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July 2, 2025

Ahsan earns Grainger Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship

Written By: Jason Daley

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Sara Ahsan, a PhD student in chemical and biological engineering, has received a 2025-26 Grainger Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, a prestigious honor for doctoral students in the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering.

Sara Ahsan

Ahsan is a member of Duane H. and Dorothy M. Bluemke Assistant Professor Siddarth Krishna’s lab, where she studies the reactivity and stability of supported metal catalysts that mediate hydrogen storage reactions in liquid hydrogen carriers. This work could help enable long-duration storage and transport of hydrogen, a potential source of sustainable energy.

Ahsan earned her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistan, before working as a process engineer for Engro Fertilizers for six years. She then earned a master’s degree in civil engineering focused on water resources/environmental engineering from Florida Atlantic University.

As a third-year graduate student at UW-Madison, Ahsan has already had a productive research career. She has developed an impressive array of technical skills in the synthesis, structural characterization, and reaction testing of catalyst materials for hydrogen storage chemistries. Her work has led to lead-author publications in the Chemical Engineering Journal and ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, both prestigious journals in sustainable catalysis research.

Ahsan is also known for being an outstanding mentor, guiding undergraduate researcher Sirinada Chanthachaiwat to successes, including co-authorship on a research article, a competitive UW-Madison Hilldale Undergraduate Research Fellowship, and acceptance to the graduate program at the University of California-Berkeley.

Ahsan is also a volunteer for MRSEC outreach events and is UW-Madison’s  Institutional Representative of the Catalysis Club of Chicago. Perhaps most impressive, Ahsan has achieved so much while balancing her responsibilities as the mother of two small children.

“Sara’s immense talent, dedication, and passion for research have enabled her to play an irreplaceable role in the Krishna Research Group’s successes to date,” wrote R. Byron Bird Department Chair, Karen and William Monfre Professor and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor Brian Pfleger in his nomination letter. “I am certain she will continue to positively impact the CBE Department and the College of Engineering, continuing her stellar trajectory in her graduate career and beyond.”