I recently saw a television commercial that caught my attention and provided “food for thought.” The ad begins with a young girl opening a birthday gift, and is delighted when she sees that it is a Millie Dresselhaus doll. A…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA; Washington, D.C.; www.epa.gov) has recently announced the winners of this year’s Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards. This recognition is given for innovations that create business opportunities from solutions to potential environmental problems — endeavors…
As a provider of practical information and news for the chemical process industries (CPI) since 1902, Chemical Engineering strives to bring recognition to, and help advance the chemical engineering profession. One way we do this is by offering assistance to…
Much hard work goes into developing new processes and products, and few of these developments make it to commercialization. Those innovative technologies that have been commercialized are honored by Chemical Engineering through the Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering Achievement Award, which is…
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB; Washington, D.C.; www.csb.gov) is a federal agency that is charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. The Board was created to operate independently of other agencies and its principal role, as described on its website,…
Last month, special recognition to water-related issues was given on March 22, the date designated by the United Nations as “World Water Day.” The first World Water Day was observed in 1993, and has been celebrated every year since. The…
In these times of fast-changing automation, more and more companies are talking about “going digital.” Converting to digital data is not new, but thanks to new, enabling technologies, today’s digital culture has evolved into something far beyond what could have…
The news making recent headlines in my local area is the announcement of the closing of the Indian Point nuclear power plant in New York State. Whether to keep the plant running or not has been a long-debated issue, with…
Every other year, Chemical Engineering honors the most-noteworthy chemical engineering technology that was commercialized anywhere in the world during the previous two years with the Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering Achievement Award. The nominations for 2017 are now open. The Kirkpatrick Award…
December 2015 marked a landmark international agreement to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in order to limit the rise in global temperatures to less than 2°C above pre-industrial temperatures. This agreement, made at the 21st Conference of the Parties to…