2018–19 Project SEED scholars

The American Chemical Society Committee on Project SEED has announced the winners of its 2018–19 college scholarships. The recipients, who were selected from participants in the ACS Project SEED research program, received one-year, nonrenewable scholarships of up to $5,000 to help cover tuition and fees during their first year of college. The 28 scholarships for the 2018–19 academic year, which have a total value of $140,000, were funded by private corporations and individual donors. Additionally, three Project SEED alumni in their sophomore year received the three-year renewable Ciba Specialty Chemicals scholarship, which provides $5,000 per year.

Project SEED is ACS’s summer research program that enables economically disadvantaged high school students to conduct hands-on research. For more information, visit www.acs.org/projectseed.

Alfred and Isabel Bader scholars

Alfred Bader was one of the founders of Aldrich Chemical, now Sigma-Aldrich. The Baders have supported Project SEED for many years and contributed to the initiation of the Summer II SEED program.

John Carvajal is a graduate of the Academy for Enrichment and Advancement at Union City High School. Under the guidance of Robert Aslanian at New Jersey City University, Carvajal worked on a research project titled “Conducting N-Arylation of Sulfonamides with Boronic Acids Using a New Method.” He is majoring in chemical engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).

Ruth Cervantes is a graduate of Armijo High School. Under the direction of Ken Forbes at Nexeo Solutions, Cervantes worked on a research project titled “Contamination in a Chemical Distribution Plant.” She is majoring in analytical chemistry at Solano Community College.

Jeff Chen graduated from Union City High School. Under the guidance of Daniel Torres at City University of New York, he worked on research titled “Computational Insight into Materials for Energy: Electronic Structure of Co-Cu Alloy Surfaces by First Principle.” Chen is majoring in chemical engineering at NJIT.

Ishmam Chowdhury graduated from John F. Kennedy Educational Complex. At Ramapo College of New Jersey, Chowdhury worked on research titled “Infrared Spectroscopy of BiTeCl Crystal” under the direction of Catalin Martin. Chowdhury is majoring in chemical engineering at Rutgers University.

Leslie Coronado is a graduate of Amos Alonzo Stagg High School. Under the direction of Jerry Tsai at the University of the Pacific, Coronado worked on research titled “Effects of Protein Sequence on Protein Structure through Modern Molecular Biology Techniques.” She is majoring in biochemistry at the University of California, Davis.

Kristen Gilmore graduated from Bristol High School. Under the direction of Julie Tanavade at Solvay, Gilmore worked on a research project titled “Developing Mild Body Wash Using Zein Assay and DFA 100 Dynamic Foam Analyzer.” Gilmore is majoring in chemistry at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.

Briana Haas is a graduate of Herbert Hoover High School. She conducted research under the guidance of Micheal Fultz at West Virginia State University titled “Aluminum Complexation.” Haas is majoring in chemical engineering at West Virginia University.

Meilu Huang is a graduate of Galileo Academy of Science and Technology. Under the guidance of Gennady Borinshteyn at Libby Laboratories, Huang worked on research titled “Chemical and Microbial Analysis of Cosmetics.” She is majoring in biochemistry/chemistry at Pepperdine University.

Ifeoluwa Kehinde graduated from Grand Prairie High School. Under the direction of Phillip Pelphrey at Texas Wesleyan University, Kehinde worked on research titled “Synthesis of Small-Molecule Compounds as Potential Antibiotics.” She is majoring in biochemistry at Texas A&M University.

Long Nguyen is a graduate of Florin High School. Nguyen worked at the University of California, Davis, under the guidance of Shota Atsumi on a research project titled “Biological Production of Valuable Chemicals.” Nguyen is majoring in biochemistry at Cosumnes River College.

Truc Nhat Nguyen graduated from Franklin High School. Under the direction of Brad Hanson at UC Davis, Nguyen worked on a research project titled “Studies Related to Herbicide-Resistant Weed Species.” Nguyen is attending Harvard College, majoring in biochemistry.

Richard Nwakamma is a graduate of Arabia Mountain High School. He worked at Clark Atlanta University under the direction of Ishrat Khan on research titled “Self-Assembly of Hairy Nanoparticles: Bottom-Up Preparation of Hierarchical Suprastructures.” Nwakamma is majoring in biochemistry at Oxford College.

Mirka Ortiz graduated from the Academy for Enrichment and Advancement at Union City High School. Under the guidance of Robert Aslanian at New Jersey City University, Ortiz worked on research titled “Synthesis and Evaluation of a Mutual Prodrug.” Ortiz is majoring in chemical engineering at New Jersey City University.

Armen Phelps is a graduate of Encinal High School. Phelps worked under the direction of Akiko Carver at the University of California, Berkeley, on research titled “Genetic Regulation of Metabolism in Post-Fire Fungi.” At UC Berkeley, Phelps is majoring in chemical engineering.

