![L to R: Darlene Schuster, Samir Mitragotri, Erin Kane, and Billy Bardin L to R: Darlene Schuster, Samir Mitragotri, Erin Kane, and Billy Bardin](https://www.aiche.org/sites/default/files/styles/giving_lead/public/images/Chenected/lead/2023_gala.png?itok=c0s3Biqi)
L to R: Darlene Schuster, Samir Mitragotri, Erin Kane, and Billy Bardin
AIChE® Celebrates Organizations and their Leaders for Empowering Possibilities
Chemical engineering has already had a deep impact on medicine, and I believe that the journey has just started. Engineering will continue to drive the future of medicine, and future therapies will be realized by engineers. — Samir Mitragotri, Hiller Professor of Bioengineering and the Hansjorg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University
Nearly 400 friends, industry leaders, and colleagues attended the 2023 AIChE “Empowering Possibilities” Annual Gala. The event honored Erin Kane, President and Chief Executive Officer of AdvanSix, and Seifi Ghasemi, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Air Products, for their commitment to operational excellence and dedication to the advancement of diversity and equity across their workforces and within the engineering profession.
The gala also honored Samir Mitragotri, the Hiller Professor of Bioengineering and the Hansjorg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. Mitragotri’s bioengineering innovations include needle-free drug delivery via patient-friendly skin patches and pills. He was lauded for his pioneering work in the treatment of diabetes, cancer, skin diseases, multiple sclerosis, and other afflictions.
Mitragotri thanked the AIChE Foundation for recognizing drug delivery as a prominent contribution of chemical engineers to the field of medicine. “Chemical engineering has already had a deep impact on medicine, and I believe that the journey has just started,” he said, adding, “Engineering will continue to drive the future of medicine, and future therapies will be realized by engineers.”
Aligning with the central theme of “Empowering Possibilities,” the event welcomed next-generation industry talent, represented by students from the Future of STEM Scholars Initiative (FOSSI), Brooklyn Tech High School, and the City College of New York (CUNY).
The event raised more than $625,000 to underwrite programs designed to advance the chemical engineering profession by attracting and retaining diverse talent, and by investing in research that drives innovation for the benefit of society.