ASU junior wins national chemical engineering Minority Scholarship Award
After competitions and panels at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers conference, Allan Smith Buyinza was granted the Minority Scholarship Award during the Student Conference Awards Ceremony.
The selection process for the renewable scholarship was comprehensive, including a concise career essay, a letter of recommendation and a transcript, among other considerations.
“I think there should be an increase of minority groups in the workforce, and particularly engineering, because of the diversity of talent that comes along with it,” Buyinza said. “The good news is that every individual in their uniqueness has something extraordinary that they are gifted with, talents that only need to be nurtured and allowing various groups of minorities to work with the rest of the world allows the growth of such talents.”
The junior was also proud to be representing Arizona State University at the national level during the conference. Not only was he the recipient of the award, but he is also student volunteer chair of the ASU student chapter of AIChE. Additionally, he was an active competitor during the conference.
“It was a great experience meeting and mingling with the students from different universities, sharing with recruiters from different companies and, most importantly, competing for ASU in the Chem-E Car competitions,” he said.
As a chemical engineering major, Buyinza is interested in developing new sustainable energy technologies.
“I want to help as much as I can to develop new environmentally friendly energy sources for Uganda and the rest of the world that are still struggling with energy-related issues,” Buyinza said.
