2020 Undergraduate Student Poster Competition
Over the years, the Undergraduate Student Poster Competition has become one of the highlights of the AIChE Annual Student Conference. With more than 400 students presenting last year and over 100 judges, it is the largest forum for Chemical Engineering undergraduates to present their research activity to the professional community at large. AIChE is pleased to announce that the 2020 Undergraduate Student Poster Competition will take place virtually.
Key Dates
- October 31, 2020 - Deadline to submit an abstract
- November 7, 2020 - Abstract acceptance notifications will be communicated
- November 8, 2020 - Accepted authors will receive email containing iPoster log in information
- November 11, 2020 - Deadline (for accepted author) to publish final poster in iPoster
- November 16, 2020 - Competition Day
Event Details & FAQs
- Who can participate?
- Why should you participate?
- Submitting your abstract
- Abstract acceptance
- What you need to do after submitting your abstract
- What you need to do after your abstract is accepted
- Preparing your virtual poster
- Poster Presentations, Judging, and Awards
- Tips, FAQs, and Contact Information
Who can participate?
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This poster session is exclusively for undergraduate students to present results from projects that they have carried out as undergraduate researchers at their university or during internships/co-ops.
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If you are a first-semester graduate student, you may still present work that you did as an undergraduate student. However, more senior graduate students are expected to participate in the professional meeting. Non-compliant submissions will be rejected.
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You must register for and attend the Annual Student Conference in order to participate; you are expected to virtually accompany your poster during the competition to present your work to judges and other interested people and to answer their questions.
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Please note that the Poster Competition is a different session than the Undergraduate Student Paper Competition, which is an invitation-only session for the winners of Regional Paper Competitions. This is also different from the Undergraduate Research Forums session, for which students can submit abstracts for oral presentations.
Why should you participate?
- If you are interested in pursuing graduate school in chemical engineering, the poster session is a great opportunity to meet faculty from a large variety of chemical engineering graduate programs from around the country as they tour (and potentially judge) the posters.
- Likewise, if you are looking for an industrial job, this is also a great addition to your resume, demonstrating that you have been active beyond the classroom.
Submitting your abstract
- The call for abstract submissions will open on August 17, 2020 and will close on October 31, 2020. We are unable to accept any late abstracts.
- Please discuss abstract submission with your advisor(s) well before the deadline! Make sure that your advisor/supervisor/co-authors all sign off on your abstract before submission; all submitted abstracts become public information, so it is your responsibility to make sure that there are no confidentiality issues.
- The suggested length of the abstract is 200 - 400 words.
- As a part of the submission process, you will be asked to first pick a topic area from the following list of available topical research areas: 1) General, 2) Catalysis and Reaction Engineering, 3) Food, Pharmaceutical, and Biotechnology, 4) Separations, 5) Environmental, 6) Education, 7) Fuels, Petrochemicals, and Energy, 8) Computing and Process Control, and 9) Materials Engineering and Sciences. Note that posters may be moved to a different topic area by the session organizers if deemed appropriate based on the abstract of the work submitted.
- Consult your advisor/supervisor/co-author if you are unsure which topical area is best for your poster. For topic selection, focus on the nature of the work that was done, not on pie-in-the-sky applications. For example, fundamental research into new polymeric materials should be submitted to the “Materials” topical area, even if the ultimate applications may be for novel drink bottles, which may suggest “Food”. Only if no topical area seems particularly appropriate for capturing a substantial portion of your work, you may submit it to the “General” topic area as last resort.
Abstract acceptance
- As in the past, we aim to accept as many poster abstracts for presentation as possible based upon our capacity. We will only accept poster abstracts submitted by qualified presenters before the deadline, but may not be able to accept all poster abstracts submitted by qualified presenters before the deadline. In the event that the number of poster abstracts received exceeds our capacity, acceptance prioritization will be based upon abstract submission date/time.
- Abstract acceptance notifications will be communicated by November 7, 2020.
What you need to do after submitting your abstract:We encourage students to submit abstracts as early as possible and to make plans to attend the Annual Student Conference, and begin preparing their virtual poster prior to receiving formal approval/acceptance.
- In the event that your poster abstract is not accepted for presentation due to capacity constraints, you’ll still get to take advantage of the many opportunities at the Annual Student Conference to network with and learn from your peers, successful chemical engineers, and company and graduate school recruiters, to develop professionally, to enhance your technical expertise, and to demonstrate your ChemE pride.
