Tuesday, June 4, 2019, 11:00am CDT to Thursday, June 27, 2019, 11:00am CDT
Virtual / Online
Please see the roster of candidates for the 2019-2020 AIChE Dallas Local Section Executive Committee.
Candidates for Chair
Ram Ramanan, PhD, PE, CEng, MBA, QEP: Proficient in industrial environmental,
health & safety, and sustainability with over thirty years of management
experience in compliance, risk mitigation, and CSR in the corporate (ExxonMobil),
Consulting (AECOM) and Academic (IIT Chicago) environment. US Dept. of State
Environmental Leadership Fulbright Fellow and Author “Introduction to
Sustainability Analytics” and “Environmental Ethics and Sustainability: A casebook
for Environmental Professionals”. Also, honored Fellow of A&WMA, Indian
Institute of Chemical Engineers & Institution of Engineers, India.
Professional leadership roles include, Chair of the Sustainability Committee,
AWMA (current); Senior Member, American Institute of Chemical Engineers
(AIChE - current); Board Member, Director and Chair of the Education Council,
AWMA International (2011-2013), Evaluator, General Atlantic’s Echoing Green
Fellowship for Social Entrepreneurship (2018); Advisor, Climate-tackling Start-ups
round table, NYC Climate Brain Trust (2017); Industry Board Advisor, UT Austin
Environmental Solutions Program (1991-1994); Chair/Member, American
Petroleum Institute, Environmental Regulatory Committees (1991-1996); Chair
and Board Member, A&WMA, North Texas Chapter (1990‐1992); Chair and Board
Member, AIChE, Dallas Section (1990‐1992); Chair, Dallas AIChE Seminar, 1990.
Julia Tossetti: Julia joined the local section in 2017, just as elections were
approaching. Being a recent out-of-state graduate, and needing to build a local
professional network, she ran for Director and served for the 2017-2018 year.
Julia grew fond of the local section and wanted to increase her involvement. To
that end, she ran for Vice Chair in 2018. This is her current role.
The past year has given her the chance to spearhead STEM outreach initiatives on
behalf the section (i.e. science fair judging in February). As Chair, she would
continue to pursue avenues in outreach, help prepare for October’s symposium,
and shepherd the section through another successful year. She enjoys serving the
section and getting to know its members.
Candidates for Vice Chair
Jim Clay: I have been a member of AIChE Dallas Section since 2012, and have
served as a Director on our Executive Committee this past year. I am a design
engineer at Air Liquide Electronics and registered PE in the State of Texas.
I am running for Vice Chair to continue taking an active role in ensuring the
Section achieves the following goals in 2019/2020:
1) Provide engaging guest speakers for our monthly meetings
2) Organize educational events for our members (field trips,
symposium, ...)
3) Continue recent initiatives undertaken by the Section promoting
chemical engineering as a rewarding profession (Young Professional
Award, Science Fair participation, STEM outreach, …)
Candidates for Treasurer
Probir Shah: Probir Shah joined the local Dallas section of AICHE in the summer of
2019. After more than 18 years of experience in the downstream energy industry
in various parts of the country, he moved to Dallas in March 2018 and
immediately sought out membership in the local AICHE chapter.
Probir is enthused to have an opportunity to give back to his Chemical
Engineering community and help promote Engineering/Engineers in general to
the community at large. AICHE provides a perfect vehicle to channel that energy
in an organized manner. Volunteering for the Treasurer helps him increase his
commitment level. With an MBA in Finance and previous Treasurer experience in
Toastmaster clubs in Oklahoma and at home here in Dallas, he is confident of
performing the role with content knowledge, finesse and organizational skills.
Not knowing the current details about the local AICHE Treasury, he hopes to
accomplish:
a) Completely learn the ins and outs of the expectations of the Treasurer role
in AICHE
b) The finances of the chapter are always maintained in an organized and
trackable manner
• It should be easy for anyone to understand the cash flow
c) The funding is maintained at the required/expected healthy level
d) The spending is budgeted and the budgeted is spent efficiently
Candidates for Secretary
Fernando Aguirre
Past/current involvement with Dallas Section
• Member since 1999
• Treasurer (2011-2018)
• Secretary (2018-2019)
• Assist with webmaster tasks as needed
Why do I want to serve as Secretary, and goals for serving in the Executive
Committee?
• I am interested in serving the Dallas Section in any capacity, wherever I can
best contribute and give back to the profession
• My interest in being Secretary is to ensure that our activities are properly
documented and archiving historical information as I find it
• One of my goals as a member of the Executive Committee is to assist with
the involvement of younger members and help with mentoring
Other AIChE involvement
• Member of AIChE since 1981 and currently a Fellow
• Member of the following AIChE Divisions: CAST (1983-present), Heat
Transfer and Energy Conversion (1990-2001), Management (1996-present),
Chemical Engineering & the Law Forum (2018-present)
• Faculty Advisor, AIChE Student Chapter, University of Nevada, Reno (1986-
1990)
• Chair, AIChE Student Chapters Committee (1994)
• Director, Heat Transfer and Energy Conversion Division (1995-2000)
• Chair, Management Division (2018), and many other roles
Candidates for Directors
Jim Muhitch
David Dickey: I have only a relative short history with the Dallas Section of AIChE,
about 5 years since I moved to the Dallas area. In fact, I have not had much
participation in local AIChE sections during my career. Most of the other places I
have lived and worked did not have an active local section.
I have however, had a long and active involvement in the national AIChE. I
have served on or been an officer for several committees, including the
Equipment Testing Procedure Committee, the Mixing Program Committee, the
North American Mixing Forum, the Pilot Plant Program Committee and other
committees. I have attended National Meetings in the past and most of the
recent Annual Meetings. I am an AIChE Fellow.
I would like to see members of the local section receive the recognition
they deserve at the national level and encourage interaction with other activities
of the AIChE.
I hope that I can made a useful contribution to the Dallas Section of the
AIChE.
Richard Thut: Richard Thut, P.E., is a senior consultant at Solomon Associates.
Solomon Associates provides benchmarking and performance improvement
consulting to the Energy Industry. Richard has over 40 years’ experience in the
petroleum refining industry. Richard currently manages the suite of engineering
applications and automation models worldwide for Solomon. Richard is a
Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. He holds a BSME from
Texas A&M University and an MBA from The University of Dallas.
I have been a member of AIChE for many years and have attended the Dallas
Chapter meetings the past 6 years. I have been a Director for the past year. I
thoroughly enjoy the diverse mixture of the Chapter’s members and the very
informative discussions. I use the meetings as credit for my P.E. continuing
education. As a Director, I will strive to continue to expand our diverse base of
membership with old and young engineers alike, representing the vast array of
industries present in the Dallas Area. I respectfully ask you to vote for me as a
Director.
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