Photo: Featured lecturers at the Virtual Annual Meeting: Top row, l. to r.: Frances Arnold, Michael Doherty, Alice Gast, Arturo Hernández-Maldonado. Bottom row, l. to r.: Cato Laurencin, Massimo Morbidelli, Michael Strano
AIChE’s first Virtual Annual Meeting takes place November 16–20. Organizers have adapted the meeting’s full array of technical sessions, lectures, panels, poster sessions, and networking events for online presentation.
Last week, ChEnected published a post detailing the Virtual Annual Meeting’s expansive technical program. In addition to exploring growth areas in chemical engineering research and application, the program incorporates new topical conferences that emphasize the need for new and diverse perspectives and skill sets to accomplish emerging societal challenges.
Featured lectures
The meeting programmers have assembled a slate of prominent guest speakers for the meeting’s featured lectures.
Monday, November 16:
The P. V. Danckwerts Lecture
This year’s lecture will be presented by Massimo Morbidelli, Professor and Dean at the Polytechnic University of Milan and Emeritus Professor at ETH Zurich, who will discuss integration and digitalization in the manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals.
The lecture is co-sponsored by AIChE, Elsevier, the Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), and the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE).
Tuesday, November 17:
The Andreas Acrivos Award for Professional Progress in Chemical Engineering Lecture
This lecture will be given by AIChE’s 2019 Acrivos Award recipient, Michael S. Strano, Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Strano’s lecture is entitled “Two Sides of the Same Leaf: Fluids Under Extreme Confinement and the Nanotechnology of Living Plants.”
The James E. Bailey Award Lecture
Presented by AIChE’s Society for Biological Engineering (SBE), this lectureship honors the memory of biotechnology pioneer Jay Bailey.
The 2020 Bailey Award recipient is Cato T. Laurencin, University Professor and Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor, and Chief Executive Officer of the Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering at the University of Connecticut. A pioneer in regenerative engineering, Laurencin will describe the status and future prospects of tissue engineering.
Wednesday, November 18:
John M. Prausnitz AIChE Institute Lecture
The AIChE Foundation has endowed this lectureship in recognition of John M. Prausnitz (University of California, Berkeley), pioneer of engineering-oriented molecular thermodynamics.
The 72nd Institute Lecture will be given by Michael F. Doherty, the Duncan and Suzanne Mellichamp Chair in Process Systems Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In his talk, “Innovation at the Frontiers of Chemical Engineering Practice and Science,” Doherty will survey process systems engineering and discuss the potential impacts of the transition from batch to continuous manufacturing in the pharmaceuticals industry.
Presidential Lecture
Inaugurated in 2019, the Presidential Lecture showcases some of the significant contributions that chemical engineers and associated professionals are making today.
The 2020 Presidential Lecture will be delivered by Frances H. Arnold, the Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry at the California Institute of Technology. In her talk, “Engineering by Evolution: Bringing New Chemistry to Life,” Arnold will discuss her work in creating new enzyme catalysts and expanding the chemistry of life to include reactions that nature may not have explored.
Thursday, November 19:
William R. Schowalter Lecture
Established in 2019 and endowed by the AIChE Foundation, this lecture honors fluid mechanics pioneer William Schowalter (Princeton University).
The 2020 lecture will be given by Alice P. Gast, President of University College London, who will discuss Schowalter’s legacy in her talk “On the Shoulders of Giants: Lessons in Leadership and Collaboration from Bill Schowalter.”
IACChE James Y. Oldshue Lecture
In this year’s lecture, Arturo Hernández-Maldonado, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, will discuss advances in the design of porous materials for the adsorption of water contaminants.
The lecture is presented in alternate years by AIChE and the Inter-American Confederation of Chemical Engineering (IACChE). The lecture honors James Oldshue, an important leader and supporter of both organizations.
For a preview of the 2020 Annual Meeting’s expansive technical program, see this post.
Stay informed about the Virtual Annual Meeting and plan your participation at www.aiche.org/annual.