CBE’s Faviola Villariny-Rosado Receives Travel Award to Support Attendance at the AIChE Annual Meeting
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Ph.D. student Faviola Villariny-Rosado of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) Department at UMass Amherst has received a Travel Award from the Women in Chemical Engineering (WIC) to attend the annual conference of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) from November 2 to 6 in Boston. Villariny-Rosado works in the research laboratory of CBE Professor Sarah Perry, who is also an adjunct in the Polymer Science and Engineering Department and the CBE Undergraduate Program Director.
The WIC award supports travel for graduate students, post-doctoral associates, early career individuals, and young professionals. Award winners receive complimentary registration to the 2025 AIChE Annual Meeting, one year of complimentary AIChE membership, and $800 towards travel expenses to Boston (e.g., hotel, airfare, meals, and incidentals).
Villariny-Rosado has been investigating the electrochemical properties of polyelectrolyte complexes in the Perry Research Group, utilizing a well-studied probing chemistry, such as ferricyanide/ferrocyanide, to explore their potential as aqueous polymer electrolytes. This work aims to support the ongoing research efforts for the development of better and sustainable materials for energy-storage applications.
Villariny-Rosado completed her B.S. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez in 2021 and is currently pursuing studies in complex coacervation in Perry’s lab.
According to the Perry website, “Complex coacervation is a phase-separation phenomenon resulting from the electrostatic complexation of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes. The resultant coacervate is a dense, polymer-rich liquid retaining both water and salt and is common in everyday-life applications such as processed food, cosmetics, Kindle® displays, and the natural adhesives used by sessile marine animals.”
As Villariny-Rosado said upon receiving the WIC Travel Award, “At every stage of my career, I have had the amazing opportunity to be directly mentored by women in high research and managerial positions, serving as an example and inspiration to continue my career in research. Thanks to their support and encouragement in every step of the way, I value the importance and work that the WIC community does to connect amazing people across different disciplines.”
Villariny-Rosado earned her M.S. in Chemical Engineering from UMass Amherst in 2023 in the lab of CBE Adjunct Professor Omar Abdelrahman in the field of electrocatalysis. In addition, she served as a Material Sciences Intern at florrent for seven months in 2024.