The Promise - The Legacy and Future of Chemical Engineering

“The Promise” — a short film about the legacy and future promise of chemical engineering — premiered at AIChE’s 2013 Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

The film, produced by the AIChE Foundation, reflects on the heritage of the chemical engineering profession, the founding of AIChE, and the promise that the profession has always held for shaping the modern world. Using the film, the Foundation seeks to raise awareness and financial support for the many Grand Challenges that chemical engineers and the Institute are undertaking to fulfill those promises for the future.

In his narration for “The Promise,” John. J. McKetta, Professor Emeritus of the Univ. of Texas at Austin and an AIChE Foundation Trustee, notes that “We live in a world that would be virtually unrecognizable without the contributions made by chemical engineers.” As chemical engineers use their abilities to address the many challenges that remain, McKetta poses the questions “Have we looked far enough ahead? Have we planned accordingly?”

Thus, the film seeks to instill both a sense of pride in the legacy of chemical engineering, as well as a sense of responsibility for the trust placed upon chemical engineers as they shape society. AIChE’s mission, concludes McKetta, “is not only to protect our legacy, but to keep the promise.”