Center for Chemical Process Safety Names New Executive Director

The Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) of AIChE (the American Institute of Chemical Engineers) announced that Shakeel Kadri, currently director, global process safety and risk management, for Air Products & Chemicals, Inc., will become CCPS executive director in 2015. Kadri will replace Scott Berger, who is retiring at the end of January 2015.

In making the announcement, June Wispelwey, AIChE’s executive director, said that Kadri’s 36 years of experience at Air Products, provides “the hands-on experience and expertise that have made CCPS’s series of guidelines and conferences the world standard in process safety knowledge.” Wispelwey also commended Berger’s leadership in dramatically growing CCPS’s corporate membership and activities around the world. He has “laid the foundation for CCPS’s work improving the safety performance of the chemical, petroleum and pharmaceutical industries.”

Wispelwey noted that Kadri, a chemical engineer who also holds an MBA, will be assuming his new role as CCPS celebrates its 30th anniversary and continues implementing its Vision 20/20 program that describes the future of perfect process safety performance. Kadri expressed confidence that “CCPS’s strengths in industry and technical know-how, along with an increased global presence, will assure success in our mission of advancing process safety culture, guidelines, competency and management systems.”  He added, “We are also focused on assuring that the next generation of engineers has a thorough knowledge of process safety.”

In his current role at Air Products, Kadri has been instrumental in raising process safety and risk awareness among the company’s staff. His broad engagement with the industry has raised the company’s process safety leadership profile. He has developed a strong global process safety team, and has revitalized process safety performance measurement culture in the company.

Kadri previously served Air Products as global manager, process safety; manager and global leader, process safety; and global quality manager for engineering, among other safety and engineering assignments of increasing responsibility. He has also been actively involved with CCPS activities, with a special focus on risk-based process safety and on developing a process safety culture within companies.

In addition to his CCPS activities, Kadri is a Fellow of both CCPS and AIChE and has served on safety committees of the American Chemistry Council, the American Petroleum Institute,  the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center, the Compressed Gas Association, the European Industrial Gases and Association, and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers Association. He has authored a wide variety of publications, conference papers and a patent.

Kadri earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at the Dharmsinh Desai Institute of Technology of Gujarat University in India. This year he was honored by his alma mater as the inaugural Pioneer Role Model of the University. Kadri earned his master’s degree in chemical engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology, as well as an MBA at La Salle University. He is a resident of Allentown, Pennsylvania.