The American Institute of Chemical Engineers' Chicago Section is organizing an in-person meeting on May 14, 2024. The event will feature Dr. Sohail Murad, who is a Professor and Department Chair of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology. The title of his lecture is "What Thermodynamics Teaches Us About Life".
Speaker:
Dr. Sohail Murad
Professor and Department Chair
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology
What Thermodynamics Teaches Us About Life
Speaker Biography:
Dr. Sohail Murad is Professor and Department Chair of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Prior to this he was Head of Chemical Engineering at University of Illinois at Chicago, where he joined the faculty in 1979 after receiving a PhD from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. He spent 1981-82 at Exxon Research and Engineering Company at Florham Park, New Jersey, while on a leave of absence from the university. He was an ARO Research Fellow at the Ballistics Research Laboratory in 1985. He is the author of over 150 archival research publications and book chapters. He is/has been a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Computer Applications in Engineering Education, Scientific Journals International and Research Letters in Chemical Engineering. His research is focused on alternate energy and its efficient utilization, computational molecular modeling of fluids on membrane surfaces and pores and on heat and mass flows in nanosystems. It has been funded by the US National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy, US Army Research Office, American Chemical Society, IBM, Dow Chemical Company, Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, and other private and public funding agencies. He is an elected fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and member of several other professional societies. He holds honorary faculty positions at Nanjing University (China), Petra University (Jordan), and University of Karachi (Pakistan). He has given many keynote talks at national and international symposia, and has served on panels of the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, Environmental Protection Agency, etc.
Presentation Abstract:
Most students find thermodynamics to be an abstract and boring subject. However if we can show them that thermodynamics is all around us, often they find it more palatable. In this talk I will discuss how for example the ideal gas law and ideal mixture assumptions can be interpreted if they were applied to human interactions. Other examples would include how thermodynamic principles also govern our relationships, including our feelings of being attracted or of indifference. Also the advice sometimes given, “things will work themselves out in the end”, is not only incorrect but defies the principles of thermodynamics too!
The goal will be to show that if presented appropriately, thermodynamics is not really that abstract a subject. Many of its principles are clearly associated with both life and everyday occurrences.
Meeting Agenda:
- 5:00 to 6:00 PM - Networking and Social hour
- 6:00 to 7:00 PM - Dinner
- 7:00 to 7:15 PM - Section Announcements
- 7:15 to 8:30 PM - Presentation and Q&A
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