The theme of this year’s 2021 AIChE Annual Meeting and Annual Student Conference is Building the Bridge in 21st Century Education. There are numerous events this year that focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) to help our profession build the bridge by acknowledging and welcoming diversity of all kinds within chemical engineering across academia and industry.
AIChE’s IDEAL statement articulates AIChE’s belief that all who wish to be a part of the chemical engineering community should have equal opportunity to pursue and achieve success. Learn more about AIChE’s IDEAL path towards equity, diversity and inclusion.
Please see below for a complete list of EDI events. Be sure to register!
Public Affairs and AIChE: A PAIC Town Hall
Sunday, November 7, 3:00 PM – 4:15 PM ET
Join us for AIChE’s Public Affairs & Information Committee (PAIC) third annual Town Hall discussion. We want your input, so come engage with us on priorities for the future. We want to hear from members and all divisions, forums, operating councils, etc. on focus areas for interaction with the government.
Workshop: Social Justice and Chemical Engineering
Sunday, November 7, 3:30 PM – 6:00 PM ET
This workshop will inform participants of the current important and critical social justice and responsibility topics impacting us today. Participants will learn how to incorporate these topics into their courses and also how to best leverage these ideas to further enhance their students’ ethical and societal professional training.
Unconscious Bias
Monday, November 8, 8:00 AM – 10:30 AM ET
Join our in-person presentation and panel discussion on unconscious bias and why it matters in STEM and engineering.
WIC Keynote Featuring Networking Breakfast & Poster Session
Monday, November 8, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM ET
Join us for the WIC Keynote that features networking, breakfast, and a poster session. This is a ticketed event.
Academia-Industry Partnership: What New Graduates Should Know
Monday, November 8, 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM ET
The presentation will focus on aligning what industry and academia expect of new graduates. A discussion will follow.
Leaders Driving EDI through Culture Change with Stakeholders
Monday, November 8,12:30 PM – 3:00 PM ET
This session will be a workshop to introduce concepts about EDI journey maturity, explore the different typologies of the journey and focus on stakeholder identification, engagement and enlistment in the journey that creates and sustains meaningful change over time.
MAC Eminent Engineers Awards Poster Session
Monday, November 8, 5:30 PM – 6:00 PM ET
Attend the MAC Eminent Engineers Awards Poster Session.
MAC Eminent Engineers Awards Ceremony
Monday, November 8, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM ET
Join MAC as they honor the Eminent Engineer Award recipients, MAC’s most prestigious award, recognizing outstanding achievements from a professional in a traditional chemical engineering position or from a chemical engineer making significant contributions in a non-traditional profession.
Minority Affairs Committee (MAC) 30th-Anniversary Celebration Reception
Monday, November 8, 7:45 PM - 9:00 PM ET
Following the ceremony, join MAC to celebrate the organization’s 30th anniversary.
Allies and Advocates Training
Tuesday, November 9, 8:00 AM – 10:30 AM ET
The Allies and Advocates Training Session is for department chairs (or their representatives), university and industry leaders. Speakers will discuss diversity action plans, EDI committees, accountability and transparency, and a department and leader’s role.
MFF/MAC Real Talk: Navigating the Academic Career Path for Influence, Impact, and Success
Tuesday, November 9, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM ET
This session will focus on becoming a greater influencer in the academic community and the field of chemical engineering as a minority faculty member.
LGBTQ+ & Allies Safe Zone Workshop
Tuesday, November 9, 12:30 PM – 3:00 PM ET
This workshop is an opportunity for allies and LGBTQ+ to learn more about the current engineering culture, terminology, microaggressions, and unconscious bias. Strategies will be shared and discussed on creating a more inclusive classroom and workplace.
Academia-Industry Partnership: Preparing Students to Be Leaders in Industry (Invited Talks)
Tuesday, November 9, 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM ET
This session will focus on preparing students to be industry leaders. It also includes a panel discussion.
LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Engineering: Advocating for Minorities
Tuesday, November 9, 3:30 PM – 6:00 PM ET
This panel discussion will focus on how to become an effective ally as part of a separate minority group within engineering. Actionable suggestions will be shared that various minority communities can use in their careers to help AIChE realize the goals of the IDEAL Statement for all members.
LGBTQ+ & Allies Social & Meet and Greet
Tuesday, November 9, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM ET
Join us for our LGBTQ+ & Allies social. It’s a chance for young professionals to meet and hear from more-experienced professionals while enjoying a cocktail (or mocktail). Hear from industry and academic leaders about their support for the initiative and network meet new contacts who are LGBTQ+ or supporting allies.
IDEAL Featured Session: A Conversation on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Wednesday, November 10, 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM ET
This year’s meeting theme deals with the crucial partnership between academia and industry for the 21st century. In keeping with this theme and with AIChE’s recent adoption of the IDEAL Statement, this session will bring together critical perspectives from the chemical engineering community to address the importance of early adoption of equity, diversity and inclusion efforts in an educational setting so that these principles can take root and last in the professional setting.
IDEAL Reception
Wednesday, November 10, 5:15 PM – 7:00 PM ET
Join us in celebrating MAC, DORIC, WIC, and the LGBTQ+ community at the IDEAL reception.
The Science of Intersectionality
Monday, November 15, 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM ET
This session will explore the science of intersectionality, the effects on chemical engineers, and what organizations are doing to be more inclusive.
WIC Virtual Keynote
Monday, November 15, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM ET
Join us for an event to honor and recognize exemplary students, mentors, and professionals. It will be highlighted by a keynote speaker and will offer a great opportunity to connect with chemical engineers from academia and industry.
Step Up! From Bystander to Action
Monday, November 15, 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM ET
This workshop, primarily targeted at graduate students but open to all, will provide training on what to do when you witness discrimination or harassment.
Retaining Women in Chemical Engineering Careers
Tuesday, November 16, 3:30 PM – 6:00 PM ET
In this session, women who have left or remained in the engineering workforce will share their experiences and present tools and solutions to help other women navigate difficult workplace environments. The session will also explore how companies can attract and retain women engineers.
The Hard Skills of Emotional Intelligence for Effective Engineering Leaders
Thursday, November 18, 8:00 AM – 10:30 AM ET
This workshop, featuring Dr David Caruso of Yale’s Center for Emotional Intelligence (EI), focuses on the ability model of emotional intelligence and begins with a hands-on illustration of the four “hard” skills of EI, followed by demonstrations of the notion that “emotions are data” and the cognitive costs of emotion suppression.
View the complete list of EDI events.
This initiative is supported by the AIChE Foundation's Doing a World of Good Campaign.
AIChE Foundation – All for Good Campaign
Learn more about AIChE’s Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives.