2011 AIChE Annual Student Conference

The 2011 AIChE Annual Student Conference will be hosted by the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis and Iowa State University. Registration is OPEN! Students from across the world and more than 100 schools come together to celebrate the Chemical Engineering profession. The event consists of four days of education, career information and inspiration, social events, competitions, and fun. Students also network with YP (young professional) members, AIChE academic and industry leaders from multiple engineering disciplines. I sat down with June Lee to learn a few fun facts about the student conference and its history. Here's my interview: John: How many people come to AIChE's Student Conference? June: The number of student attendees has grown exponentially since ScaleUp, an initiative to facilitate the relationship between undergraduate students, industry, and AIChE. Last year we had close to 1,300 students registered for the meeting. John: How many schools are usually represented? June: Roughly 145 schools John: How do you decide who hosts the student conference? June: The Annual Student Conference hosts change from year to year depending on the conference location. The SCC (Student Chapters Committee) invites schools in the general area to become hosts, usually 1 to 2 schools depending on volunteer availabilities and proximity. John: Are there any special events (other than Chem-E-Car)? June: We have a weekend packed with education, information sessions, networking opportunities, and fun events for students. Some of the more popular events are: Graduate School Fair, Conference Bash, Networking Brunch, and Student Awards Ceremony. There are also other competitions where students can earn national honors, such as the Poster and Paper competitions. John: How many years the conference has been around (and the same for Chem-E-Car)? June: The first Chem-E-Car competition was held at the 1999 Annual Meeting in Dallas. The Annual Student Conference has been running every year for over 30 years. John: What have you been doing differently with the conference over the past few years? June: Recognizing that today's students want more than just a weekend to "hang-out", we are constantly looking to add more value and content to our student conference. Over the past couple of years, we have been working with our professional volunteers on more ways to integrate the Annual Meeting (for professionals) with the Student Conference. We always welcome suggestions from students on how to improve the conference. Registration is now OPEN. Poster Submission is OPEN until September 9, 2011. Interested in Chem-E-Car? You can learn more here.

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