Congratulations to the 2024 Symposium Award Winners!
| Geoffrey D. Parfitt Memorial Award: | Cheick Dosso |
| Symposium Awards: | Megan Walsh and Georgia Stinchfield |
| Honorable Mentions: | Camila Cue and Eric Giuffrida |
| First-years Impression Award: | Carolina Colombo Tedesco |
| Gary Powers Poster Award: | Maryam Ali |
Geoffrey D. Parfitt Memorial Award
Dr. Parfitt had been a Professor of Chemical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University since 1980. He was internationally known for his contributions to the fields of colloid and surface science and powder technology. He was the author or co-author of over 100 publications including 11 books (editor of 8), was a chairman of six conferences, and was a member of five editorial boards.
On July 7, 1985, Dr. Geoffrey D. Parfitt unexpectedly passed away. To honor his memory, ChEGSA established the Geoffrey D. Parfitt Memorial Award For Excellence in Oral Presentation. This was an appropriate category for an award in Dr. Parfitt’s memory because he always emphasized the importance of good oral communication. The competition for this award is open to all students presenting at the symposium. It will be awarded to the student with the highest presentation score. The winner’s name will be engraved on a plaque located in the ChEGSA lounge. The plaque was made possible by the American Chemical Society’s Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry. The student will also receive a certificate of recognition and a cash award. The award was made possible by an endowment established by the following organizations:
- Alcan International, Limited
- Alcoa Corporation
- Exxon Research and Engineering Company
- Glidden Coatings and Resins
- International Fine Particles Research Institute
- Monsanto Industrial Chemicals Company
- PPG
Gary Powers Poster Award
Dr. Powers was a leading researcher in process systems engineering, specifically in the area of process risk assessment and in process synthesis. He co-authored the text Process Synthesis, the first text in this area. Gary’s seminal research contributions to safety analysis covered more than three decades. He developed new methods for efficiently generating detailed fault trees for quantitative risk assessment. He applied these methods in industry with great success, and in 1976 he founded the company Design Sciences, Inc. Gary developed theories and models for synthesis and evaluation of high integrity operating procedures. He pioneered novel approaches for the verification of real-time control systems combining chemical engineering models with software engineering techniques. His enthusiasm in the academic setting was appreciated by his students, and he was often awarded the “Kun Li Award for Excellence in Education” by graduating seniors. On July 23, 2007, Gary Powers passed away. This award is intended to continue Professor Powers’s strong support of education. The Gary Powers Poster Award will be awarded to the student with the highest poster presentation score.