Our group shows a strong presence at the 2015 Symposium by the Organization of Chemical Engineering Graduate Students (OChEGS) at the University of Houston with a total of 6 presentations and two notable honors. Byeongjin Baek was selected to give the opening presentation on “Experimental and theoretical insights into the hydrogen-efficient direct hydrodeoxygenation mechanism of phenol over Ru/TiO2(110)”. Sashank Kasiraju received a Best Poster Award for his work towards answering the question “Is MoO3 a good hydrodeoxygenation catalyst?”. Both projects are funded by a DOE Early Career Award.