The 46th Annual ChEGSA Symposium will be held on September 19th-20th, 2024.
As one of the first student-organized research symposia, the Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Association (ChEGSA) annual symposium at Carnegie Mellon University has grown to be one of the largest and most successful among major universities. It started in 1979 with the goal of showcasing the work of our graduate researchers, promoting intra-departmental research collaborations, and connecting our students to industry. This two-day event features graduate research presentations, a poster session, and corporate-sponsored keynote addresses given by distinguished chemical engineers from academic, government, or industrial institutions.
Schedule and Proceedings2024 Keynote Addresses
Industrial Keynote Address
September 19, 1:30-2:45 PM
Celia N. Cruz, Ph.D.
VP of Small Molecule Development and Commercialization, Eli Lilly and Co.
Innovation in the Development of Medicines: A Purpose
With the fast progress in medicine discovery platforms and diverse chemistry and biological modalities, chemical engineers have an unprecedented opportunity to contribute to curing diseases and improving health. A career in drug development and manufacturing focuses not only on technical solutions but also on the broader societal and environmental impacts of innovation. As the new generation of engineers places bets on a career path, it is critical to identify areas of greatest future contribution and leadership. This presentation will discuss the technical, regulatory, and organizational enablers to adopt advanced manufacturing in the pharmaceutical industry and the drive to improve on what we do.
Dr. Cruz will share insights into her professional career, highlighting her experiences in both industry and government, and exploring the overarching theme of purpose within the different organizations.
About Dr. Cruz
Dr. Cruz is the VP of Small Molecule Development and Commercialization at Eli Lilly and Co. Her group is comprised of organic and analytical chemists, pharmaceutical scientists, and engineers responsible for process design and development of both drug substance and drug products. She is responsible for enabling small molecule drug development and the technical capabilities that prepare Eli Lilly for the future. Prior to joining Lilly, Celia was the director of the Division of Product Quality Research in the Office of Testing and Research at the FDA. In this role, Celia led regulatory scientists focusing on applied research and development with specific expertise in solid oral dosage forms and the implementation of emerging technologies for advanced manufacturing. At the FDA, she was a member of the Emerging Technologies Program, a Quality by Design Liaison, CDER Nano Working Group leader and a subject matter expert for continuous manufacturing. Prior to joining the FDA in 2010, Celia was a Principal Development Engineer at Merck in West Point, PA. At Merck, Celia led the development and commercialization of multiple solid oral dosage pharmaceutical products and was responsible for the introduction of new processes and capabilities, such as hot melt extrusion and Quality by Design. Dr. Cruz earned her Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in chemical engineering from Brown University (Providence, RI) and Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA), respectively. Celia loves to cook, the outdoors (especially if swimming is involved!), listening to music and spending time with her husband and two teenage daughters.
Academic Keynote Address
September 20, 2:30-3:45 PM
Victor M. Zavala, Ph.D.
Baldovin-DaPra Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Systems Engineering Approaches for Scalable Plastic Waste Management
Plastics are essential materials in modern life, but it is no secret that they generate a wide range of environmental problems. In this talk, we discuss how systems engineering tools can help identify scalable recycling/upcycling strategies for handling plastic waste. Specifically, we show how systems engineering can help integrate molecular simulations, computational catalysis, techno-economic analysis, lifecycle assessment, and supply chain optimization to identify processes (and entire infrastructures) that can convert vast, distributed, and complex plastic waste streams (e.g., post-consumer mixtures and multi-layer films) into value-added products. We also discuss how such integrative frameworks can help design plastic materials/products that are inherently more sustainable and can help design incentives/policies that aim to change consumer and industry behavior. Our discussion will aim to emphasize how “systems thinking” is essential for addressing pressing sustainability problems, as such problems integrate products, technologies, supply chains, and stakeholders at a global scale.
About Dr. Zavala
Dr. Zavala is an alumnus of our Ph.D. program, a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Senior Computational Mathematician at Argonne National Laboratory. He obtained his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City and his Ph.D. in Process Systems Engineering at CMU, working with Prof. Larry Biegler. Since graduation, he has worked at Argonne National Laboratory within the Mathematics and Computer Science Division (first as a postdoc and then as research staff); he joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2015. Among his many accolades, he has received the DOE Early Career Award (2012), NSF CAREER Award (2018), the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2019), and Best Paper Awards from the journals Computers & Chemical Engineering (2019) and Mathematical Programming Computation (2022). Dr. Zavala’s current research interests lie in the broad area of computational mathematics. Within Process Systems Engineering, he works in algorithms and applications including energy, materials, and sustainability. For more information, please access his LinkedIn profile (where he shares relatable “unsolicited advice for scientists/ grad students/ young faculty”), his Google Scholar page and lab website.