2021 Undergraduate Student Poster Competition
Sponsored by Omega Chi Epsilon.
Thanks to all who participated in the 2021 Undergraduate Student Poster Competition!
Hundreds of students are expected to present their research in poster format. Topics include catalysis and reaction engineering; sustainability, food, pharmaceutical and biotechnology; separations, environmental, education & general, fuels, petrochemicals and energy; computing and process control; materials engineering and sciences. Prizes will be awarded in several categories. This year's poster competition will also feature posters from the Microbes at Biomedical Interfaces research area due to the presence of the Topical Conference at the 2021 Annual Meeting.
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 present and about 100 judges, it is the largest forum for Chemical Engineering undergraduates to present their research activity to the professional community at large.
The 2021 Undergraduate Student Poster Competition is for those attending the in-person portion of the conference in Boston, MA, USA. This is an in-person only event.
- 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 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 the Annual Student Conference and attend the in-person portion of the conference taking place in Boston, MA, USA in order to participate; you are expected to stand by 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 1, 2021 and will close on Friday, October 15, 2021. 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.
- In order to accommodate as many eligible student researchers as possible, including those who may encounter longer lead times to make travel arrangements or to request funding from their universities, we now offer the following tiered schedule of acceptance status notification based upon abstract submission date:
Abstract submission date |
Acceptance status notification date |
|---|---|
| 8/1-9/1 | By 9/7 |
| 9/2-10/1 | By 10/7 |
| 10/1-10/15 | By 10/21 |
- We encourage students to submit abstracts as early as possible and to make plans to attend the Annual Student Conference, book travel arrangements, and begin preparing their 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.
What you need to do after submitting your abstract:
- 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.
- Book your hotel. Book early as rooms at the negotiated rate will become unavailable quickly. Visit www.aiche.org/asc to book your hotel.
- For presenting authors requiring an invitation letter to secure a visa to travel the U.S. or for other purposes, a personalized Annual Student Conference invitation letter can be generated for you. Note that we are unable to directly contact embassies or various officials on your behalf. Please submit your invitation letter request here: https://aiche.formstack.com/forms/asc_invitation_letter. Invitation letter requests will be reviewed and processed on a weekly basis, so please allow us ~1 week to send your invitation letter after submitting a request.
- If co-authors require visa letters, please contact invitationletters@aiche.org with co-author information (name, affiliation, email and any other information required in the letter). We are unable to directly contact embassies or various officials on their behalf.
- 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 poster
- There is no poster template for the Annual Student Conference.
- Poster Board Size: The live display of poster boards is 3.75 feet wide x 3.75 feet tall (110 cm x 110 cm). Please make sure your poster is slightly smaller so that it fits in the space.
- Printing & Bringing your Poster: Poster Presenters are responsible for bringing their posters to the conference. AIChE will not be able to print the posters. Please check the venue websites for information on printing services available. If you have never printed a poster, ask your advisor for assistance. Commercial poster printing (e.g. Kinko’s) can be expensive; your university usually provides access to poster printers much more economically.
- Poster Setup: Each poster presenter will have an assigned space. You will be able to set up your poster approximately one hour before the session starts. Please do not set up your poster earlier as it may cause confusion with someone else using that spot at an earlier poster session. Please ensure that posters are made of lightweight materials, such as paper (laminated or other), cardboard, foam core etc. to put up on the panels. Push pins will be made available at the poster session to attach your poster to the poster board.
- Poster Session FAQs & Tips: More information is available here.
Poster Presentations, Judging, and Awards
- You must be present at your poster from 10am until noon on Monday, November 8th to talk to judges in order to qualify for the Poster Competition, so plan your flight home 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 during an awards ceremony at the end of the poster session.
- This year's Undergraduate Student Poster Competition is sponsored by Omega Chi Epsilon.