(241a) Reflections On 50 Years in Chemical Engineering!

Reflecting
on 50 Years in Chemical Engineering!

William B. Krantz

This presentation
will review the somewhat circuitous path traversed by the speaker during the 50
years since he received his B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois.
Although this paper is being presented in a session sponsored by AIChE's  Separations Division, the speaker spent the
first 20 years of his professional life working in fluid mechanics, interfacial
science, synfuels, and self-organization in nature. He initiated a research
program in membrane science during the middle age of his professional life.
This progression does not seem particularly logical and most certainly was in
no way premeditated. As many of us have found in our life, we sometimes end up
doing what we are doing by way of earlier decisions that we did not think were
all that important at the time. This presentation will try to show how the
threads that weave together the fabric of one's professional life somehow come
together, sometimes almost accidentally.

This presentation
will also serve as an introduction to some of the other speakers in these
sessions, some who are former students and others who are professional
colleagues with whom the speaker has interacted in some capacity. This reflection
on 50 years in chemical engineering hopefully will acknowledge appropriately
the wonderful influence my former students and colleagues have had on my
professional life. Hopefully this presentation will be inspirational for young
people in that it provides a datum point from one person's professional life
that underscores the opportunities that a career in chemical engineering
provides.