This is Part 12 in the ChEnected series "We Are ChE: Entering a Golden Age". It is authored by Incoming 2013 AIChE president Phil Westmoreland. This series has been based on the five reasons that are shaping our entrance into a Golden Age of ChE:
- Manufacturing’s shift to emphasize processes and properties
- New abundance of hydrocarbon resources in the US
- Biology’s turning into a molecular science
- Computing, evolved into a cyberinfrastructure
- ChEs’ breadth and problem-solving approaches
I conclude by identifying three ways we can seize the future and shape our profession:
- Asserting leadership in the new face of manufacturing
- Incorporating information management and analytics
- Embracing our profession’s breadth
ChEs can take on a leadership role in manufacturing
Chemical engineers and AIChE can both promote our role in manufacturing and take a leading role in reshaping its modern form. The public, economists, and governments think of manufacturing as durable goods like cars or washing machines or aircraft built on assembly lines.
