These awards recognize outstanding research by master’s students in the Applied Chemical Sciences and Technology (ACST) program and carry a $500 prize. They were funded by the Lloyd E. and Florence M. West Fellowship in Chemistry which Dr. West and his wife Florence endowed to give back to the university where Dr. West cultivated the necessary tools for his distinguished career and rewarding life. Dr. West completed his Ph.D. in 1939 under the direction of Professor Rex Robinson, and it is in Professor Robinson's memory that the Wests dedicated their fellowship.
Lloyd E. and Florence M. West Prize for Best Thesis
2023-24
May Constabel earned an M.S. in Applied Chemical Science and Technology for her work on “Programmed Temperature Electrospray Ionization (ptESI) for Thermal Cycling of Proteins” with Professor Matthew Bush. She moved to the Netherlands to pursue a Ph.D. in Anouk Rijs' lab at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, funded through the MS-SPIDoc's Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions doctoral network. May will be studying protein-protein interactions using ion mobility-action spectroscopy-mass spectrometry.
Kim Vu earned an M.S. in Applied Chemical Science and Technology for her work on “Computational Studies to Understand Nitrile Imine Reactivity in Photocrosslinking to Peptides in Gas-Phase Ions” with Professor František Tureček. She is an analytical chemist at IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group.
2024-25
Meijing Zhang will earn an M.S. in Applied Chemical Science and Technology in June 2025 for her work with Professor Alshakim Nelson on “Mechanical Studies of Bovine Serum Albumin-Based Bioplastics in Additive Manufacturing.” While additive manufacturing (3D printing) enables customization and low-cost prototyping, commercial resins have limited biomedical applications due to low biocompatibility and recyclability. Meijing's research compares the mechanical properties of commercial resins with bovine serum albumin (BSA)-based bioplastics developed by the Nelson group. She demonstrated that BSA-based bioplastics are a promising option for biomedical 3D printing, and her insights enable users to select the appropriate resin composition for their application. Results from Meijing’s thesis work were recently published in Biomacromolecules.
Lloyd E. And Florence M. West Prize for Excellence in Research
2023-24
Ting Wang earned an M.S. in Applied Chemical Science and Technology in spring 2024. During her master’s studies under the mentorship of Professor Ashleigh Theberge, she focused on developing novel co-culture devices to investigate microbial volatile-mediated communication. She is now pursuing her Ph.D. in chemistry in the laboratory of Assistant Professor Lauren Rajakovich, where her research focuses on tRNA wobble uridine hydroxylation in bacterial hypoxic adaptation and biofilm formation.
2024-25
Ratul Mangal demonstrated excellence in research in Professor Brandi Cossairt's group, focusing on zinc oxide (ZnO) for spin-qubits in quantum applications. Indium is a key dopant due to its long spin lifetimes and narrow optical linewidths, but isolating individual defects in ZnO remains challenging, hindering scalability. Ratul's research aims to develop a scalable, low-temperature colloidal synthesis while comparing indium with alternative dopants, including gallium, aluminum, and molybdenum. The overall goal is to enhance ZnO:In nanorods for academic and commercial use. Ratul will continue his research in the MSACST thesis track.
Honorable Mention for Best Thesis 2024-25
Bam Manitsirisuk
Honorable Mention for Excellence in Research 2024-25
Jack Gipson
Jimin Jung
Lisa Liang
Long Nguyen
Libby Petersen
Vivian Truong
Makenzie Williamson
Lilly Woerner
Awardees who declined participating in this publicity are not listed.