to make good

friends and to network. Some of his

favorite AIChE events include visiting

the Mall of America during a conference

to Minneapolis and painting the basket-

ball court at Jones Park. Overall, his

decision to become a chemical engineer

has not been regretted.

Since coming to Mississippi State,

Warren’s life has been very eventful. In

his free time, he loves to play basketball,

flag football, and tennis among many

others. Recently, Warren won the title

of Men’s Intramural Ping Pong Doubles

Champions with his partner Judson

Gordy and the title of Men’s Intramural

Tennis Doubles Champions with Corey

Fry.

On the contrary, his enthusiasm is

not just limited to outside the class-

room. Because his first “real” chemical

engineering course was a gigantic puzzle,

Warren thoroughly enjoyed his Mass and

Energy class. In addition, he enjoyed his

time co-oping with Weyerhaeuser in Co-

lumbus. During his final co-op term, the

percent of solids in a lime mud storage tank

was filling up faster than the readings pre-

dicted. With the help of an experienced

engineer, Warren developed a better way

to calculate the percent solid. Throughout

his time with Weyerhaeuser, he gained a

sense of responsibility and worked with

company employees from other mills.

After obtaining his degree, Warren plans

to return to the industry side of chemical

engineering. Eventually, he would like to

earn a Master’s in Business Administration

and work his way up into a manager posi-

tion. Though he has not graduated yet, he

has a little advice for the underclassmen:

“stay organized.” He suggests that the hour

or two between classes could be used to

complete a little homework. Most im-

portantly, Warren believes that AIChE

should not be ignored. His final words of

wisdom: “If you are not involved, get in-

volved.”

The Chapmans

Bonnie and Jim Chapman are very active

alumni and are wonderful assets to Mississip-

pi State and the Swalm School of Chemical

Engineering. They have been active members

of the Chemical Engineering Advisory Board

for the past ten years. As Mrs. Chapman indi-

cated, they have “loved seeing the program

grow and develop into the outstanding

Chemical Engineering school it is today.”

Through interaction with the administration,

faculty, and students of the department, they

have offered feedback and guidance for the

future of the program.

The Chapmans feel blessed to have had

the opportunity to attend “one of the best

Chemical Engineering schools in the south-

east, if not in the nation”. They realized the

school excels because someone before them

donated their time, talents, and resources to

support the program. Now, they are return-

ing the favor. They encourage students to

remember to “give back so that others

may have the blessings you received”.

Mrs. Chapman enjoys helping to improve

things that were so important to her col-

lege experience. Likewise, Mr. Chapman

promotes Mississippi State as a leading

university for engineering at every oppor-

tunity. He always enjoys working with

MSU students and seeing them excel.

“This,” he says, “emphasizes that State

has quality engineers in the workplace”.

As the University grows, they are

amazed at the facilities the students now

have. The most notable example for the

chemical engineering program was the

move from Ethridge—the former chemi-

cal engineering building just behind Car-

penter to the classic architecture of the

Swalm School of Chemical Engineering so

prominently placed as a “bookend” to Lee

Hall on the historic drill field. According to

Mrs. Chapman, “we had to unplug the

window AC units to hear the professor in

Ethridge”. Although many things have

changed since their time at State, the uni-

versity still echoes its humble beginnings.

“State still has that ‘People’s University’

feel, where everyone is welcome,” says Mr.

Chapman. According to Mrs. Chapman,

“Mississippi State is a place that becomes a

piece of your heart that you will never for-

get.” Both are proud of the education and

opportunities that Mississippi State gave

them.

After many years living all over the

south, the Chapmans returned to Mississip-

pi and currently reside in Madison. Mrs.

Chapman currently works for Ergon, Inc. in

the Refining Planning and Economics group

and Mr. Chapman currently works for Albe-

marle Corporation as a Key Account Man-

ager in Refining Catalyst. The couple has

two children, James and Audrey.

By: Danielle Winans

By: Julia Matson

P A G E 2

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

Dr. Neeraj Rai obtained his under-

graduate degree at Karnataka Regional

Engineering College (now known as

National Institute of Technology, Karna-

taka [NITK]) under Mangalore Universi-

ty in 2000, and obtained his Doctorate

from the University of Minnesota in

2009. His research interests include

Advanced Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Biomass

Transformation, and Algorithm and

Force Field Development.

For those who may not know, NITK

is located on the Southwestern coast of

India and boasts a pristine beach as part

of its campus. The hot summer months

in Starkville are reminiscent of NITK

days with the exception of its proximity

to the beach. Dr. Rai spent his under-

graduate years in Mangalore and there-

after found himself in a somewhat alien

environment when he attended the

University of Minnesota. This was not

necessarily unwelcome, as it provided

Dr. Rai with the opportunity to experi-

ence snow.

Dr. Rai has a fundamental concern

for the preservation of natural re-

sources through recycling and process

redesign of existing technologies in

order to improve energy efficiency and

yield. A key area of his interest is nu-

clear waste reprocessing in order to

recover useable fuel. Dr. Rai cites

France's spent fuel reprocessing initia-

tive as an example by which U.S. nucle-

ar waste may be minimized and recog-

nizes the merits of public education in

such areas. Dr. Rai sees the need for

public enlightenment in this area of

debate as it relates to nuclear energy

in that fear should not be the govern-

ing factor when the future of mankind

is involved.