- Register for the conference. All speakers and contributors are expected to register for the Meeting on a paid basis. AIChE's registration policy is available here. AIChE does not have a grant program that awards funding towards meeting registration or travel expenses. Visit www.aiche.org/asc to register.
- Prepare your poster. Read on for more info.
What you need to do after your abstract is accepted:
- Notify all co-authors of the acceptance.
- Remember to mention your participation in the poster session to the graduate school and company representatives you meet during the Recruitment Fair on Sunday morning so that they can hopefully come see your poster and discuss your work with you. Such interactions can make important differences in the recruitment and admissions process.
Preparing your VIRTUAL poster
AIChE will be using a platform called iPoster to host the 2020 Undergraduate Student Poster Competition. iPosters will be displayed in the virtual poster gallery for the conference. Participants will be able to scroll through your content, click on images to enlarge them, watch and listen to video and audio files - including poster narrations - and explore your links to additional content on other web sites.
Once your abstract is accepted, you will receive an email from iPoster containing the URL for the online editor, as well as your username and password which will be needed to access the editor.
The instructions below will take you through how to set up your virtual poster and the associated chat you will use to communicate with judges and attendees during the competition.
Your iPoster can include:
- High-resolution images
- Detailed charts and diagrams
- Slide shows
- High definition videos
- Audio files - The combined duration of your audio files must not exceed 5 minutes to ensure that all judges have time to review all of their assigned posters. We recommend having a total of 4-5 minutes of total audio.
- Links to external data sets and other dynamic content
- No limits to content
- Time for a text-based chat during the poster session - Competitors are responsible for properly setting up the text-based chat within iPoster and for being available and answering questions from judges and participants during the entirety of the virtual poster session.
When you log in, you will be taken to the iPoster Editor Site where you will find basic instructions, a list of your iPosters, and a choice of editing templates. Choose a template and begin creating your iPoster. For a guide on how to transfer content from other platforms to iPoster, CLICK HERE.
DEADLINE TO PUBLISH YOUR iPOSTER:
Please note that you must publish the final version of your iPoster by 11:59 PM EST on Wednesday, November 11, 2020. Publishing allows iPoster and the Poster Jury and judges to view the final version of your poster. If you need to make a change after publishing, you don't have to re-publish; simliy click "Save." All changes must by made by 11:59 PM EST on Wednesday, November 11, 2020.
iPOSTER TIPS:
- Design your poster just as you would for a printed version
- Don't forget to add narration to your poster! We recommend 4-5 minutes total. The combined duration of all narrations and audio recordings must not exceed 5 minutes.
- Be sure to schedule a text chat for the entire duration of the poster session, 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific Standard Time on Monday, November 16, 2020.
iPOSTER TECHNICAL SUPPORT:
- For an overview of editing the Templates and a look at how your iPoster will be displayed at the virtual poster session, check out iPoster's Tutorials.
- If you have questions about creating your iPoster, you'll find answers to most of them by visiting the iPoster Quick Guide and FAQ.
- If you'd like a little inspiration, take a look at some Sample Posters.
- You'll also find links to all of the above under the Support Button on the Main Tool Bar of your editing Template.
- If you have trouble accessing the iPoster Editor Site, please contact the iPoster Support Desk. When you communicate with Support, please use the Conference Code AIChE2020
To find out more about how iPoster handles the information they receive from you and about you, please visit their Privacy Information Page.
Poster Presentations, Judging, and Awards
- You must be virtually present at your poster from 10am until 12:30 PST on Monday, November 16th to chat with judges in order to qualify for the Poster Competition, so plan your schedule carefully if you plan to present a poster.
- Each poster will be judged by a panel of typically 3 or 4 AIChE professional members from academia and industry.
- Awards will be given to the top posters in each topical area. Due to this year's virtual format, the winners will be announced via email to all participants following the event.
- This year's Undergraduate Student Poster Competition is sponsored by Omega Chi Epsilon.
General Questions? Contact:
Victor Breedveld AIChE Undergraduate Student Poster Session Coordinator
Associate Professor and AIChE Student Chapter Faculty Advisor
Georgia Institute of Technology
Email: victor.breedveld@chbe.gatech.edu