December 10, 2001

Grant Receives Distinguished Service Award

Dr. Grant

Dr. Christine S. Grant, associate professor of chemical engineering at North Carolina State University, has been awarded the 2001 Minority Affairs Committee Distinguished Service Award by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).  The award was presented at the AIChE annual meeting held November 4 through 9 in Reno, Nevada.

According to AIChE this award “recognizes an AIChE member for sustained service and outstanding achievements that advance the goals of the Minority Affairs Committee.  Among these goals is reducing the underrepresentation of minorities in the Institute, the chemical engineering profession and engineering as a whole.”

Grant received this award for her contributions to increased opportunities for minorities in AIChE and chemical engineering.  In particular she was instrumental in organizing two events.  One is a new AIChE award — the Dr. Janice Lumpkin Future Faculty Travel Award to the Annual AIChE Meeting — intended to increase the number of potential minority chemical engineering faculty able to attend the meeting.  The other is a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant entitled “Minority CHE Faculty 2000+:  A Workshop to Develop Minority Leaders in the CHE Academy” held in March 2000.  Grant is also first vice chair for 2000-01 and chair-elect for 2002 of the AIChE Minority Affairs Committee. 

Grant has received numerous awards recognizing her contributions in chemical engineering and student mentoring.  These awards include the North Carolina State University African-American Advocacy and the Professional Development Awards in 1999 and 1996, respectively; the National Technical Association’s 1998 Top Women in Science and Engineering Award in 1998; and the Lloyd Fergusson Young Scientist Award in 1997.  She was also elected to the Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni of Georgia Institute of Technology in 1996.

Grant’s research interests focus on the development of environmentally friendly chemicals and processes, particularly research involving the removal of contaminants from metal and glass surfaces.  A recent award of approximately $500,000 from NSF in the XYZ on a Chip Program focuses on the reduction of stiction in the processing of micromachines (or MEMS).   She is also co-director of the NSF Green Processing Undergraduate Research Program for 2000-2005.

Grant received her Sc.B. in chemical engineering from Brown University in 1984 and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1986 and 1989, respectively.

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