Sangtae Kim

Sang Kim, Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University, where he was also the inaugural Donald W. Feddersen Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

AIChE Foundation: When did you know you wanted to be a chemical engineer?

Sang Kim: In high school, in Montreal. Thanks to the influence of my chemistry teacher. He had a very positive view of chemical engineering and encouraged me to pursue it. He passed along an introductory book describing the profession and the intersection of chemistry and mathematics. I was immediately inspired. 

AIChE is the central framework for keeping chemical engineers connected. This connection, this community, is so important to keeping chemical engineering’s vitality. And this is what drives my philanthropy.”

- Sangtae

AIChE: Who are some of your heroes and why? 

SK: Howard Brenner. I read his 1964 paper titled The Stokes of an Arbitrary Particle-IV., Arbitrary Fields of Flow., as an undergraduate at CalTech while I was taking a course with Gary Leal in Fluid Mechanics. He laid out the pattern regarding a mystery in fluid mechanics which had been apparent since 1970: Why does a simple formula describe the seemingly complex physics for the behavior of elliptical particles moving through fluid?

I went on to wonder about it ever since. All throughout my career, even when I was in executive management in the pharmaceutical industry, I never lost sight of that problem that I was exposed to as an undergrad. Because of my own curiosity driven research, I literally kept the problem in my desk drawer for years. I never gave up wondering.

After Dr. Brenner passed away in 2014, John Anderson and I organized a memorial session at the 2014 AIChE Annual Meeting in Atlanta to pay tribute to him as a scholar, teacher, and friend. It was at this event where the 140 year-old enigma was brought back to the surface of my curiosity.  

​AIChE: Can you tell us more about this 140 year-old enigma and your “eureka moment”? 

SK: The dynamic of this particular enigma is symbolized by the strong connection between math and chemical engineering. While I enjoy chemistry, I enjoy mathematics even more. This simple result in fluid mechanics requires high powered math to prove the result. In the absence of math, the problem is too complex. This is why the simple result has to be true.  

In early 2015, I was traveling for business in California and had some time in the hotel. I had been thinking about the mystery ever since the symposium for Dr. Brenner and I suddenly had this breakthrough moment. Dr. Brenner highlighted this simplicity but the simplicity of the result could only be shown by going through pages and pages of math. The final resolution is a very simple result.   The equation literally fits on a napkin. It illustrates the power of mathematics. 

It was like opening a door to new computational strategies for solving such problems in nanoparticle technology. 

AIChE: What are you working on now that may most positively impact society for the future?

SK: Since having spent time in executive management roles in the pharmaceutical industry, my main interest is in the rational design in therapeutics, like designing an anti-cancer drug for example. Clearly, societal priorities and impact lie in discovering new medicines that can dramatically make a difference in people’s lives and vastly improve our quality of life.

At the same time, I always hold a place for research and the creation of new knowledge (like the 140 year old problem). It’s fair to say my career has been a continuous balance of applied practice and research. This experience has been important when working with my students. It’s important for them to see this type of balance firsthand and understand what it means to be a professional. 

AIChE: How has AIChE shaped your career and why do you give back through the AIChE Foundation?

SK: Historically, after becoming a member in 1980, my involvement to the Institute was primarily through planning and programming the AIChE Annual Meetings.  I served as the Meeting Program Chair (MPC) for the Annual Meeting in Chicago in 1996.  I then went onto serve as Chair, of the AIChE Executive Board of the Programming Committee.

I am a firm believer in the fact that, because of the immense impact of chemical engineering, we can become a victim of our own success. Many individuals educated and trained in chemical engineering can venture off into so many different types of careers. AIChE is the central framework for keeping chemical engineers connected.  This connection, this community, is so important to keeping chemical engineering’s vitality. And this is what drives my philanthropy. For anyone who has benefitted from training in chemical engineering, giving to AIChE is the way for us to give back to the profession that has made us who we are.

Download articles and papers related to Santgae Kim's work below.

140-year Problem

Ellipsoidal Microhydrodynamics without Elliptic Integrals...

Read Kim's bio