University of Iowa students claimed the ChemE Jeopardy national championship at the 2023 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) annual student conference in early November. 

The team is made up of current and former UI chemical engineering students: Nick Brunn, a May 2023 graduate; Liam Horan, a junior; Marie Ohlinger, who is expected to graduate in December; and Darrell Smith, a May 2023 graduate.

They defeated the winners of the nine regional conferences and 6 at-large teams to take home the title. Iowa has a strong record, winning the ChemE Jeopardy competition five times (2013, 2014, 2020, 2021, 2023) and taking runner-up four times in the 13 years of the competition. 

"We have incredible students at the University of Iowa that again proved they can compete and win against students from such schools as Georgia Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Texas Austin,” said David Murhammer, a professor of chemical and biochemical engineering and advisor of Iowa’s AIChE student chapter. 

In part supported by the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering (CBE) and the donations from CBE alumni through University of Iowa Center for Advancement, at least 17 undergraduate students, graduate students and recent alumni of Iowa's AIChE student chapter attended the national conference.  

Several Iowa students also earned individual honors at the four-day event that attracted student engineers from 200 schools along with young professional members, AIChE leaders, and industry professionals. 

• Liam Horan won the Donald F. Othmer Second Year Student Academic Excellence Award. 
• Olivia Dohm, a UI senior, won the 2022-2023 Donald F. & Mildred Topp Othmer Scholarship Award.  This is the eighth consecutive year a University of Iowa student has won this award. 
• Iowa’s AIChE student chapter won the outstanding chapter award.  This is the 19th consecutive year and 30th of the last 31 years that the University of Iowa has won this award. 
• Darrell Smith (along with teammates Alexa Barnes, Matthew Main, and Nathanial Massa) won the second-place award for the AIChE design problem. 

“Every student enjoyed the conference and was very grateful to be able to attend various professional workshops and network with other students and professors,” said Dohm, Iowa’s AIChE student chapter president.