MH
Maureen Hoen
  • chemical engineering
  • Class of 2016
  • Hamburg, N.Y.

Clarkson University Student Maureen E. Hoen of Hamburg, N.Y., Honored by AIChE for Academic Excellence

2014 Nov 3

Clarkson University chemical and biomolecular engineering student Maureen E. Hoen '16 has received a prestigious award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers for her academic achievement.

Hoen, from Hamburg, N.Y., received the 2013-14 AIChE Sophomore Academic Excellence Award and Donald F. Othmer Sophomore Academic Excellence Award after being recommended for the honor by the Clarkson Chapter of AIChE last year.

The Sophomore Academic Excellence Award is presented to the one AIChE student member in each student chapter who has attained the highest GPA during his or her freshman and sophomore years. Now a junior, Hoen has volunteered with the chapter since her first year at Clarkson, when she worked as the secretary to organize field trips, study sessions and networking events for student and alumni.

"I worked really hard in all of my classes and my extracurriculars, and it was nice to get that recognition from an outside organization," she said. "It's a big personal motivator."

In recognition of her achievement, her award includes a $1,000 scholarship. She also receives free registration and a travel allowance for the Annual Student Conference in November in Atlanta, as well as an invitation to the Student Leadership Development Conference.

Hoen and a team of six students in Clarkson's Chapter of AIChE are working to prepare a shoe-box-sized Chem-E Car for the 2014 Annual Student Conference, where they will race other chapters in a national competition. She said the most challenging part for the team is working with the car's wiring and gears because, as chemical engineers, the team has less experience in those areas.

"We're given a distance that we have to go and a weight of water that we have to carry, so our calibrations have to be modified to meet those requirements," she said. "I'm really looking forward to racing the car."

Clarkson University launches leaders into the global economy. One in five alumni already leads as a CEO, VP or equivalent senior executive of a company. Located just outside the Adirondack Park in Potsdam, N.Y., Clarkson is a nationally recognized research university for undergraduates with select graduate programs in signature areas of academic excellence directed toward the world's pressing issues. Through 50 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, arts, sciences and the health professions, the entire learning-living community spans boundaries across disciplines, nations and cultures to build powers of observation, challenge the status quo, and connect discovery and engineering innovation with enterprise.