A pair of students in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering got some good news recently, as the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory chose their work for a pair of honors.
Tyler Cosby and Max Heres, both graduate students in chemical engineering, were singled out for the posters they presented at the event, held September 1 and 2 in Oak Ridge.
Cosby took a silver award for his presentation “Charge Transport and Hydrogen-Bonding in Imidazole/Carboxylic Acid Mixtures,” while Heres was honored as a finalist for his presentation “Charge Transport and Structural Dynamics in Ammonium Based Plymerized Ionic Liquids and their Monomeric Analogues.”
Cosby, in his third year as a doctoral student, said the honor was special because of the nature of the meeting where it occurred.
“The CNMS user meeting brings together scientists from all over the country doing a wide variety of compelling research,” said Cosby. “It is thrilling to be singled out from among this already select group.”
He and Heres both work as part of the Sangoro Research Group, under the direction of assistant professor Joshua Sangoro.
It’s the latest in a string of high-profile successes for the group, with their recent work on soft materials earning a National Science Foundation grant and Sangoro himself being named both a top 100 reviewer by a leading science journal and a Faculty Trailblazer by UT.
Despite the personal accolades, Sangoro prefers to keep the spotlight on students like Cosby and Heres.
“I am delighted by their achievement and have no doubt that they will continue to excel in their research,” said Sangoro.
For Heres, the honor also came with gratitude for the partnerships UT has made.
“It was a great honor to be selected amongst so many great people representing the cutting edge of research,” he said. “We are fortunate to have research opportunities provided to graduate students by the close partnership between UT and ORNL, such as the CNMS.”