By Marlese Lessing

Undergraduate students from the department of Materials Science and Engineering proved victorious in a friendly soccer match against Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) undergraduates on Sunday, as the two groups competed and mingled with each other given the overlap in their majors.

The game, organized by student outreach clubs UConn Material Advantage (UCMA) and the UConn chapter of American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AlChE), helped the students in both organizations learn more about each other, said UCMA president Kenna Ritter.

“We figured that Chemical Engineers and Materials Engineers have a lot of similarities between our fields so joint events just made sense to us,” Ritter said. “We happen to have some competitive people in our major too, so both clubs jumped at the chance for a friendly game.”

Department Head Bryan Huey showed up to enjoy the competition and, in the end, celebrate the victory.

“It’s natural for MSE and CBE to meet up over an oversized Bucky ball, since traditional soccer balls look just like a C60 molecule, Huey said. “Probably the best part of all was how this connected students four years apart, across majors, and drew men and women on both sides. Next time we’ll see what sport gets arranged—and instead of sitting at the sidelines, I might even sub in. Regardless, I hope this will become an annual tradition—winning the trophy, that is.”

Ritter worked with AIChE president Alex Olivera to put together the event, which attracted students from freshman to senior years. She added that with the success of this weekend’s game there will be more collaborations to come between the two groups.

“I was especially happy to see a lot of freshman come, I love seeing people get involved with clubs early on in their time at UConn,” Ritter said. Undergraduate MSE senior Justin Greenwood and undergraduate CBE senior Michael Castelpoggi were instrumental in getting this game started. Alex and I both hope to plan more joint UCMA-AIChE events this year- social or otherwise. Everyone had a great time!”