Grace is currently pursuing a B.S. in Chemical Engineering at UB. Her decision to pursue an engineering degree stemmed from her interest in chemistry and mathematics during high school. Furthermore, she wanted to choose an undergraduate major that can offer a degree of flexibility and options in the workforce. Grace pursued the Rotary Youth Exchange Program in Latvia before she started her undergraduate studies. After graduating with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from UB, she plans to work in industry. Grace’s current research focuses on the steam methane reforming reaction that is used in industry and produces heavy carbon emissions. One research area involves adding an adsorbent to capture CO2, leveraging Le Chatelier’s principle to enhance H2 production. This approach is referred to as sorbent-enhanced steam methane reforming. An alternative to steam is dry methane reforming, however, has a tendency for catalyst coking. Thus, arises the need for Grace to study promising catalysts such as nickel that are coking resistant.
