Category: Alumni

From Gator to groundbreaker: Engineering alumnus shares lessons in grit, growth and giving back
September 29, 2025Albert DaCosta (BS ‘98) returned to his old stomping grounds recently to discuss life after the University of Florida and offer advice for future graduates.
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Alumni Spotlight: Sunil Roy reflects on his ‘profound’ time at UF
July 11, 2025Sunil Roy’s journey started in India, wove though Gainesville and – for now – landed him in Silicon Valley. He came back to UF in January and spoke to students about those years, and more specifically, his experiences at the University of Florida.
Read more »Alumni Spotlight – Ryan J. Montes, Ph.D.
May 4, 2025Ryan Montes’ upbringing in a “humble Latin family” in Florida may seem so different from his experiences at the University of Florida and his career path. But, in reality, their tightly held family values, such as hard work, resilience, and focus on pursuing a better life, are why he has thrived in his field. These […]
Read more »From Graduate Student to Faculty: How Networking Helped Hansel Montalvo Find His Path to Academia
December 11, 2024Until recently, Hansel Montalvo was a fourth-year Ph.D. student exploring reaction mechanisms and material catalysts to produce alkenes and aromatics. However, it’s networking that helped him get selected into two prestigious programs this summer and helped him determine his next career step. Montalvo met Beata Kilos, Ph.D., a Dow Fellow, when she delivered a graduate […]
Read more »Alumni Spotlight: Buettner and Cocco
May 21, 2024Particle Technology Forum Recognizes Two Chemical Engineering Alums Two alumni from the UF Department of Chemical Engineering were recognized at the recent Particle Technology Forum (PTF), which is part of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). The purpose of the forum is to “promote information exchange, scholarship, research and education in the field of […]
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Alumni Spotlight: Inspiring Students with ‘Big-Picture’ Ideas
May 11, 2023At the Graduate Association of Chemical Engineers (GRACE) annual Symposium, John Blazeck, Ph.D. (ChE B.S. ’07), delivered a captivating keynote speech on his research and shared two big-picture ideas for combating cancer. He is exploring two innovative approaches to help the body fight cancer: using enzymes to fix cancer cells’ metabolism to boost the body’s immune system and […]
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Alumni Spotlight: Marissa Dockendorf, Ph.D.
November 3, 2022Marissa Dockendorf, Ph.D., (Ph.D. ChE ’05), Executive Director, Head of Global Digital Analytics & Technologies at Merck & Co. Inc., presented to students in the Department of Chemical Engineering about her career progression through industry. Dr. Dockendorf has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 14 years and at Merck for 10 of those years. She […]
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The Shroff Family Creates a Legacy of Giving
November 1, 2022After graduating from the University of Florida in 1965 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, and then earning his master’s in engineering and an MBA, Jayant Shroff worked for 10 years in R&D jobs at Fortune 500 companies including Bell Labs, AT&T, Lucent Technologies, and ExxonMobil Research and Engineering. His professional career in the […]
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Alumni Spotlight: Havala O. T. Pye, Ph.D.
October 26, 2021Havala O. T. Pye, Ph.D., (BSCHE ’05), Research Scientist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), presented to students in the Department of Chemical Engineering how chemical engineering is used in research at a regulatory agency, and what it is like to work for the federal government as a scientist. Dr. Pye’s work at […]
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Alumni Spotlight: Kevin Lin
April 12, 2021Kevin Lin, (BSCHE ‘15), Senior R&D Engineer at PepsiCo, presented to students in the Department of Chemical Engineering how he applies artificial intelligence (AI) in his job at PepsiCo Research and Development. While working in the Foods R&D Applied AI team, Lin leads projects to apply machine vision and machine learning to streamline manufacturing processes […]
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