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EECE Day
About EECE Day
EECE is hosting its inaugural EECE DAY. A new departmental tradition celebrating student innovation, faculty research, and our enduring connections with alumni and industry partners. It will provide opportunity to meet with alumni, industry partner, and friends, to reflect on the evolving needs of the chemical and environmental engineering fields and strengthen the bridge between academic training and real-world impact.Join us for a day of reconnecting with faculty, students, and alumni. Register here.
Poster Showcase
You are invited to participate in the EECE Day poster showcase. This event is a fantastic opportunity to present your research and projects to your peers, faculty members, alumni, and industry professionals.
Event Details:
- Date: April 24, 2026
- Time: Noon - 1:30 pm
- Poster Size: 60" wide x 40" high
We encourage you to reuse any existing posters you may have. To participate, please register your poster by April 10, 2026. Awards will be given out after the event to recognize outstanding contributions.
Don't miss this chance to share your work and gain valuable feedback. We look forward to seeing your posters!
Quick Links
Event highlights & tentative agenda
9 – 10:20 a.m.
Welcome & alumni and graduate student awards
Opening remarks and recognition of outstanding alumni contributions and graduate student achievements.
10:30 a.m. – noon
Breakout sessions with flash talks
Environmental Engineering and Chemical Engineering sessions featuring flash talks by faculty, alumni and industry partners
noon – 1:30 p.m.
Group photo, lunch & poster showcase
Industry partners are warmly invited to judge posters and provide feedback.
1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Career panel & poster awards
A moderated discussion with alumni and industry leaders, followed by poster award announcements.
2:30 – 3 p.m.
Alumni feedback session
A roundtable conversation: What skills and experiences are most important for graduates entering today’s workforce?
3 – 4:30 p.m.
Optional activities
• Beer brewing open house — an informal look at brewing and process systems
• Campus and lab tours — led by Bryce Krug and EECE faculty
• One-on-one faculty meetings — brief, scheduled conversations
4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Closing reception
An opportunity to reconnect, reflect and continue conversations over refreshments.
2025 EECE Alumni Award recipients
Huping Luo, EECE Distinguished Alumni Award
Dr. Huping Luo is currently a Senior Manager at Chevron, overseeing an R&D group focusing on developing and deploying novel technology solutions (from laboratory to field) to support Chevron’s Low Carbon strategy as well as other existing business. Dr. Luo’s group plays a strategic role in guiding Chevron’s research and innovation portfolio and has built strong connections with industry and academia through partnership programs with universities and national labs, including WashU EECE.
Dr. Luo is also an inventor and has co-led the development and commercialization of Chevron’s proprietary ISOALKY™ technology and is the main contributor to the design and scale-up of its novel reactor system. This groundbreaking innovation filled a long-standing gap in U.S. industrial alkylate production, generated billions of dollars in revenue for Chevron, and resulted in the project’s technical lead being recognized by the National Academy of Engineering. It has earned several world-renowned awards such as the 2017 Platts Breakthrough of the Year Award and the 2020 HP (Hydroprocessing) Best Refining Technology Award.
Melissa Holtmeyer Terlaje, EECE Rising Star Award
Melissa Holtmeyer Terlaje is chief government relations officer and secretary to the board of managers of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL). As chief government relations officer, she ensures APL remains well connected with key government leaders and stakeholders regarding national priorities. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Terlaje was the lead for strategy development and strategic engagement in APL’s Air and Missile Defense Sector, responsible for developing strategy-driven initiatives and connecting technology with senior military and government leaders.
Previously, she served as the special assistant to former APL Assistant Director for Policy and Analysis Hon. Christine Fox. In that role, she led analytic efforts to inform the intersection of technology and policy and coordinated the APL Senior Fellows program. She also served as the strategic studies lead to then-Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson. Dr. Terlaje was an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science & Technology Policy Fellow in both the U.S. Senate and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. She is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of AAAS. Dr. Terlaje earned a B.S. and M.S. in mechanical engineering and a Ph.D. in energy, environmental, and chemical engineering, all from Washington University in St. Louis.
WashU students win four awards at the 2025 WERC environmental design contest
From left, members of team WashU Water Warriors: team leader Michelle Kane, Dillon Colbert, Karina Ravipati, Frannie Katz, Erin Reardon and Wes Beamer at the 2025 WERC Environmental Design Contest. (Credit: Kristen Wyckoff)
Twelve seniors competed in the 35th annual WERC Environmental Design Contest as a part of their environmental engineering capstone course.
Environmental Engineering Capstone students were ‘teams to beat’ at the 2024 national contest
From left, Back Row: Zhen (Jason) He, Serena Earp, Frankie Lynch, Max Trachtenberg, Bella Stull, Matt Greenberg, Juli Aronson, Kristen Wyckoff Front Row: Serene Tomaszewski, Kaelan Smyser, Elana Lerner, Jordan Lin, Maya Mehrotra. (Credit: WERC)
Eleven students brought home eight awards for their environmental designs!
EECE capstone students take second place in the 2023 WERC bench-scale competition
From left, team members Rohan Kansagra, Dylan Fernholz-Hartman, Devin Hale, Mel Ross, Jenna Murdock and team leader Kirsten Housen at the 33rd annual WERC Environmental Design Contest. (Photo courtesy of Kristen Wyckoff)
Six seniors competed in the 33rd annual WERC Environmental Design Contest as a part of their environmental engineering capstone course.
Capstone Design Projects
Working in small teams, students work towards building a prototype of original design or redesign that tackles real-world engineering challenges.
Two undergraduate teams (Daniel Bailen, Caroline DeLuca, Wesley Pedone, Brittany Rogus and Piper Drebes, Ryan Graham, Emilia Santana, Valerie Viteri) competed in the AIChE 2024-2025 student design competition in Spring 2025. The competition project focused on designing a facility to produce blue hydrogen from natural gas with carbon capture and sequestration to limit emissions.
Get involved
As part of EECE Day, we invite you to indicate if you are interested in:
- Delivering a flash talk as part of the research showcase
- Participating in a career or industry panel
- Serving as a student poster judge
- Or, I just want to come and reconnect
Poster Award Winners
2026 Winners to be announced on April 24, 2026
Senior Design Awards
- 1st –
- 2nd –
- 3rd –
- Most Likely to be Commercialized –
Promoting Independent Inquiry & Education
The McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis promotes independent inquiry and education with an emphasis on scientific excellence, innovation and collaboration without boundaries. McKelvey Engineering has top-ranked research and graduate programs across departments, particularly in biomedical engineering, environmental engineering and computing, and has one of the most selective undergraduate programs in the country. With 165 full-time faculty, 1,524 undergraduate students, 1,554 graduate students and 22,000 living alumni, we are working to solve some of society’s greatest challenges; to prepare students to become leaders and innovate throughout their careers; and to be a catalyst of economic development for the St. Louis region and beyond.
Brauer Hall is home to the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering (EECE).