Sydney Braithwaite Represents CBEE at UMBC's Fall Opening Meeting

On August 18, 2026, incoming Chemical Engineering PhD student Sydney Braithwaite (Blaney) was invited to speak on behalf of new graduate students at UMBC's Fall Opening Meeting, held at the Retriever Activities Center. Introduced by the University President and addressing a room of several hundred faculty and staff, Sydney shared her inspiring journey to UMBC.

Sydney spoke about her first research experience as a participant in the BeMore REU program, publishing her first paper, and earning an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to study the transformation of contaminants in drinking water systems. She credited her mentor, Dr. Blaney, with believing in her before she believed in herself. We are proud that Sydney was invited to represent CBEE at this event and look forward to watching her thrive as a researcher.