Chemical Engineers Worldwide Will Convene at Conference Showcasing Technical Innovations and Eminent Lecturers, Nov. 13–18 in Phoenix, AZ

NEW YORK CITY — The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) will spotlight the crucial role that chemical engineers play in serving the needs of society and industry during the organization’s 2022 Annual Meeting, to be held in Phoenix, Arizona, November 13–18.

Chemical engineering researchers, practitioners, entrepreneurs, and affiliated stakeholders will gather at the conference, where they will explore the field’s latest developments and opportunities to apply chemical engineering expertise to help solve problems in energy, manufacturing, health care, and resource sustainability — to name some of the topics on the agenda.

The meeting’s overarching theme — “Powering the Future” — emphasizes the ways in which   chemical engineering expertise is shaping the future of industry and contributing to a better way of life. In addition to sessions devoted to chemical engineering fundamentals, the conference will examine new areas of research and application — including chemical engineering’s influence on medicine and health care, sustainable pathways toward hydrogen-based and synthetic fuels, new materials as energy solutions, and the use of sensors in advancing industries’ sustainability goals. The evolving engineering workforce will be surveyed in sessions devoted to building a fully inclusive profession.

Other topical conferences cover the challenges involved in managing waste plastics, opportunities in the emerging field of regenerative engineering, innovations in process engineering, and applications of data science to molecules and materials. The Next-Generation Manufacturing conference incorporates topics such as 3D printing, Industry 4.0, smart manufacturing, process intensification, the industrial internet of things, and cybersecurity. These topics and others will be explored at more than 700 technical sessions.

At the associated Annual Student Conference (November 11–14), chemical engineering undergraduates will take part in career workshops, scholarly competitions, research poster presentations, and networking events. Highlights include a welcome keynote address by Dan Coombs, Executive Vice President (retired) at LyondellBasell; a graduate recruitment fair; and the 24th running of AIChE’s Chem-E-Car Competition. Also, at the K-12 STEM Showcase, chemical engineering undergraduates will exhibit chemical engineering principles to an audience of local pre-college students.

With its emphasis on technical innovation and the professional growth of chemical engineers, AIChE’s Annual Meeting is the foremost educational forum for chemical engineers working in research and development. Organizers expect 5,000 professional engineers, scientists, and business leaders to attend the meeting to gain insight into the field’s growth areas and to connect with other professionals.

Special events:

• The meetings theme — “Powering the Future” — comes into focus at a panel discussion on Monday, November 14, where thought leaders from industry, academia, and government agencies will reflect on opportunities for chemical engineers to help solve societal and global problems while helping to create a sustainable future. Additional future-focused perspectives will be shared at a panel discussion about the findings of the recent Report by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (Sunday, November 13) — which points to new directions for engineers in addressing the needs of society, educational institutions, and industry.
• The Langer Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Excellence Lecture (November 14) will be presented by 2022 fellowship recipient Tae Seok Moon, Council Member of The Engineering Biology Research Consortium. Moon will discuss his use of microbial engineering techniques to up-cycle waste plastics for new products.
• On November 14, the James Y. Oldshue Lecture — co-organized by AIChE and the Interamerican Confederation of Chemical Engineering (IACChE) — will be presented by David Suleiman, Professor at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. He will discuss nanostructured polymers for energy efficient devices. Also, the P. V. Danckwert Lecture, co-sponsored by AIChE, Elsevier, the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), and the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE), will be given by Diane Hildebrandt, Distinguished Professor in Future Energy at South Africa’s University of Witwatersrand.
• The Andreas Acrivos Award for Professional Progress in Chemical Engineering Lecture (Tuesday, November 15) will be delivered by AIChE’s 2021 Acrivos Award recipient, Kristala L. Jones Prather, the Arthur D. Little Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prather will discuss microbial chemical factories, and the design, assembly, and engineering of biological routes to chemical compounds.
• The James E. Bailey Award Lecture (November 15) is sponsored by AIChE’s Society for Biological Engineering (SBE). The 2022 lecturer is Jonathan S. Dordick, Institute Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). His lecture is entitled “Exploiting Viruses that Kill and Killing Viruses that Exploit: Some Sweet Science.”
• The John M. Prausnitz AIChE Institute Lecture (Wednesday, November 16) will be presented by Elsa Reichmanis, Professor and Carl Robert Anderson Chair in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Lehigh University. AIChE’s 74th Institute Lecturer, Reichmanis will explain how surface chemistry considerations, coupled with interfaces and physical interactions, can impact the design of advanced materials for applications ranging from electronic devices to energy storage and conversion.
• The William R. Schowalter Lecture (November 16) is named for fluid mechanics pioneer Schowalter of Princeton University. The lecture will be given by John L. Anderson, President of the National Academy of Engineering. Anderson will discuss the benefits of an engineering mindset in leading technical organizations.

For a complete schedule of events and information about conference registration, visit www.aiche.org/annual.

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