Georgia Tech's School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE) has announced the winners of its second Stunning Science in ChBE Image Contest, held as part of the School’s 125th Anniversary celebration. The contest was open to all current ChBE students (undergraduate and graduate) and postdoctoral researchers in ChBE labs.
"With entries representing seven different ChBE labs, the response to this contest highlights the diversity of research being performed in our School. The students who entered used state-of-the-art methods to capture compelling images that highlight the impactful work being done in ChBE," said Jacqueline Mohalley Snedeker, the chair of ChBE's Communications Committee and director of ChBE's Technical Communications Program.
Submitted images could depict an object or phenomenon from ChBE obtained via such means as microscopy, photographs (e.g., of 3-D printed objects), medical imaging, schematics, spectra, chromatographs, simulation results, etc. No AI-generated images were allowed.
Images could be featured on the ChBE website and social media and framed to hang on building walls.
The first-place winner ($500) is Haoyu Chen, a PhD student in Professor Ryan Lively’s lab.
Caption: Melamine foam is an ultralight, open-cell polymer scaffold with a void fraction exceeding 99%, formed by condensation of melamine and formaldehyde into a reticulated three-dimensional network. This scanning electron microscope image reveals what happens when the foam is pyrolyzed: the dense, solid struts and nodes transform into hollow structures, much like a straw constructed sponge. In our research, this foam serves as a support for polyamine adsorbents designed to capture CO2 directly from air. The pyrolysis-induced hollow architecture may enhance adsorbent loading and gas transport, advancing the design of efficient solid sorbents for direct air capture.
The second-place team ($300) includes undergraduate student Grace Thomas-Haney and PhD student Abraham Weinstein, both in Professor Michael Filler’s lab. This image was also the fan favorite in the School’s LinkedIn poll!
Caption: The image depicts micromodular logic gates—micron-scale semiconductor devices designed to perform the logical function 'OR'. Unlike the traditional logic gates found on any microchip, these structures are ready to be removed from their original silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate and transferred to a new one—giving plastic, glass, even paper the ability to perform fundamental computations. To the naked eye, each logic gate appears as an almost invisible speck of dust, lent a metallic shine by the gold interconnects. The image was taken on a SU8320 Scanning Electron Microscope.
The third-place winner ($150) is Muskan Sonker, a PhD student in Professor Sankar Nair’s lab.
Caption: Layers of graphene-based sheets stack like a maze for molecules, creating tiny pathways where only certain molecules can pass. By inserting carefully chosen molecules between these layers, we can precisely tune the spacing, allowing water to move through while restricting unwanted salts and contaminants. This image was created using Blender to visually represent how structure at the smallest scale governs separation at the largest scale. What looks like a static material is actually a dynamic environment where molecules compete, interact, and navigate confined spaces. Such control over transport opens new possibilities for energy-efficient desalination and wastewater treatment, helping us move closer to more sustainable water purification technologies.
Honorable Mention goes to Nithya Badarinath, a PhD student in Associate Professor John Blazeck’s Lab.
Caption: Saccharomyces cerevisiae, also known as baker's yeast or budding yeast, is a model eukaryotic organism commonly used in synthetic biology research. Seen here under a microscope are a mix of circular, stationary yeast and ‘budding,’ or dividing yeast, which are identified by the characteristic ‘bud’ shape which grows out of the mother cell until pinching off to form the daughter cell. S. cerevisiae are considered a model organism due to their short doubling time and amenability to genetic manipulation. Furthermore, as a eukaryote, yeast are proficient at synthesizing human proteins such as antibodies, facilitating the engineering of proteins important in immunological pathways and diseases like cancer.
The contest judging panel included ChBE faculty members Bjarne Kreitz, Solomon Tolulope Oyakhire, Jacqueline Snedeker, Julia Yang, and Micah Ziegler, as well as Georgia Tech College of Engineering communications staff members Sarah Collins, Brad Dixon, Candler Hobbs, Jason Maderer, and Joshua Stewart.