Brian McConnell is a sophomore chemical engineering major and University Honors Program student from Peabody, Massachusetts. After taking a course called “Energy and the Environment,” Brian became interested in alternative energy and joined the team in Dr. Ihab Farag’s biodiesel research lab. Shortly thereafter, he was one of eight freshman honors students selected as a 2010 Research Experience and Apprenticeship Program (REAP) fellow. “This project has helped me prepare for future advanced-level research,” says Brian, who hopes to attend graduate school to continue this line of research.
Brian’s mentor, Dr. Ihab H. Farag, has been a professor in the UNH Chemical Engineering Department for 35 years. He conducts extensive research into the areas of microalgae biodiesel, bio-oil quality improvement, energy efficiency, and pollution prevention. Professor Farag is no stranger to mentoring undergraduate students, but working with Brian McConnell was his first time nominating and mentoring a REAP student. “Having a well-motivated student, like Brian, I used a mix of the different mentoring approaches,” says Farag. “This helped me to provide Brian with a strong learning and research experience... supervising Brian’s research also helped me sharpen my mentoring and teaching skills.”
Read Brian McConnell's article Producing Biodiesel from Microalgae Grown in Municipal Wastewater from Dover, New Hampshire >>