Victor Plascencia graduated from Comstock High School. He worked under the guidance of Dwight Williams at Kalamazoo College on a project titled “The Synthesis and Purification of 5-Hydroxy-2-(2-phenylethyl) Chromones.” He is majoring in chemical engineering at Kalamazoo College.

Anna Rezk is a graduate of High Tech High School. At Stevens Institute of Technology, Rezk worked under the direction of Woo Lee on research titled “Comparing Adhesion of Multiple Myeloma Cell Line to Different Cell Tissues.” She is majoring in biochemistry at Brown University.

John Rezk graduated from High Tech High School. Under the direction of Simon Podkolzin at Stevens Institute of Technology, Rezk worked on research titled “Conversion of Acetic Acid to Gaseous Products over Bimetallic Catalysts.” He is majoring in chemical engineering at Princeton University.

Brandon Ugbesia graduated from Brockton High School. Under the direction of Louis Liotta at Stonehill College, Ugbesia conducted research titled “The Synthesis of Iminosugars.” He attends the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is majoring in chemical engineering.

Muhammad Umar graduated from High Tech High School. At Stevens Institute of Technology, he worked under the guidance of Woo Lee on research titled “The Effect of Various Neurotransmitters on the Behavior of Mus musculus.” He is majoring in chemistry/biochemistry at Princeton University.

Emily Wade is a graduate of Ridgevue High School. At Boise State University under the direction of Don Warner, Wade worked on research titled “Cancer Cell-Killing Properties and Mechanism of Aziridinomitosene Analogs.” Wade is majoring in chemistry/biochemistry at Northwest Nazarene University.

Ashland scholars

Ashland is a global company that provides specialty chemicals, technologies, and expertise to customers worldwide.

Sommer Gomez Gonzalez graduated from Union City High School. Under the guidance of Luca Cartegni at Rutgers University, she worked on research titled “Identification of Natural Isoforms of the AXL Gene by RT-PCR.” Gonzalez is majoring in chemistry/biochemistry at New Jersey City University.

Deka Ismail graduated from Will C. Crawford High School. At Scripps Research Institute, Ismail worked under the direction of Rachel Botham on a research project titled “Development of a High-Content Imaging Assay for the Discovery of Novel Autophagy Activators.” Ismail is majoring in chemistry at the University of San Diego.

Bayer scholars

The Bayer USA Foundation is a major donor to Project SEED and a major contributor to the Project SEED endowment.

Geordelle Maxwell is a graduate of Trenton Central High School. At Rider University, she worked under the guidance of Daniel Druckenbrod on research titled “What Causes Gum Spots on Black Cherry Trees at Fernow, WV?” Maxwell is majoring in chemistry/biology at Mercer County Community College.

Erika Bello Ramirez graduated from Pike High School. Under the direction of Hiroki Yokota at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), she worked on research titled “Development of a Microfluidic Device for Breast Cancer Diagnosis.” Ramirez is majoring in chemistry at IUPUI.

Vicky Pai is a graduate of Southport High School. She worked at IUPUI under the guidance of John Vincent Goodpaster on research titled “Automated Derivatization and Identification of Controlled Substances Using Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME).” She is attending Indiana University Bloomington and majoring in biochemistry.

Fosbinder scholars

The estate of Elizabeth Ernst Fosbinder, wife of late ACS member Russel J. Fosbinder, has provided an endowment in his name for college scholarships for Project SEED graduates.

Aya Adel Fattah graduated from East Lansing High School. Under the direction of Greg Swain at Michigan State University, he worked on research titled “Nanostructured Diamond Powders for Electrochemistry.” He is majoring in chemical engineering at the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor.

Doyun Kim graduated from Emmanuel Christian School. Kim worked at the University of Toledo under the direction of Ajith Karunarathne on research titled “Examination of Retinal Isomerization and Photodegradation.” Kim attends the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor and is majoring in biochemistry.

Ullyot scholars

Glenn Ullyot was an accomplished chemical researcher who worked for Smith, Kline & French Laboratories. He was a major contributor to the discovery and manufacture of new drugs of critical value to the medical world. His wife, Barbara, had a management career at ACS.

Hasan Hamada graduated from Bolton High School. Under the direction of Yahia Hamada at LeMoyne-Owen College, Hasan Hamada worked on research titled “UV-Vis, IR, and Potentiometry of Zn²⁺ with Glycine.” He is majoring in chemistry at Rhodes College.

Ciba scholars

The Ciba Foundation, through the Ciba Specialty Chemicals Scholars Endowment, offers first-year SEED college scholarship recipients scholarships for the next three years of their chemical science programs.

The recipients for this year are Rayna Bandy, who is majoring in chemistry at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology; Beili Huang, who is majoring in chemical engineering at the University of California, Davis; and Nicole Taylor, who is majoring in chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.