IACChE's James Y. Oldshue Lecture

This lecture was jointly established, in 2008, in memory of James Y. Oldshue by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and the Interamerican Confederation of Chemical Engineering (CIIQ/IACChE). Jim Oldshue was an important leader and supporter of the CIIQ/IACChE.  He was President of the AIChE in 1979 and President of the CIIQ/IACChE in 1995.  Jim was a recipient of the prestigious Víctor Márquez award in 1983, which is conferred by the CIIQ/IACChE. Jim was an ambassador of the profession who visited more than 100 countries.  It is envisioned that this lecture provide a global perspective of a specific contingent topic.  The Oldshue Lecture alternates between the AIChE Annual Meetings and the Interamerican Congresses, which take place every two years.

This year's distinguished lecturer is Dr. David Suleiman, Professor, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. Dr. Suleiman will deliver his lecture at the 2022 AIChE Annual Meeting.

The following is a list of past distinguished Jim Oldshue Lecture speakers:

1. Mr. Carlos Cabrera; President & CEO, UOP; AIChE Centennial and XXIII Interamerican Congress of Chemical Engineering; Philadelphia, PA, USA (2008)

2. Dr. Arthur W. Etchells III, Principal, AWE3 Enterprises; 8th World Congress and XXIV Interamerican Congress of Chemical Engineering; Montreal, QC, Canada (2009)

3. Dr. Esteban Alberto Brignole; Professor of Chemical Engineering at Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahía Blanca, Argentina, and Senior Researcher of the Argentina’s National Research Council of Science and Technology (CONICET); 2010 Annual Meeting, American Institute of Chemical Engineers; Salt Lake City, UT, USA (2010)

4. Dr. Eduardo Falabella Sousa-Aguiar; Senior Consultant, Leopoldo Américo Miguêz de Mello R&D Center, Adjunct Professor at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Consultant at the International Centre for Science and High Technology; XXVI Interamerican Congress of Chemical Engineering; Montevideo, Uruguay (2012)

5. Dr. Carlos R. Apesteguía, Professor, National University of Litoral (UNL), School of Chemical Engineering (FIQ). Member of the CONICET's Research Staff, Institute of Research on Catalysis and Petrochemistry (INCAPE), Santa Fe, Argentina.  2013 Annual Meeting, American Institute of Chemical Engineers; San Francisco, CA, USA (2013)

6. Dr. Ignacio Grossmann, Rudolph R. and Florence Dean University Professor, Carnegie Mellon University; XXVII Interamerican Congress of Chemical Engineering; Cartagena, Colombia (2014)

7. Dr. John R. Grace, Emeritus Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia; 2015 Annual Meeting, American Institute of Chemical Engineers; Salt Lake City, UT, USA (2015)

8. Dr. Axel Meisen, C.M., Ph.D., P.Eng, EurIng., FCAE, FCIC, FIEI, Emeritus Professor, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; XXVIII Interamerican Congress of Chemical Engineering; Cuzco, Perú (2016)

9. Dr. José Roberto Nunhez ,Professor of Chemical Engineering, Head of the Computational Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP, Brazil); 2019 Annual Meeting, American Institute of Chemical Engineers; Minneapolis, MN, USA (2017)

10. Dr. Rubens Maciel Filho, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Process and coordinator of the Laboratory of Optimization, Design and Advanced Process Control (LOPCA), State University of Campinas-UNICAMP; XXIX Interamerican Congress of Chemical Engineering Incorporating the 68th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference;  Toronto, ON, Canada (2018)

11. Dr. Carlos Rinaldi, Chair and Professor, University of Florida; 2019 AIChE Annual Meeting, American Institute of Chemical Engineers; Orlando, FL, USA (2019)

12. Dr. Arturo J. Hernández-Maldonado, Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM); 2020 AIChE Annual Meeting, American Institute of Chemical Engineers; Virtual (2020).

Nanostructured Polymers for Energy Efficient Devices and Specialty Separation Applications

Dr. David Suleiman, Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez

Polymers are present in almost every single aspect of our lives. Applications range from common daily uses (e.g., contact lenses, diapers, fabrics, non-stick cookware), to more demanding specialty functions (e.g., artificial hip joints, bulletproof vests, cars, planes etc.). This presentation will describe the synthesis of various nanostructured polymers Specific examples will be presented to describe a variety of hydrophobic and hydrophilic domains (e.g., sulfonated poly(styrene-isobutylene-styrene) grafted with hexyl- and butyl-imidazolium chloride ionic liquids, pentafluoro styrene sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) and others). Some of these polymers will incorporate nanoparticles to create polymer nanocomposite membranes (PNMs), creating a more diverse nanostructure for enhanced separations and more efficient devices. Various materials characterization results will be depicted to describe their nanostructure and their chemical, thermal and morphological behavior. In addition, transport property experiments will be presented to describe the applicability of these materials to energy efficient devices and specialty separation applications. Specific energy efficient applications include: direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) and organic photovoltaics (OPV). Specific specialty separation efforts include: the inactivation of pathogenic bacteria and viruses, the degradation of emerging contaminants, the separation of urea from water, and water desalination.

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