Engineers Nominated by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Sarah Widder

Sarah Widder, an Associate Energy Engineer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, operated by the Battelle Memorial Institute, Pacific Northwest Division, is currently pursuing a PhD in Environmental/Civil Engineering at Washington State University. A research paper she published in 2009 after earning a bachelor's in Chemical Engineering from University of Washington,titled “Policy Options for Nuclear Waste Management a, Sustainable Solution for Expanded Nuclear Energy,” has served as vital background for AIChE Nuclear Engineering Division, and helps set the stage for impacting important US policy decisions on energy.

She served as one of the primary organizers of the inaugural Pacific Northwest Regional Conference on Sustainability (January 2010), which attracted nearly 200 sustainability experts. Since the spring of 2010, she has helped write a monthly newsletter for the AIChE Center for Energy Initiatives which is circulated to thousands of energy professionals. Her professional leadership efforts in energy and sustainability to date are setting the stage for much continued success in the energy and sustainability fields in the future.

sarah.widder@pnl.gov

Navneet Singh, E.I.T., Ph.D.

Dr. Navneet Singh, E.I.T., a Senior Engineer at Bayer CropScience, conceptualizes process design, performs simulations to model the processes and furthermore, optimizes the design. He also works on process improvements by looking for synergies in the existing processes and is actively involved with pressure safety calculations. He received his doctorate in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University while working on developing novel biofuel processes based on waste/woody biomass. The uniqueness of these processes resides in the use of additional energy sources such as hydrogen, heat or electricity derived from solar energy, wind, nuclear, as well as coal and natural gas to boost the liquid fuel yield by 1.5 to 3 times that produced by conventional biomass-to-liquid fuel processes. This reduces the land footprint significantly while simultaneously reducing the carbon emissions.

Dr. Singh is co-inventor of 3 patent applications and has co-authored 6 original research articles on the development of the biofuel processes. Dr. Singh is a Senior Member of American Institute of Chemical Engineers, an Engineer Intern in the state of West Virginia and peer-reviewer for international journals such as Biomass and Bioenergy, Bioresource Technology, and Energy. Dr. Singh has received Excellence in Publication prize, Ross Fellowship, G. P. Kane Gold Medal, All India Rank 50 in Chemical Engineering GATE 2004 and Eastman Travel Grant. His biofuels research work has been cited in a number of media releases and he has also received 4 poster presentation awards.

navneet.singh@bayer.com

Kelly Wilson, E.I.T.

Kelly Wilson, E.I.T., recently graduated with honors from Oregon State University with a degree in Chemical Engineering, and she has begun work at the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. She is an investigator with the team currently tasked to investigate the Deepwater Horizon oil platform accident in the Gulf of Mexico last year.Kelly is a member of AIChE and Engineers Without Borders-USA. She was a member of the EWB chapter at Oregon State University, and served as the State Representative for Oregon, and as the President of the West Coast Region. Kelly also served a two-year term on the EWB-USA Board of Directors. While at OSU, she helped coordinate a fundraiser for a water delivery system project in El Salvador, and then worked and traveled with the project assessment team.

kelly.wilson@csb.gov

Dean Neshem

Dean Neshem, a Process Engineer with CH2M HILL, works with the soil and groundwater remediation project processing group at the Hanford Nuclear site in Washington. He is playing a key role in performing in-facility groundwater system process testing that has resulted in switching from an ion exchange resin used for the past 15 years to a new ion exchange, which is expected to realize significant costs savings in Hanford’s groundwater chromium removal facilities. His work has formed the basis for improving groundwater remediation operations, reducing chemical usage and the resulting liquid wastes, significant reduction in life-cycle operating costs, and two fee-earning reports all within his first year of professional experience.

dean_o_neshem@rl.gov

« BACK