Undergraduate Student Poster Competition

Undergraduate Student Poster Competition

Over 300 AIChE student members present posters on their findings in sustainability, catalysis and reaction engineering, computing and process control, environmental aspects of chemical engineering, and food, pharmaceutical, bioengineering, fuels, petrochemicals, energy, materials, separations, among other topics.

Who should participate?

  • This poster session is exclusively for undergraduate students to present results from projects they have carried out as undergraduate researchers at their university or during internships/co-ops.

Why should you participate?

  • If you are interested in pursuing graduate school in chemical engineering, the poster session is a great opportunity to meet faculty from a large variety of chemical engineering graduate programs from around the country as they tour (and potentially judge) the posters.
  • Likewise, if you are looking for an industrial job, this is also a great addition to your resume, demonstrating that you have been active beyond the classroom.

What size should your poster be?

  • The poster boards that we are providing are 30″ x 40″ in order to fit our easels. Please keep posters to this size.

Submitting your abstract

  • The call for abstract submissions will be available until March 25 and can be accessed below.
  • Please discuss the abstract submission with your advisor(s) well before the deadline! Ensure that your advisor/supervisor/co-authors all sign off on your abstract before submission; all submitted abstracts become public information, so it is your responsibility to ensure there are no confidentiality issues.
  • The suggested length of the abstract is 200 – 400 words.
  • As a part of the submission process, you will be asked to first pick a topic area from the following list of available topical research areas: 1) General, 2) Catalysis and Reaction Engineering, 3) Food, Pharmaceutical, and Biotechnology, 4) Separations, 5) Environmental, 6) Education, 7) Fuels, Petrochemicals, and Energy, 8) Computing and Process Control, and 9) Materials Engineering and Sciences.
  • Consult your advisor/supervisor/co-author if you are unsure which topical area is best for your poster. For topic selection, focus on the nature of the work done, not on pie-in-the-sky applications. For example, fundamental research into new polymeric materials should be submitted to the “Materials” topical area, even if the ultimate applications may be for novel drink bottles, which may suggest “Food.” If no topical area seems appropriate for capturing a substantial portion of your work, you may submit it to the “General” topic area as a last resort.

Competition Rules

  • Competing Students should be undergraduates and must have their abstracts submitted before the March 25 deadline
  • Students will be evaluated on the following:
    • Poster Design
    • Verbal Presentation Delivery
    • Motivation for Research
    • Response to questions

Key Dates

    • March 25
      • Abstracts will be due for submission
      • Confirmation of your submission will occur via an email from grpierce@iastate.edu
    • April 1
      • Students will be notified by email of their position by grpierce@iastate.edu
      • Positions will additionally be posted to the conference website
    • April 9th, (1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)
      • Students will arrive 5-10 minutes before the poster session to identify their poster location
      • Students will present to a team of judges.
      • Winners will be announced at the Awards banquet