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Chemical and Biological Engineering PhD Student Bruce Kirkpatrick was honored with the 2025 Outstanding Dissertation Award. His hydrogel research supports technologies that enable 3D cell culture for tissue engineering and disease modeling, as well as acellular biomaterials for applications like controlled release of drugs or vaccines.

Professor Michael Shirts' graduate student, Anika Friedman, was awarded the American Chemicals Society's Chemical Computing Group Excellence Award for Graduate Students. The award was presented at the CS Fall 2025 in Washington, DC.

Annette Thompson, a chemical engineering PhD student, has received a 2025 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, for her research around the molecular “assembly lines” cells used to build chemicals like fatty acids.

Annette Thompson's research could lead to more sustainable ways to make everyday products like medicines and fuels without petroleum-based processes; Nolan Petrich's work could help develop therapies that help repair or replace damaged tissues or organs by using the body’s healing abilities for intestinal diseases.