Student teams from the chemical and biochemical engineering department recently competed in the 2024 Switch Competition as part of a new class developed by Dr. Joseph Smith, professor of chemical and biochemical engineering. The course teaches students to apply key principles from process intensification to improve chemical process technology to increase sustainability and economic performance.

Students from around the world compete virtually as they identify solutions to one of today’s most pressing issues – global energy poverty. During the competition, teams research and present a solution to the problem in a 15-minute video.

This year, 190 teams worldwide, including 15 teams from the U.S., entered the competition, and three S&T teams made it to semi-finals. One team, Team Entensification, was selected for finals. Members of Team Entensification included chemical engineering seniors Samuel Insall, Morgan Mieger and Ben Sommer.