Congratulations to our final student spotlight of the fall semester, Jacob Ryan! Jacob is a fourth year ChemE expecting to graduate in December 2021. He is an outstanding student in the CBE program, and currently serves as a teaching assistant for Dr. Clay’s CBE 2200 Process Fundamentals class. He is always working hard to learn and understand the material and to help his students in any way he can.
Originally from Westerville, Ohio, Jacob has been a Buckeye his entire life, and true to his Buckeye roots, he is a 4-year member of TBDBITL! Jacob plays the trumpet for our beloved OSU Marching Band, which has allowed him to perform all over the country, including the 2018 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the 2018 Rose Bowl Parade, and at Disneyland! In addition to his involvement with the band, he also expresses his passion for music as a brother of Kappa Kappa Psi music service fraternity. In his free time, Jacob enjoys running, playing music, reading, playing video games with friends, and watching Buckeye football. Congratulations again Jacob, and keep up the great work!
Congratulations to our latest Student Spotlight, Shailaja Mahalingam! Shailaja is a fourth year graduating in December 2021 who always keeps a smiling face in and around the Chem E community. Her positive attitude has served her well in various roles as a mentor and role model within the engineering community at OSU. Within CBE, she is an AIChE Mentor and an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant for separations. Outside of CBE, Shailaja is President of the Engineering Ambassadors program at OSU, a program dedicated to helping prospective engineering students learn more about OSU and the programs available through webinars, student panels, and campus tours.
Aside from her involvement on campus, Shailaja has gained a variety of industry and research experience in her through various internship and co-op positions. The summer after her freshman year, she had the chance to work as a research intern at Air Force Research Labs in Dayton. She then co-oped with ExxonMobil Chemicals in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, during the Spring 2019 and Summer 2020 semesters, and this summer, she will be working as an intern for Procter & Gamble. In addition to her experience in industry, she is also involved with Dr. Fan’s Clean Energy lab studying catalytic decomposition of toxic waste gas. In the future, Shailaja would like to combine her interests in manufacturing and clean energy research to get more involved in making manufacturing cleaner and more energy efficient.
In her free time, Shailaja also enjoys playing the violin, cooking, and exploring the Short North. Congratulations again, Shailaja! AIChE is proud of you and all you’ve accomplished, and we are grateful to have such a great role model in our own mentorship program as well as other programs within OSU engineering. Keep up the great work!
Congratulations to this week’s Student Spotlight, Erin Kelleher! Erin is a 4th year Chem E graduating this coming spring. She was nominated for her outstanding effort and impact as an undergraduate teaching assistant in CBE. Last year, she worked with Dr. Koelling for his CBE 2200 class, and currently works with Dr. Rathman as a TA for his experimental design class. As a TA, Erin demonstrates excellent knowledge of the material and is always keeps a positive and encouraging attitude when helping students.
Aside from her role as a TA, Erin is very involved in different engineering organizations around campus. Within CBE, she is an active member of our OSU ChemE Car team, where she currently serves as the Team Lead for the Fuel Cell Car, and previously worked on the team that won the AIChE Regional Competition in 2019. After winning regionals that spring, Erin had the chance to travel to Orlando, Florida with the team to compete in the AIChE National Competition last fall. Currently, Erin is getting the fuel cell car team ready for the Regional Competition that will be hosted by Ohio State this spring!
Outside of CBE, Erin also serves as the Director of Fundraising for Phi Sigma Rho, a sorority for women in engineering at OSU. In her free time, Erin enjoys doing anything outside, like running, soccer, and watching OSU football. In addition to her roles around campus, Erin previously worked for Synergy Flavors, Inc. this past summer as an intern in their Research and Development team. After her enjoying her internship, she hopes to pursue a career in product development or R&D. Congratulations again Erin, and best of luck with your senior year!
Congratulations to our latest Student Spotlight, Jerrod Shackelford! Jerrod is a third year pursuing a dual degree in Chemical Engineering and Jazz Composition with a minor in business and is planning to graduate in Spring 2023. In addition to his hefty academic schedule, Jerrod is treasurer of Jazz Club, a member of the Integrated Business and Engineering program, and a Sesquicentennial Scholar!
In his free time, Jerrod enjoys practicing his music and arranging music for jazz orchestras. He has written a handful of arrangements for the Famous Jazz Orchestra led by Vaugh Weister. Though the orchestra is not currently performing due to COVID-19, they typically play every Monday night, and in addition to writing music for them, Jerrod has also sat in with the band and sung for them a few times as well.
In the future, Jerrod hopes to use his chemical engineering degree to contribute to renewable energy, healthcare, or anything nonprofit. Congratulations again, Jerrod! AIChE is proud to see our students embrace their passions outside of chemical engineering, and it’s amazing to hear about all that you do within engineering and out. Keep up the great work, and we hope this nomination helps your week end on a good “note!”
Congratulations to this week’s student spotlight, Maria Belicak. Maria is a fourth year Chem E intending to graduate in December 2021. She is a part of AIChE’s mentorship committee, and frequently volunteers around Columbus. In her free time, Maria enjoys being outside by running, biking, and exploring whatever city she is in. If she’s hanging out at home, she enjoys spending time playing the piano or ukulele.
During her time at OSU, Maria has gained extensive experience with both internships and undergraduate research. She has interned for two terms with Marathon Petroleum: one in Findlay, Ohio with their pipeline environmental group, and one in Detroit, Michigan, as a technical services engineering intern. Maria has also been a part of Dr. Palmer’s research lab, where she studies the purification and surface coating of earthworm hemoglobin protein. With this research, her team is investigating the production optimization and stability/effectiveness of the product to be used as a blood transfusion material to substitute human blood donations. Maria says that her experience in the lab is the most important thing she has done outside of class and feels that it provided a great opportunity for both individual and group-based project experience. Maria would also like to add and thank you to Dr. Palmer’s group “for being great mentors—especially Chintan Savla!”
In the future, Maria hopes to explore opportunities in the oil and gas or biotech/pharma industries based on her experience from internships and research, but is open to any opportunities with an engaging work environment, teamwork, and problem solving. Congratulations again Maria and keep up the great work!
Congratulations to our Student Spotlight this week, Calli Krebs! Calli is a senior ChemE planning to graduate in May 2020. Calli has had multiple diverse work experiences, starting with a process engineering co-op on the chemicals manufacturing side of ExxonMobil in Spring 2019 in Baton Rouge, LA. Calli also worked in a process development role at Illumina, a biotechnology company focused on genetics-based solutions to medicine, in Summer 2020. Around campus, Calli has been heavily involved in AIChE, serving currently as its Secretary and previously as its Freshman Outreach Chair and Sophomore Class Representative. She is further involved in ChemE Car and is a TA in the College of Engineering. She has also conducted research in Dr. Ozkan’s Research Group for Heterogeneous Catalysis on fuel cell projects, and enjoys doing programming projects both in competition scenarios such as HackOHI/O and for her personal enjoyment. Calli is always an energetic presence in CBEC and with her friends, and she’s always willing to give guidance when her peers ask her for help! In her free time, Calli likes to read, cook, and do yoga, and when she gets the chance, snowboard and travel!
Calli also usually writes these Student Spotlights, but since she told us that she received one for herself, we figured we’d surprise her by posting one for her this time–thank you for always writing Spotlights and doing all that you do for us, Calli!