In relation to biomass processing

for the produc-

tion of liquid

fuels, Dr. Rai

focuses on the

design of new

catalysts for

biomass pro-

cessing. The

majority of the

present cata-

lysts were de-

veloped for use in the petrochemical

industry for the processing of tradi-

tional hydrocarbon chemicals. Catalyst

design for the processing of biomass

derived fuels could lead to reduction in

production costs for lignocellulosic

fuels and chemicals, thereby providing

a competitively priced alternative to

traditional fossil fuels. With this ad-

vantage, energy independence from

foreign nations could more easily be

achieved, thereby lessening interna-

tional tensions for resources.

her co-op terms, she learned about

process units and controls, saw the

business side of engineering, and devel-

oped professionalism in the workforce.

She had the opportunity to work

throughout the country ranging from

Ohio to Louisiana. Her co-op experi-

ence allowed her to see the relevance

and applications of her coursework,

proving that chemical engineering is

the right path for her. Since Kelsey

worked with distillation columns dur-

ing her co-op and she saw the applica-

tions of her separations class in the

industry, separations with Dr. R be-

came her favorite class. Kelsey also

interned with ExxonMobil in Fairfax,

Virginia this past summer. Her business

-oriented internship showed her an-

other career option available for chem-

ical engineers. In fact, she recently ac-

cepted a full time job with ExxonMobil

completing work similar to her intern-

ship.

Outside of the classroom, Kelsey is

involved in various activities. She be-

came active in AIChE during her first

semester. Last year, as vice president

of the club, Kelsey helped ensure that

events ran smoothly. Because volun-

teering is one of Kelsey’s passions, one

of her favorite parts of AIChE is the

service events. She enjoys the oppor-

tunity to make new friends while serv-

ing others. Her favorite service events

involved sparking young people’s inter-

est in engineering. Kelsey is also a

Presidential Endowed Scholar at Mis-

sissippi State. Through this scholarship,

Kelsey has the opportunity to interact

with leaders from Mississippi and thank

them for their support of the school.

Since her freshman year, Kelsey has

been a part of the Catholic Student

Association at St. Joseph's. Recently,

she started cooking dinner for stu-

dents at the Tuesday night dinner. She

is also a member of the Tau Beta Pi

Engineering Honors Fraternity, which

is a service oriented group for juniors

and seniors. Kelsey says that Tau Beta

Pi has offered her the opportunity to

interact with engineers of other disci-

plines. Away from campus, she enjoys

traveling to away football and baseball

games. Kelsey’s extensive involvement

is a contributing factor to her great

college experience.

Five years ago,

Mississippi State

became Kelsey’s

choice university

because of the

quality engineering

program and schol-

arships. Today, she

still feels that coming here was a great

choice. “I feel like the people here

have made it home,” Kelsey responds

when asked why Mississippi State and

the Swalm School were a great deci-

sion. Kelsey decided to study chemical

engineering because of her aptitude for

chemistry and math and because her

dad works for Shell, she is familiar with

the career path. Since she is originally

from Ponchatoula, Louisiana, coming

here led to a friendly family rivalry at

home including a parking spot near a

tree labeled “Mississippi State Fans

Only”.

During her time at Mississippi State,

Kelsey completed three co-op terms

with Marathon Petroleum. Through

Kelsey LeSaicherre

Dr. Neeraj Rai By: John Blakely

By: Elizabeth Stafford

new service projects. One of the projects

in the planning stage is a cookout fundrais-

er in the drill field. All proceeds from the

cookout will go to the St. Jude Hospital.

AIChE is also planning projects with

Starkville Parks and Recreations and the

Boys and Girls Scouts. Dates for the pro-

jects are not yet set, but AIChE is definite-

ly looking forward to helping the Starkville

community more in the coming year.

Each year, AICHE chemical engineering

student members have the opportunity to

earn service points to attend conferences

the following year. Recent venues have

included Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, Phila-

delphia, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and

Cincinnati. Costs for attending the con-

In the coming months, AIChE is gearing

up for several new projects and events.

Not only will AICHE members continue

to participate in service projects with the

Palmer Children’s Home Thrift Store and

Habitat for Humanity, they will have few

new projects. Coming up in the spring is

Engineering Week, or E-Week, in which

AIChE members will compete with mem-

bers of other engineering disciplines fun

contests. With previous success in mind,

AICHE hopes to claim another victory.

Last but not least, members of AIChE look

forward to this year’s annual conference.

AIChE will continue to work with the

Palmer Home Thrift Store and Habitat for

Humanity, as well as begin working on

ference fluctuate depending upon availabil-

ity of funds, travel costs, etc. but they gen-

erally run $200-$300 (supplemented by

support from AIChE). The conferences

for the 2014-2015 academic year include

the national conference in Atlanta, Geor-

gia during the fall of 2014 and the regional

conference at the University of South

Florida in Tampa during the spring of

2015. At conferences, members get to

interact with CHE students from around

the country and around the world. Ca-

reer workshops, research poster and pa-

per competitions, the AICHE car competi-

tion, and more are just a sample of things

going on—plus the chance to enjoy great

cities and venues.

In the Future

Meet Our Newsletter Staff

By: Rachel Carlton

John Blakely Rachel Carlton Julia Matson Elizabeth Stafford Danielle Winans

Interested in joining? Contact Elizabeth Stafford at ens97@msstate.edu

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