Congratulations to the AY 2024/2025 and AY 2025/2026 Chemical Engineering Service Award winners

Congratulations to Yamile Cornejo Carrillo, Colin Crago, Mia Grahn, Michelle Quan, Milenia Rojas Mendoza, Vedika Shenoy, Diego Uruchurtu Patino, & Daiyao Zhang for winning Chemical Engineering Service Awards!

The Chemical Engineering department has been fortunate to have a graduate student population that is involved and engaged as well as invested in the department’s culture, direction and future. This award honors and recognizes these significant contributions to the department - going above and beyond the scope of their normal research and studies to help ensure our community thrives.

Colin Crago: Chemical Engineering Service Award AY 24/25

As a director for SSTEP, Colin expanded the program’s reach, recruited and paired graduate and postdoc mentors, and developed hands-on STEM activities for underserved high school students. He also excelled as a TA for ChemEng 20 by setting up lab demonstrations, delivering a lecture on catalysis, leading discussions, supporting graduate recruitment, and mentoring visiting summer students who have gone on to pursue PhDs.

Milenia Rojas Mendoza: Chemical Engineering Service Award AY 24/25

Milenia has contributed broadly to the Stanford community through leadership in campus life and student support programs. She served as a community assistant in EVGR, organized summer programs to support pre-college and pre-graduate students, participated in SSTEP and recruitment events, and co-led a workshop at AIChE on applying to graduate school. She collaborated with faculty and staff to create an informational resource for students outlining campus resources and key contacts, and she is developing a summer mentorship program pairing Stanford graduate students with high school seniors in Virginia to support college and scholarship applications.

Diego Uruchurtu Patino: Chemical Engineering Service Award AY 24/25

Diego has been the recruitment committee’s social coordinator for multiple years, going above and beyond to welcome prospective students by organizing social events, coordinating airport pickups, adding graduate residence tours, and restructuring poster presentations to reduce stress for visitors. He also mentors junior PhD students, leads regular mentoring meetings, and actively supports GSAC events and planning.

Daiyao Zhang: Chemical Engineering Service Award AY 24/25

Daiyao has been a pillar of student life, serving multiple years on GSAC, including as secretary, where she organized cohort-building events, documented meetings, and supported department-wide socials, mentoring panels, and consolidated student feedback. She also dedicated substantial time to graduate student recruitment, coordinating prospective student schedules and excursions, helping ensure successful recruitment weekends and a welcoming environment for new students.

Yamile Cornejo Carrillo: Chemical Engineering Service Award AY 25/26

Yamile’s service spans local schools and campus programs: co-directing SSTEP, coordinating SURF, co-presiding the Stanford Hydrogen Club, serving as a TA, tutoring with El Barrio, and providing Spanish–English interpretation for the Stanford–Pescadero project. She has also strengthened lab and departmental culture as a social chair and consistently brings care and inclusivity to every role she holds.

Mia Grahn: Chemical Engineering Service Award AY 25/26

Mia has been a dedicated GSAC leader, serving as mentoring chair and social chair, where she organized mentorship groups and events to support first-year PhD students and helped ensure prospective students felt welcomed during recruitment weekends. She is known for her kindness, reliability, and steady support of students at all levels.

Michelle Quan: Chemical Engineering Service Award AY 25/26

Michelle has contributed significantly through outreach, public engagement, and mentorship. She led a hands-on stimuli-responsive polymer activity at Stanford STEMfest that engaged hundreds of visitors, volunteered with the Stanford Polymer Collective, and served as a mentor for SSTEP and SURF participants and for undergraduates in the lab. She has supported community-building and undergraduate research engagement through programs such as SERIO and the ChemE REU, and she balances these service activities while maintaining strong research productivity.

Vedika Shenoy: Chemical Engineering Service Award AY 25/26

Vedika has held GSAC social chair responsibilities for multiple years and organized events that engage students across cohorts and strengthen the departmental community. She has also been an exceptional TA for Microhydrodynamics, preparing excellent discussion materials, staying late to help students, answering questions promptly, and supporting students beyond scheduled hours.