2020 Annual Meeting FAQs

As a safety measure amidst the pandemic, AIChE will deliver its 2020 Annual Meeting and Annual Student Conference online. The meeting — which had been scheduled for November 15-20 in San Francisco, CA — will now be a virtual meeting held Monday, November 16 through Friday, November 20, 2020. The Annual Student Conference — originally scheduled to take place in San Francisco November 13-16— will now be available online, during the same days. See the FAQ on Annual Student Conference for specifics. 

AIChE’s 2020 Annual Meeting and Annual Student Conference will now be held on an online platform. The overall design of the experience will be driven around the great content our programmers have put together along with networking opportunities to keep our attendees engaged with the talks, our exhibitors, and the event as a whole. 

The virtual platform allows the organizers to host live or pre-recorded talks, with live text Q&A. It will also enable us to make all talks available on-demand for a month following the meeting. 

Exhibitors will each have a dedicated booth to host their information and discuss with participants.  

All attendees will have the opportunity to network via participation in chats and video rooms, sending direct messages, and scheduling one-on-one video meetings, allowing us to keep what makes the Annual Meeting great - interaction with other attendees. 

We understand that gathering in person is a big part of what makes our meetings special and that we’re all ready to get out of our homes and meet with our colleagues. Looking on the bright side, there are many advantages of attending conferences virtually. 

• A more flexible schedule throughout the conference week, allowing you to drop in and out as you need to with the ability to come back and watch presentations for up to 30 days. 
• Virtual networking can be fun and easier for some than networking in-person. Do you sometimes feel you aren’t sure who to talk to at large in-person networking events? At a virtual conference, you can get to know people by chat! 
• Get interactive with live Q&A sessions allowing you to ask questions during the presentations 
• Schedule time to meet with our many exhibitors and chat via text, voice, or video. 
• Consume content, network, and stay safe & healthy at the same time. 
• Save on travel expenses and time out of the office, while still getting many of the same benefits. 

Check out our Justification Toolkit. 

At this time all events associated with the AIChE Annual Meeting, including committee meetings and events, will be held virtually in November. The co-located event 3rd Space Travel: Adaptive Research and Technologies from Biological and Chemical Engineering (STAR Tech 2020) will be hosted virtually on a separate platform. Specific details will be forthcoming. We thank you for your patience. 

AIChE Programming will reach out to you directly with next steps on how to transition your talk to the virtual platform. A list of best practices for presenting, recording, or hosting a session virtually will be made available. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your virtual participation, please contact programming@aiche.org. 

We are adjusting the Meeting rates to reflect our new virtual format (view registration information here) . If you have already registered for the meeting, you will be refunded the difference between the original rates and the new rates.  

In addition, all full meeting registrations will receive access to all recordings free of charge as part of their virtual Annual Meeting registration. 

Due to the current situation and the uncertainties related to planning physical conferences, AIChE is relaxing its cancellation policy. Until further notice, you can cancel for any reason up to five days before the event. Registration fees may be transferred to another individual at no charge. 

This means that you can continue to submit abstracts and register for our events without having to worry about registration fees should you not be able to attend. 

The full cancellation policy can be found here.

Registration is now open. You can find more information here.

The ongoing COVID-19 situation has provided us with a reminder that even in uncertain times, AIChE is a diverse community of people who lead, create, inspire and learn—together. AIChE is here to help. Knowing that many of our members are working virtually, AIChE has created numerous opportunities to virtually connect our communities with webinars, articles, online community forums, and podcasts—much of it offered at no cost. You can stay up to date on new content offerings or ways to connect at the AIChE COVID-19 Resource Hub. 

No, all events associated with the AIChE Annual Meeting, including ancillary events and (committee meetings), are expected to take place virtually in August.  

Specific details will be forthcoming.  

Please contact Todd Caporizzo at (toddc@aiche.org) if you have any questions. 

Yes, all events associated with the AIChE Annual Meeting, including ancillary events and (committee meetings), are expected to take place virtually in August.  

Specific details will be forthcoming.  

Please contact Todd Caporizzo at (toddc@aiche.org) if you have any questions. 

Todd Caporizzo at (toddc@aiche.org) will contact you directly and will also work with the venues to handle the cancellations.  

If you are still interested in hosting a virtual event such as a “coffee + chat” or “happy hour” with attendees, please contact Todd Caporizzo at to discuss options.