CHEE Class Notes - May 2022
Marylyn Schumann Tobey
Class of 1961, BS in Chemical Engineering
mkt@tobeys.org
I am honored to be inducted into the College of Engineering Hall of Fame on May 1, 2022 at Dean Hahn’s Donor Appreciation Dinner to be held at the Westin La Paloma, Tucson. As a member of the first four-year class in chemical engineering, I really appreciate this recognition, and hope it will inspire women to continue to take their scientific abilities to fruition. It is our privilege to provide four scholarships annually to two chemical engineering students and two electrical and computer engineering students.
Scott C. Roberts
Class of 1969, BS in Chemical Engineering
Class of 1974, PhD in Chemical Engineering, University of Washington
I was recently named 2021 Volunteer of the Year by the City of Scottsdale's Pinnacle Peak Park. For the last five years, I have been sweeping the trail of hikers and closing up the park on Thursday and Saturday nights. I love being the last hiker on the mountain at sunset, and it's also excellent exercise. We had over 260,000 hikers last year and we have about 40 volunteers and seven staff at the park.
Akshay Sriprasad
Class of 2010, BS in Chemical Engineering
Sriprasad, a CHEE merit scholar, went on to receive an MS in chemical engineering from UT Austin and an MBA from Columbia University. Now a product manager with Google, he talks about the importance of life/work balance and shares some great advice about charting your own course in a recent edition of Real Humans of Google.
Ryan Petronella
Class of 2017, BS in Chemical Engineering
ryan.petronella94@gmail.com
I've been living in Salt Lake City for the past two years, and just switched roles in my company, WesTech Engineering. I'm now working as a process engineer designing water treatment plants for FGD and ash pond dewatering applications.
I climbed El Capitan in Yosemite Valley last year, which is probably my greatest life achievement to date!
Kira Zeider
Class of 2020, BS in Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering
kira.zeider@gmail.com
After graduating with my bachelor's degrees in 2020, I continued onto the chemical engineering doctoral program at the University of Arizona. I have delved into a couple of different research topics under my two co-advisors, Armin Sorooshian of CHEE and Mónica Ramirez-Andreotta of the Department of Environmental Science. Under Dr. Ramirez-Andreotta, I have worked on two citizen-science projects with mining-adjacent communities in Arizona.
My paper on using plants as low-cost air quality monitors was selected as both a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Extramural Paper of the Month for October 2021 and as one of 35 NIEHS 2021 Papers of the Year out of about 4,000 publications. Additionally, I have been working on the Aerosol Cloud meTeorology Interactions oVer the western ATlantic Experiment (ACTIVATE), which collects in-situ and remote sensing data from two co-located aircraft on the east coast. I am interested in establishing a link between ACTIVATE and the devastating summer 2020 California wildfires.
I have also been incredibly lucky to be named an inaugural Herbold Fellow, a Richard A. Harvill Fellow, a Superfund Research Training Core Trainee, and, most recently, a Carson Scholar. I was also a student feature in the Winter 2021 AIChE Environmental Division newsletter. I will be heading to California over the summer for an internship before returning for my third year of graduate school in the fall.
Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my journey so far, and most notably, my advisors, my groupmates, and my friends and family.
Jodi Elizabeth Kreiner
Class of 2021, BS in Chemical Engineering
Class of 2023 Projected, MS in Optical Engineering
jodikreiner@email.arizona.edu
After graduation, I moved to Los Angeles to work for Northrop Grumman as an optical engineer. I am currently working full time while pursuing my MS in optical engineering online from the UA. My current projects involve novel research, design, and manufacturing of high-power directed energy systems, which is one of the few areas where my chemical and optical backgrounds intersect! I am in the process of submitting multiple research papers and patents regarding this, but it is a long and tedious process due to the sensitive nature of my work.
I still love spending time with my dogs and enjoy exploring Los Angeles with them on the weekends (although Stella does miss everyone on campus!) I am forever grateful for the supportive environment of the CHEE Department and the College of Engineering as a whole. I can undoubtedly say that contributed to my academic (and now professional) success.
Jonathan Manuel Romero
Class of 2021, BS in Environmental Engineering
Class of 2023 Projected, MS in Chemical Engineering
jonathanmromero@email.arizona.edu
Hello everyone! Currently I am back at the University of Arizona getting my master's degree in chemical engineering. I plan on graduating in fall 2022. I am awaiting a potential internship at Intel for this summer, while also performing research on the biodegradation of insensitive munitions compounds. Since graduation, I got into weightlifting (I have lost 80 pounds!) and hiking more frequently, while keeping up with video games and my background in music.