Ashley Figueiredo of Westfield, Mass., a biochemistry major at Sweet Briar College, has been named the College’s James Lewis Howe Award recipient for 2007-2008. The Howe award is given by the Virginia Blue Ridge Section of the American Chemical Society for outstanding achievement by college seniors.

The award is named in memory of a longtime professor and head of the chemistry department at Washington and Lee University in Lexington. Howe had a long and storied professional career, and he is considered one of the most distinguished chemists in the Blue Ridge Section, according to its Web site.

During her final year at Sweet Briar, Figueiredo is working with SBC associate professor of physics Hank Yochum on enhancement of electrochromic films using gold nanoparticles. She is applying to graduate schools to study chemistry or materials science, and recently learned that she has been accepted to the doctoral program in chemistry at Penn State.