Among the honorees at AIChE’s 2023 “Empowering Possibilities” Gala (December 7) were (from left): Samir Mitragotri, the Hiller Professor of Bioengineering and the Hansjorg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, and Erin Kane, President and CEO at AdvanSix. Photo credit: Natural Expressions NY Photography.
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) celebrated the contributions of the companies and the leaders of AdvanSix Inc. and Air Products, and showcased the good works of chemical engineers and their employers, at the 2023 AIChE Gala, held December 7 in New York City.
AdvanSix Inc. — a diversified chemistry company that produces essential materials in a wide variety of end markets and applications that touch people’s lives — was honored for its commitment to operational excellence and for its outstanding record of gender diversity in the company's leadership, ,and for championing an inclusive workforce. The award for AdvanSix was accepted by Erin Kane, the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
In accepting the award at the gala, Kane shared “AdvanSix is grounded in our focus on good chemistry. We take pride in our focus on safe, stable and sustainable operations, and our commitment to have a positive and lasting impact in the communities in which we operate. Our next chapter as a diversified chemistry company would not be possible without our company’s focus on driving an inclusive culture.” Reflecting on the Doing a World of Good campaign, she added “I am inspired by what may come next as we collectively foster the next generation of chemical industry leaders.”
Also honored at the Gala was Air Products — an industrial gases company that serves a breadth of industries, including the energy sector. In addition to its innovative sustainable-energy solutions, Air Products’ Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer Seifi Ghasemi was recognized for fostering an inclusive and equitable workforce.
With Air Products’ higher purpose of bringing diverse groups of people together to collaborate, innovate and find solutions to the significant energy and environmental challenges, the Company is striving to build a workforce that reflects the places where it does business. Chief Human Resources Officer Victoria Brifo noted that by bringing different ideas and perspectives to the table, “we are able to take on big challenges, think about those challenges differently, and innovate solutions that are more inclusive and equitable.”
The gala also honored Samir Mitragotri, the Hiller Professor of Bioengineering and the Hansjorg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. Mitragotri’s bioengineering innovations include needle-free drug delivery via patient-friendly skin patches and pills. He was lauded for his pioneering work in the treatment of diabetes, cancer, skin diseases, multiple sclerosis, and other afflictions.
Mitragotri thanked the AIChE foundation for recognizing drug delivery as a prominent contribution of chemical engineers to the field of medicine. “Chemical engineering has already had a deep impact on medicine, and I believe that the journey has just started,” he said, adding “Engineering will continue to drive the future of medicine, and future therapies will be realized by engineers.”
Organized around the theme “empowering possibilities,” the 2023 AIChE Gala raised more than $625,000 to underwrite programs designed to advance the chemical engineering profession by attracting and retaining diverse talent, and by investing in research that drives innovation for the benefit of society.
To date, AIChE’s Doing a World of Good campaign has raised more than $51 million toward those objectives.
The 2023 Gala’s chairs were Bruce Chinn, President and CEO of Chevron Phillips Chemical; Jonathan S. Lock, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Chemours Company; Katie McDonald, Vice President, Corporate Communications and Corporate Relations at Air Products; Karen McKee, President of ExxonMobil Product Solutions Company and Vice President of ExxonMobil Corporation; John Sampson, Senior Vice President, Operations, Manufacturing, and Engineering at Dow; Kelly Slieter, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at AdvanSix; John Y. Televantos, Senior Partner at Arsenal Capital Partners; and Gavin P. Towler, Corporate Chief Scientist, Sustainability Technologies, Honeywell.
For more information about AIChE’s 2023 Gala, including details about its honorees and supporters, visit www.aiche.org/gala.
About AIChE: AIChE is a professional society of more than 60,000 members in more than 110 countries. Its members work in corporations, universities and government using their knowledge of chemical processes to develop safe and useful products for the benefit of society. Through its varied programs, AIChE continues to be a focal point for information exchange on the frontier of chemical engineering research in such areas as nanotechnology, sustainability, hydrogen fuels, biological and environmental engineering, and chemical plant safety and security. More information about AIChE is available at www.aiche.org.