AIChE Will Celebrate Outstanding Achievements with Institute and Board of Directors' Awards

Gintaras V. Reklaitis of Purdue University is AIChE's Founders Award recipient for 2024..

September 2, 2024

The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) will honor 14 leaders and innovators in chemical engineering at a ceremony to be held in connection with the 2024 AIChE Annual Meeting in San Diego, California (October 27-31). The award presentations are slated for Sunday, October 27.

AIChE's highest honor, the Founders Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Chemical Engineering, will be presented to Dr. Gintaras V. Reklaitis, the Gedge Distinguished Professor at Purdue University. Reklaitis is being recognized for his distinguished contributions to the chemical engineering profession through his service, research, and teaching.

Dr. Reklaitis's expertise lies in process systems engineering, the application of digital technologies to process and product design, and process operations. His research encompasses applications that have improved pharmaceutical product design, development, manufacturing, and delivery. He has documented his work in more than 350 papers and chapters, and he has edited or authored ten books.

At Purdue, Reklaitis has served as Head of the School of Chemical Engineering, Assistant Dean of Engineering, and as Deputy Director of the U.S. National Science Foundation's Engineering Research Center on Structured Organic Particulate Systems. He is a chemical engineering alumnus of the Illinois Institute of Technology (BS) and Stanford University (MS and PhD). Reklaitis is also a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of AIChE and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and past Editor-in-Chief of Computers & Chemical Engineering.

In addition, AIChE will honor these chemical engineers:

Mr. S. Shariq Yosufzai, retired Vice President of Global Diversity at Chevron; retired Chairman of the Board of Aqua Metals; and retired Chairman of Accordant Advisors, will receive the F. J. and Dorothy Van Antwerpen Award for Service to AIChE. The award is sponsored by The Dow Chemical Company.

Dr. Ying Diao, Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University Scholar, and Dow Chemical Company Faculty Scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will receive the Allan P. Colburn Award for Excellence in Publications by a Young Member of the Institute. The award is sponsored by DuPont.

Dr. Athanassios Z. Panagiotopoulos, the Susan Dod Brown Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Princeton University, will receive the Alpha Chi Sigma Award for Chemical Engineering Research. The award is sponsored by the Alpha Chi Sigma Educational Foundation and the Alpha Chi Sigma Fraternity.

Dr. Ali Khademhosseini, Chief Executive Officer and Founding Director at the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, will receive the Andreas Acrivos Award for Professional Progress in Chemical Engineering. The award is endowed by The AIChE Foundation.

Dr. De-Wei Yin, Research Engineer in the Core R&D Engineering and Process Sciences Division at The Dow Chemical Company, will receive AIChE's Award for Service to Society.

Dr. Aqil Jamal, Chief Technologist in the Carbon Management Research Division of Saudi Aramco's Research and Development Center, will receive the Energy and Sustainability Award. The Award is sponsored by Air Products.

Dr. Megan E. Donaldson, Principal Research Scientist in the Core R&D Engineering and Process Science Laboratory at Dow, will receive the Industrial Progress Award.

Dr. Christopher Burcham, Executive Director of the Synthetic Molecule Design and Development Department at Eli Lilly & Company, will receive the Industrial Research and Development Award. The Award is sponsored by AbbVie.

Dr. Krista S. Walton, Professor and Robert "Bud" Moeller Faculty Fellow in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, will receive the Institute Award for Excellence in Industrial Gases Technology.

Dr. Umit S. Ozkan, Distinguished University Professor and College of Engineering Distinguished Professor at The Ohio State University, will receive the Margaret Hutchinson Rousseau Pioneer Award for Lifetime Achievement by a Woman Chemical Engineer. The award is sponsored by Pfizer.

Dr. Fabio H. Ribeiro, the W. Nicholas and Elizabeth H. Delgass Distinguished Professor in Chemical Engineering at Purdue University, will receive the R. H. Wilhelm Award in Chemical Reaction Engineering. The award is sponsored by ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Company.

Dr. James B. Rawlings, the Mellichamp Process Control Chair in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara, will receive the Warren K. Lewis Award for Chemical Engineering Education. The award is sponsored by ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Company.

Dr. Venkat Venkatsubramanian, the Samuel Ruben-Peter G. Viele Professor of Engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University, will receive the William H. Walker Award for Excellence in Contributions to Chemical Engineering Literature. The award is sponsored by John Wiley & Sons.

In announcing the honorees, Alan E. Nelson, AIChE's 2024 President, said, "These award recipients are models of chemical engineering excellence, and their accomplishments represent some of the most influential work being done in our profession. We look forward to gathering with the chemical engineering community at this year's AIChE Annual Meeting to applaud these distinguished engineers and leaders."

For more information about AIChE awards, visit www.aiche.org/awards.

About AIChE: AIChE is a professional society of more than 60,000 members in more than 110 countries. Its members work in corporations, universities and government using their knowledge of chemical processes to develop safe and useful products for the benefit of society. Through its varied programs, AIChE continues to be a focal point for information exchange on the frontier of chemical engineering research in such areas as nanotechnology, sustainability, hydrogen fuels, biological and environmental engineering, and chemical plant safety and security. More information about AIChE is available at www.aiche.org.