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Welcome to another new year. We live in an amazing time where space travel has become routine, fusion reactors are more than a dream, and new biomedical technologies are improving our quality of life. It’s great to be a chemical engineer in 2025. I am excited to lead AIChE as its President during the coming year.
The theme of the AIChE Foundation’s recent Gala was “inspiring the power of good.” We can achieve this by cultivating and engaging a fully inclusive workforce, built by the diverse and talented professionals who are playing key roles in addressing today’s global challenges, such as energy poverty and climate change. AIChE’s IDEAL (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Anti-racism, Learning) principles enable us to attract and retain the best and brightest within the chemical engineering profession. “Inspiring the power of good” empowers us to build and navigate our future.
Following are a few reflections for the year ahead.
Remembering the past, building the future
Contributions that AIChE and our profession have made in the field of process engineering are another example of how we inspire the power of good. Trailblazers in process engineering have developed and implemented new commercial processes that create new products safely and efficiently. AIChE, in conjunction with the Science History Institute (SHI), is currently working to document these key contributions as a testament to chemical engineering’s spirit of innovation, perseverance, and excellence. I would like to recommend that AIChE, together with SHI, create a Process Engineering Wall of Fame to highlight key societal contributions made by the chemical engineering profession throughout our nearly 120 years of history.
The Institute for Learning & Innovation (ILI)
Today’s chemical engineers need specialized training within their field, with certifications that attest to their qualifications beyond a university degree. With an engineer’s need to continually “re-invent” themselves to keep pace with technology, specialized training that is universally recognized and accepted in the workplace is another part of a chemical engineer’s career of lifelong learning.
This lifelong learning is not just about accumulating knowledge; it’s about chemical engineers staying curious, adaptable, and proactive for their own professional development. AIChE’s century-long mission has included providing continuing education in our ever-evolving profession.
AIChE’s Institute for Learning and Innovation (ILI) helps today’s chemical engineers to develop and enhance their skills by providing cross-disciplinary, practical learning experiences which in turn help them remain relevant in an increasingly more-technical society. The National Science Foundation’s I-Corps program helps scientists extend their focus beyond the laboratory to increase the economic and societal impact of their research projects. A key step in the I-Corps process involves the development and testing of hypotheses about the new technology’s customer segments and value proposition. One way to enhance ILI’s value would be to explore how AIChE can best support today’s chemical engineers’ need to reinvent themselves.
Addressing the global challenges of climate change and energy poverty
Climate change is one of our most pressing global challenges. I believe that AIChE needs to take a leadership role in protecting our environment for future generations. In October 2024, AIChE released its updated Climate Change Policy Statement, which states, “We hold paramount process safety, public health, and public welfare, and the protection of the environment in performance of our professional duties. We are committed to playing a leadership role in offering solutions to climate change through systems analysis and other approaches that will create safe, resilient, and sustainable processes, products, and facilities.”
One of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals is “ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030.” Over 1.3 billion people lack access to electricity and more than 2.8 billion rely on biomass for cooking. Recently, I mentored a group of students in the Switch Energy Competition, which aims to combat energy poverty, another global challenge.
One of my goals as AIChE President for 2025 will be to strengthen our collaborations with organizations such as SHI, Switch Energy, and the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) in order to work together on these two global challenges and help to provide safe, resilient, and sustainable processes, products, and facilities.
I am proud to be an active AIChE member and Fellow. I am humbled to serve as your 2025 President. As we enter into 2025, please join me in “inspiring the power of good” across AIChE’s initiatives.
Joseph D. Smith, 2025 AIChE President
If you have any questions or comments, please contact Joseph Smith at president@aiche.org.