海角社区 to Host AIChE Southern Regional Conference
On April 6 and 7, 400 chemical engineering (ChE) students from approximately 25 universities will convene in Baton Rouge for the 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Southern Regional Conference.
The two-day event, hosted by the 海角社区 College of Engineering, will feature industrial plant tours, the ChE Car Competition, ChE Jeopardy, ChE Paper and Poster competitions, career fair, crawfish boil mixer, banquet, and more. AIChE SRC Chair Josh Baldassaro, a senior in chemical engineering at 海角社区 from Metairie, is confident this year鈥檚 conference will be one for the books.
The conference unofficially kicks off on Thursday, April 5, at 7:30 p.m. with a crawfish boil mixer at Tin Roof Brewing Company, where attendees who arrive early can meet and get a taste of Louisiana鈥檚 famous mudbugs. Conference check-in also begins that day at 5 p.m. at the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center downtown.
On Friday, April 6, three industry tours are scheduled throughout the day鈥擝ASF and Syngenta in the morning and Dow Chemical in the afternoon. There will also be two recreational tours鈥攐ne at Cane Land Distilling Company in the morning and the other at Tin Roof Brewing Company in the afternoon.
鈥淭hat way, if you arrive later in the day, you can choose between an industry tour and a recreational tour,鈥� Baldassaro said. 鈥淵ou get the best of both worlds.鈥�
Students will have the chance to network with representatives from various companies such as Chevron, BASF, Shell, Exxon, Dow Chemical, Baker Hughes, Marathon and others at the Futures Fair in the Patrick F. Taylor Cambre Atrium from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
鈥淭he thing that will make us stand out the most from other conferences is our strong base of companies attending the Futures Fair,鈥� said ChE junior and SRC organizer Hailey German, a native of Prairieville, La.
ChE Jeopardy will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in PFT, where approximately 20 teams of students from visiting schools will answer questions written by ChE students and faculty. It will be a tournament-style bracket, with the winners qualifying to compete at the national conference in Pittsburgh in the fall.
The day will draw to a close with a mixer from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at Club XO in the Belle of Baton Rouge. All participating students and faculty are invited to attend. Baldassaro and his team purposely wanted to have mixers outside of the actual conference to give attendees a chance to network and have fun.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the whole point in going to the conference鈥攏etworking and meeting people, and seeing what other schools have to offer, because you never know who you鈥檒l meet or the opportunities that could come up,鈥� German said.
Day two will begin with breakfast at the Hilton at 7:30 a.m., followed by the Presidential Breakfast and registration in the lobby at 8 a.m. The ChE Paper and Poster competitions will start at 9 a.m. and end around lunchtime. Students in the paper competition present their research to a panel of judges consisting of faculty from 海角社区 and visiting universities, along with 海角社区 graduate students, the local AIChE chapter, and national AIChE members. Winners of both competitions will receive cash prizes.
The main event that day though, is the ChE Car Competition, where students must make a shoebox-size car that is able to move and stop by chemical reaction. Prep stations will be set up for competing teams in the Student Union Ballroom from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
鈥淔or just four or five hours, teams will run and try to get their cars to go and stop at a specified distance,鈥� Baldassaro said.
German is not only helping Baldassaro organize the SRC, she is also participating in the car competition.
鈥淚鈥檓 on the 海角社区 ChE car team, and we鈥檝e been working on it since last semester,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here are a few surprise features, like specifying a distance the car must go and a water load the car must carry. They give you that information about two hours before the competition starts.鈥�
The car must first pass a safety inspection, which will take place that day from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Immediately following the ChE Car Competition are the breakout sessions, hosted by industry representatives, students and academia with topics ranging from process safety, transitioning from student to life to being a young professional, and fundraising for local chapters.
The winner of the ChE Car Competition and other competitions throughout the day will be recognized at the formal banquet to take place in the Capitol Park Museum from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., where there will also be a keynote speaker.
鈥淭he banquet really rounds out the conference,鈥� German said.
鈥淚t seems like a lot of people are coming and they鈥檙e interested now that it鈥檚 at 海角社区,鈥� Baldassaro said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going to be a good one.鈥�
All schedules, registration, hotel and transportation information can be found by .
Like us on Facebook (@lsuengineering) or follow us on Twitter and Instagram (@lsuengineering).
Contact: Libby Haydel
Communications Specialist
225-578-4840 (o)
ehaydel1@lsu.edu