More than 2,200 chemical engineers, process safety professionals, and allied stakeholders worldwide surveyed their profession at the 2024 AIChE Spring Meeting and 20th Global Congress on Process Safety (GCPS) — held Mar. 24–28 in New Orleans, LA.
Looking to the future and the pivotal roles that chemical engineers will play in shaping industry and society, the Spring Meeting showcased the breadth of chemical engineering contributions in a program incorporating nearly 200 technical sessions. The meeting’s focus on emerging opportunities for chemical engineers was spotlighted in topical conferences devoted to the energy transition and advanced manufacturing — the latter incorporating resource-efficient techniques in process intensification, as well as Industry 4.0 concepts such as cybersecurity, digitalization, and data analytics.
Programming organized by AIChE’s Fuels and Petrochemicals Div. ranged from traditional fuel production to considerations of how the oil and gas industries are adapting to the changing landscape of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonization. Other topical conferences included the 36th Ethylene Producers’ Conference, as well as tracks devoted to distillation, refinery processing, gas utilization, hydrogen safety, plastics circularity, and more.
The meeting’s technical content was enhanced by plenaries, keynote talks, panel discussions, poster sessions, exhibits, and networking events. In addition to the events illustrated in the accompanying photos, AIChE’s Process Development Div. hosted a keynote by Shyamal Bej (Shell), who described process development in the conversion of sustainable feedstocks into low-carbon fuels. Another plenary highlighted the importance of data analytics and artificial intelligence in improving process safety, reliability, and productivity.
AIChE extends its appreciation to the meeting’s session chairs, presenters, volunteers, and sponsors, and offers special thanks to the Spring Meeting Program Chair and Co-Chair — Tony Cai (Fractionation Research, Inc.) and Virginia Sommer (Fluor), respectively; and the Program Chair and Vice Chair for the Global Congress on Process Safety — Laura Ankrom (Process Safety Core Consulting) and Irfan Shaikh (Chevron), respectively.
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