Second Summer Sustainability Scholars Session Sprouts Scientific Studies at Rose-Hulman
Sustainability and protecting the environment have always felt, well, natural to sophomore chemical engineering major Alasdair Curts. His parents — an environmental science teacher and a leader of a nature center — instilled in him a love of and an appreciation for the natural world.
"My parents would always take me outdoors and show me all these different things outside. I was interested in preserving the beauty that I saw," Curts said. "I've just never had a chance to actually get experience working in it."
Curts let his passion sprout on campus this summer as part of Rose-Hulman's second Summer Sustainability Scholars cohort. Four students worked alongside Rose-Hulman faculty on paid, discipline-specific research, emphasizing the incorporation of sustainability into engineering and design.
After just his first year of coursework, Curts planted roots in research, working alongside Alfred R. Schmidt Endowed Chair for Excellence in Teaching and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Jenny Mueller, PhD, to determine how native plant varieties affect the water runoff and evapotranspiration rates of green roof structures in Indiana.
Other projects lifted off the soil, rather than digging into it. Irene Lema Madueno, a senior mechanical engineering major, explored electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft with Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Kevin Haughn, PhD. Throughout the summer, they examined how shifting the center of mass in these vehicles impacted their efficiency and stability.
"It just felt so good to know that there are people at Rose that want to see you succeed and want to see you make exciting discoveries that help the world out," said Lema Madueno.
Lema Madueno noted that vertical takeoff and landing capabilities enable aircraft to minimize the land area needed to connect people and places. Anthony Chapman, a junior chemistry major, also investigated connections and bonds throughout the program.
Chapman, alongside Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Amy Lane, PhD, researched the sustainable extraction of a new diketopiperazine. They explored the synthesis of potentially medicinal compounds through bacterial means rather than through potentially harmful chemical synthesis. Chapman also ran experiments to determine if certain extraction methods created more of the compound with lower amounts of organic solvents, cutting down the waste and costs of production.
Throughout the summer, Chapman and Lane successfully identified the molecular structure of this new compound.
"It felt pretty great!" Chapman said. "The polycyclic structure of the molecule itself is visually striking, and I immediately shared it with my parents because of how excited I felt."
Some of the Summer Sustainability Scholars, including Jarko Rumbaoa, developed skills and connections outside their primary academic departments. Rumbaoa, a sophomore studying chemical engineering, worked with Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Namita Shreshta, PhD. Using a sludge sample from Speedway wastewater, Rumbaoa tested the anaerobic digestion of two different food influents — banana peels and jasmine rice — to understand their impact on biogas production, process and operational sustainability, and system performance. Rumbaoa utilized the Armfield W8, a bench-scale anaerobic digester.
"It was definitely a different realm than what I'm used to," Rumbaoa said. "I can definitely apply it to future roles and endeavors, especially in industry or if I decide to go to grad school."
Rose-Hulman students who completed on-campus research through other programs also joined the August poster session. They included Heaven Smith, who studied the dissolution and regeneration of epoxy metal oxide nanocomposites, and Jayne McCormack and Abbey Hileman, who extended the work done by a senior capstone design team to create reusable, sustainable project materials for Rose-Hulman course projects. Anahita Adhikari also worked with Rumbaoa on the anaerobic digestion project.
The Summer Sustainability Scholars program was created in 2025 in support of Rose-Hulman's Advancing By Design strategic plan. With the goal of infusing sustainability into the Rose-Hulman education and culture, the Summer Sustainability Scholars program aims to increase the breadth and depth of educational opportunities related to sustainability while increasing the value of a Rose-Hulman education.
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