UA Engineering Student Wins Society of Women Engineers’ Poster Competition

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Amy Frees, a senior majoring in chemical and biological engineering from Huntsville, was recently selected as the national winner of the Society of Women Engineers’ undergraduate poster competition.

Frees traveled to the national conference held in Long Beach, Calif., earlier this month as a finalist in the poster competition, and she was named as the winner of the undergraduate division of the competition. The poster competition is designed to showcase the ability to deliver visual presentations.

Her poster, “Novel Materials for Triggered Cancer Therapy: Pulsed Release from Thermally-Responsive Polymer Gels,” was based on research done with Dr. Chris Brazel, associate professor of chemical engineering. The research aims to deliver chemotherapy to individual cancer cells and activate the drug by heat through magnetism without damaging the surrounding healthy cells.

The Society of Women Engineers was founded in 1950 as a not-for-profit educational and service organization that aims to empower women to succeed and advance in the field of engineering, and to be recognized for their life-changing contributions as engineers and leaders.

In 1837, The University of Alabama became one of the first five universities in the nation to offer engineering classes. Today, UA’s fully accredited College of Engineering has more than 2,700 students and over 100 faculty. In the last eight years, students in the College have been named USA TodayAll-USA College Academic Team members, Goldwater scholars, Hollings scholars and Portz scholars.