www.acsprf.org

Since its inception in 1995, the American Chemical Society Scholars Program has awarded over 2395 college scholarships to minority students pursuing degrees and careers in the chemical sciences. The PRF has supported the ACS Scholars Program since 2007 with grants of $50,000 per academic year.  During the 2010-2011 academic year the PRF funds were assigned to students conducting undergraduate research in the areas of petroleum, alternative energy or alternative fuels. During this time the PRF funded 11 deserving undergraduates in the ACS Scholars Program. The PRF grant helps these students progress toward their bachelor’s degrees and beyond.

The following eleven Scholars who benefitted from the PRF grant during academic year 2010-2011 either successfully completed a BS program or are currently in good standing and renewed in the ACS Scholars Program:

Enrique Cintron, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chemical Engineering, Graduated May 2011:  Undergraduate research project to characterize the oxidative desulfurization of JP-8 jet fuel.

Trishelle Copeland-Johnson, University of South Florida, Chemical Engineering, Senior: Research in Developing the Path Towards Realizing the Full Potential of II-VI Based Photovoltaic Materials.

Jose Delgado, University of Texas at Austin, Chemical Engineering, Senior: Participated in an internship with ExxonMobil Research and Engineering in Fairfax, VA in the Process Design Section; worked on two tools for the company - calculating time required for heating and cooling reactors; calculating restriction orifices based on the systems.

Robert Golsby, University of Cincinnati, Chemical Engineering, Junior: Conducting research on alternative energy in the Turbo-machinery Lab; project deals with reverse engineering G.E. 1.5KW wind turbines and making them more efficient.

Troy Gzik, Oregon State University, Chemical Engineering, Senior:  Research on developing new cathode materials for microbial fuel cells; work included design, construction, testing, and maintenance of the microbial fuel cells.

Tyler Hammock, Colorado School of Mines, Chemical Engineering, Senior: Research intern at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado - research in the hydrogen program with hopes to determine a suitable hydrogen production system using pyrolysis oils as the feedstock.  

Anthony Lucio, Saginaw Valley State University, Chemistry, Senior: undergraduate research project aimed at producing an alternative fuel from waste crude glycerin; successfully produced an emulsified fuel blend of No. 2 fuel oil in crude glycerin that burned in a waste oil furnace.  

Jeremy Morales-Madrigal, University of California San Diego, Chemical Engineering, Junior: Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, Center on Polymer Interfaces and Macromolecular Assemblies (CPIMA), Stanford University; tested a mathematical prediction on metal catalysts for the production of pure hydrogen gas from an acidic solution; part of a greater focus to convert waste, mainly CO2, into fuels such as CH4, H2, and O2.  

Joshua Ramos, University of California San Diego, Chemical Engineering, Senior: Currently participating in a research project in biodiesel with the association BAAN (Biofuels Action and Awareness Network) at UCSD - research to produce biodiesel from various waste sources (e.g. coffee grounds, kelp oil, etc.) - how to deal with waste products from the biodiesel production process, and how to turn them into additional biodiesel.  

Evan Suazo, Colorado School of Mines, Chemical Engineering, Graduated May 2011: Researched complex fluid rheology at the Colorado School of Mines; and interned with Hazen Research, Inc. researching anaerobic bacteria for fuel sources.