CHEE Class Notes - Fall 2023

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Lyra Troy

Class of 2022, MS in Chemical Engineering
ltroy@lanl.gov

I joined Los Alamos National Laboratory as a post-master’s researcher, focusing on clean and sustainable energy, namely hydrogen fuel cells and nuclear fusion efforts. I work with two groups -- the chemical diagnostics and engineering group in the hydrogen processing lab supporting fusion fuel cycle research, and the materials synthesis and integrated devices group supporting hydrogen fuel cell, electrolyzer and corrosion research. I love the projects and I am grateful that Los Alamos has given me the opportunity to attend and present posters at multiple conferences and meetings across the globe.

Recently, I won the “Outstanding Engineering Award” at Los Alamos for my work in hydrogen permeation related to fusion energy. My team has published two papers, and one has been submitted to a journal. My long-term goal is to become a leading scientist at the forefront of clean energy and hydrogen technologies after completing my PhD at UC Irvine.
 

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Mak (Smith) Regan

Class of 2020, BS in Chemical Engineering
mskem0610@gmail.com

In August, I got married to my husband, Max, at an alpine lake in southwestern Colorado and started a doctorate in chemical engineering at CU Boulder! I plan to research atomic layer deposition and etching and will be co-advised by Steve George and Charles Musgrave.

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Lance Hubbard

Class of 2016, PhD in Chemical Engineering
lhubbard1@gmail.com

I’ve been working at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for the past seven years.

Recently we’ve patented a process for electroplating titanium and zirconium onto steels and other alloys. This work will help many people by enabling new medical technology, lowering the cost of chemotherapy drugs, and helping inhibit the proliferation of nuclear fuels. 

I’ve also been working on making an explosive-proof paint, tracking the flow of solid matter through explosions, and designing a COVID-detecting nanite that explodes when it senses the virus.

I’m happy to report that my first round of students are graduating from their respective graduate programs, and some are coming back home to roost in the national lab complex.

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Zlatica Kraljevik

Class of 1991, PhD in Chemical Engineering
zkraljevic@gmail.com

After 20 years working as a chemical engineer, independent Latin American business consultant, and international business executive for Fortune 1000 companies in the energy sector, I took on my biggest challenge. I became the only female dean of the Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). My role was dean of institutional relations and executive director of entrepreneurship and the executive MBA program.

I have spoken on behalf of important issues for women in KSA, but also the energy sector, which remains dominated by men. I have championed the creation of an endowed chair for women in the energy business and fought for coed classes in the executive MBA program and beyond.

There is still much to do in this space, but I am proud that as the first woman to graduate with a doctorate in chemical engineering at the UA, I’m fighting for the rights and inclusion of women in any space they choose.

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Jay Requarth, MD, FACS

Class of 1982, BS in Chemical Engineering
Class of 1986, MD University of Arizona

I’ve been happily married for 33 years, and my wife and I have two children.

After college, I pursued a medical degree at the UA, then became board certified in surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, and internal medicine, with a sub-certification in hospice and palliative medicine. In my three decades of private and academic practice, I performed more than 3000 open chest cardiac surgical procedures and published research on image-guided palliative care and non-operative management of blunt splenic injury. I retired from clinical practice in 2016.

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John Westover

Class of 1981, BS in Chemical Engineering

I am delivering training in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.