Catawba College

SALISBURY — Catawba College senior chemistry major Devan Shell of Ferguson, N.C., has been chosen as an awardee for the Future Leaders in Chemical Engineering Symposium, a national award symposium for undergraduate researchers, which will be held Oct. 21-22 on the campus of N.C. State University in Raleigh.

Shell’s research, titled “Design and fabrication of a soft, flexible antenna system for wearable biomedical devices,” was completed during his 2018 internship at N.C. State University, in collaboration with Taylor Neumann and Dr. Michael Dickey of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University.

At the October symposium, Shell will present his research, and then engage with attendees as they stop by his research poster.

Shell, who plans to pursue a Ph.D. in chemical engineering after he graduates from Catawba, had this to say about the award:

“I am very excited about the release of this news not necessarily for the personal recognition, but more so for the recognition of Catawba College. I love this place, and I want people to know that Catawba’s academic programs are some of the very best. With the help of both our faculty and staff, students within all academic fields are prepared to compete on the national level. This would also be a big selling point to incoming students who prioritize their academics above all else. Students are looking to shape the future, and Catawba aids and allows us to do so.”

The award committee took into consideration Shell’s overall research experience in making the award. He has been a part of, or conducted, a total of four research projects —two completed during the course of internships, one in 2017 at West Virginia University and the other in 2018 at N.C. State University, and two completed in-house at Catawba — and he is currently working on another in-house research project.

A member of the Catawba College honors srogram, Shell is president of Catawba’s chapter of the American Chemical Society and president of Gamma Sigma Epsilon Chemical Honors Society. He serves as a general and organic chemistry supplemental instruction tutor and a math center tutor at Catawba. Additionally, he is secretary of Beta Beta Beta Biological Honors Society and secretary of Phi Epsilon Honors Society. He also served as ALPHA orientation leader.