Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Two Mississippi State student teams are top winners of an annual national competition organized by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
The three-person teams of chemical engineering majors finished in first and third place among more than two dozen other university groups from around the country.
Designed and judged by professionals in the field, the contest involves a challenge that typifies a real, working, chemical engineering design situation. The solution requires a wide range of skills in calculating and evaluating both technical data and economic factors, including safety protocols and environmental impacts of the proposed process.
The 2011 win represents the second first-place finish for an MSU team over the past four years. The earlier victory took place in 2008.
This year's top student group included Derek Needham of Gulfport, Justin B. Williamson of Jayess and James R. Wright of Water Valley.
Finishing in third place were Rebecca Atkinson of Hattiesburg, Erin Casey of Pass Christian and Andrew S. Estess of Petal.
All winners will be recognized formally in mid-October at the AIChE Annual Student Conference in Minneapolis, Minn. (For more AIChE information, visit www.aiche.org/about/.)