Pitt ChemE Students Tackle World Issues at Global Day

Big problems need big solutions. 

The Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering hosted its third annual Global Day, a showcase of senior projects that address problems and opportunities across the globe.  

Projects are developed in the capstone course, CHE 055 Systems Engineering I: Dynamics and Modeling, taught by Professor Ipsita Banerjee. This year, 51 students presented 11 projects in eight foreign countries with collaborations from 19 global partners. Judges were from both academic and industrial backgrounds, including PPG and Pitt’s School of Medicine. 

“By engaging in global projects of this kind, and ensuring that they are working with local collaborators, these young engineers are learning that there is no one-size-fits-all engineering solution for most problems in the world,” said Allyson Delnore, executive director of academic affairs at Pitt’s University Center for International Studies. “People’s lived experiences and local contexts must be taken into consideration. The students develop a global mindset that will be incredibly valuable as they advance in their careers.”

This year’s projects include: 

Improving water treatment in Karachi (Pakistan) 

Team: Ruiqi Wang, Kyleigh Zurawski, Benjamin Barash, Alex Brokaw, and Addison Kishbaugh 

Foreign Partner: Minahil Muddasir 

Water treatment (Brazil)

Team: Ryan Power, Nate Fisher, Kaela Guest, Alexandra Reitz, and Livia Lanna 

Foreign Partner: Leticia Lanna Da Silva 

Access to hot water (Brazil) 

Team: Sean Cotton, Brenno Ferreira, Gerald Caraway, Viraj Patel, Dillon Donnelly, and Aaron Kernick 

Foreign Partners: Gustavo Donato and Caixais Freitas 

Treatment of potable water (Ecuador) 

Team: Lauren Bayer, Colin Landis, Emily Lott, Gillian Morganstein, and Gabrielle Sharpe 

Foreign Partners: Rachel Conrad, Darwin Paredes, Emily Conrad, and Wilmer Santa Cruz 

Deicing wind turbines (Canada) 

Team: Katie Harris, Ekaterini Papazekos, Isabella Steinley, and Lienne Su 

Foreign Partner: Michael McKinnon 

Conversion of coal power plants to nuclear (Germany) 

Team: Daniel Lipinkski, Deirdre Kelly, Dylan Lawson, and Josh Luxemburger 

Foreign Partner: Jacob Stotte 

Revitalizing the Deutsche Bahn (Germany) 

Team: Sofia Sonnet, Alex Fuller, Emma Smith, and Richard Aversa 

Foreign Partner: Ursula Haas 

Integrating renewable energy in rural areas and communities (Morocco) 

Team: Dana Bartoletta, Delaney Benchoff, Darren Kobert, Hannah Scharf, and Hannah Zucco 

Foreign Partner: Jasmine Hajar 

Combatting rolling blackouts (West Africa) 

Team: Peter Dadson, Kayla Kendricks, Onyinyechi Ndukwe-Ajala, and Renee Stolz 

Foreign Partners: Simon Teledezi (Ghana), John Nana Know Acquch (Ghana), Emeka Nwachukwu (Nigeria), and Lucky Ariwodo (Nigeria) 

Access to clean water (India) 

Team: Joe Bilski, Alison Bisbing, Hayden Prein, Abbey Ramos, Chelsea Smith, and Vidhya Thiyagarajan

Foreign Partner: B. Thiyagarajan 

Loss of biodiversity (India) 

Team: Maddy Korowicki, Adekunmi, and Cameron Wodon 

Foreign Partner: Samsher Sidhu