Honeywell’s Andreas Kramvis Delivers Keynote Address at AIChE's Spring Meeting and Global Congress on Process Safety

Andreas C. Kramvis, vice chairman of Honeywell, a Fortune 100 company focused on global technology, was the keynote speaker at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ (AIChE) 2016 Spring Meeting and Global Congress on Process Safety, held in Houston, Texas on April 11 Kramvis opened the chemical engineering conference with his lecture entitled “Transforming a Business for Success.”

The audience — consisting of approximately 1,000 chemical engineers and chemical process safety professionals — listened to Kramvis summarize his methodology for preparing businesses to make necessary changes in order to better manage risks and position themselves for success in a changing environment.

“Most people are motivated to transform their business when things are not going well,” Kramvis said. “But the reality is that you need to be motivated and prepared to change the way you work all the time — this allows companies to get ahead of problems. Whatever we do, it has to be based on great science and terrific engineering. That’s a requirement.”

During the lecture, Kramvis received the AIChE Government and Industry Leaders (AGILE) Award for his innovative leadership at Honeywell where he is credited with turning around the organization’s strategically important Performance Materials and Technologies business. AIChE presents the award to leaders who have made important contributions to the chemical engineering profession and whose initiatives have made a significant impact within the chemical engineering industry.

Over the course of his career, Kramvis has managed companies with global scope in five different industries, and he has developed an intimate familiarity with world markets. Between 1984 and 1988, he worked for Combined Technologies and helped two start-up information technology companies go public on the London Stock Exchange.

Kramvis joined Honeywell in 2000 after the company’s acquisition of Pittway, and became president and CEO of Honeywell’s Environmental and Combustion Controls business. He was later named president and CEO of Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies, before being named vice chairman of Honeywell in 2014.

Kramvis is a graduate of Cambridge University, where he studied engineering with a specialization in electronics. He also holds an M.B.A. from Manchester Business School. He is a past chairman of the Society of Chemical Industry and a board member and executive committee member of the American Chemistry Council. Kramvis is the author of the book “Transforming the Corporation: Running a Successful Business in the 21st Century,” published by Randolph Publishing in 2011.

The AIChE Spring Meeting and Global Congress on Process Safety, held April 10 to 14, offered more than 200 technical sessions across ten topical conferences and special program tracks, with a focus on safety developments, innovation, energy, and manufacturing. More than 2,000 chemical engineers and company leaders from around the world attended the conference.

For information about AIChE’s Spring Meeting and Global Congress on Process Safety, visit http://www.aiche.org/spring.