University of Massachusetts student wins competitive green chemistry travel award

WASHINGTON, Dec.12, 2014— A Massachusetts university student is one of four U.S.-based students chosen to receive the 2014 Ciba Travel Award in Green Chemistry. The $2,000 stipend will allow these students to participate in an American Chemical Society scientific conference with a specific green chemistry component.

Zarif Farhana Mohd Aris is a doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts - Lowell , studying plastics engineering. She plans to attend the 19^th Annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference, July 14-16, 2015, in North Bethesda, Marland and present her research on surfactants from renewable materials.

The annual award, established in 2009, is administered by the ACS Green Chemistry Institute^®.

The students – chosen from among 33 finalists – will have opportunities to expand their education by attending symposia, networking and presenting their research. This year’s awardees’ research areas include green chemistry and engineering, environmental science, polymers and renewable materials.

Zarif Farhana Mohd Aris is from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Her research focuses on developing  non-toxic, environmental-friendly surfactants — compounds commonly used as detergents — derived from fruit waste and algae.

The other winners include: Boris Dyatkin from Drexel University, Laurene Petitjean from Yale University, and Zach Swingen from Augsburg College.

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The ACS Green Chemistry Institute^® is an impartial, scientific convener promoting the implementation of green chemistry and engineering across the global chemical enterprise. The Institute empowers people to reimagine chemistry and engineering for a sustainable future by offering educational resources, training and development opportunities for students, educators and researchers, and by convening industrial roundtables to promote industry collaboration around green chemistry issues. A part of the American Chemical Society, the Institute holds an annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference (gcande.org), the longest running conference on green chemistry in the country.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 161,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

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