Chemical Engineering Conference
AIChE PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 13, 2008
Contact: Sean Connolly
Phone: (717) 525.3004
Email: connolly@thebravogroup.com
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CONFERENCE IN NASHVILLE HIGHLIGHTS ENERGY ISSUES, MEDICAL ADVANCES AND SUSTAINABILITY
11th National College Chem-E-Car Competition to be held Sunday, November 8th
MEDIA ALERT
WHO: American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
WHAT: AIChE’s Annual Meeting is expected to draw more than 4,000 engineers, scientists, and undergraduate engineering students with more than 700 technical sessions, plus plenary lectures and other special events.
The national Chem-E-Car Competition will feature college teams from across the country racing small cars powered by alternative fuels created by students.
WHERE: Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN
WHEN: Sunday, November 8 – Friday, November 13, 2009
HIGHLIGHTS: Presentations include looks at all energy options, from biofuels, to energy efficiency, to the possible expansion of nuclear energy, to clean-coal technology, for better managing carbon emissions. Other sessions explore new medical treatments and tools, including the use of stem cell therapy for heart attacks and the creation of reliable models of the spread of infectious diseases. A special section entitled “Sustainable Southeastern Energy” will discuss the special challenges facing the development of sustainable energy in the Southeast.
Sunday, November 8
1:00PM: Chem-E-Car University teams race shoebox-size cars powered by alternative fuels in carefully calculated chemical reactions. The cars must carry a small payload a certain distance. Adding to the tension of the competition, the weight of the payload and distance are not revealed to the competitors until one hour before the contest begins. Teams must quickly make calculations about their fuel use.
Monday, November 9
8:30 AM – 11:30AM: Looking Forward – Energy Policy & Technology, Annual Meeting Plenary Session The world economic outlook and energy prices saw a tremendous decline in 2008 and, with the change in the American administration, energy policy and funding, R&D and capital projects have taken new directions. This session kicks off the 2009 Annual meeting with speakers from the U.S. Department of Energy and companies, universities, and government laboratories, who will discuss these changes, including special attention to clean coal technologies and biofuels.
8:30AM – 11:00AM: Opportunities for Chemical Engineering in Petascale Computing This symposium examines how petascale platforms – computers capable of processing vast amounts of data quicker than any existing supercomputers – open up new opportunities for discovery, fundamental understanding, and predictive modeling in a broad range of scientific and engineering problems.
11:15 AM – 12:15 PM: The Innovation Equation: Corporate Social Responsibility + Sustainability = Innovation Drawing from a range of best practices, Bob Kumpf, Chief Administrative Officer with Bayer MaterialScience LLC, will explain how Bayer Material Science aligns corporate social responsibility with sustainability to create innovative solutions that address challenges to our quality of life. Kumpf will discuss nanotechnology and its role in sustainable energy development, buildings and construction solutions; and alternative energy vehicle developments, as well as environmentally friendly auto glazing and coatings solutions.
1:10PM – 1:30PM: Guided Cardiogenic Commitment of Human Embryonic Stem Cells for Heart Tissue Engineering In the US, heart failure is the top ranked cause of death, afflicting more than five million people, with more than 500,000 new cases each year. Although significant progress has been made in mechanical devices and pharmacological interventions, more than half of the patients with heart failure die within five years of initial diagnosis. Wide application of heart transplantation is hindered by the limited availability of donor organs. This paper delivered by Emmanuel Tzanakakis of the State University of New York at Buffalo and co-authored with his SUNY Buffalo colleagues Donghui Jing and Abhirath Parikh, will examine how cell therapies may provide an attractive alternative to current treatments of heart failure by helping regenerate damaged cardiac tissue.
Tuesday, November 10
8:30AM – 11:00AM Smart Manufacturing: Stimulating Productivity and Growth in US Industry Against the background of a decline in American manufacturing, this session will review practical applications and new developments in smart manufacturing – how to utilize people, processes, and technologies to continuously optimize performance and prevent plant problems for the good of the whole enterprise.
12:30 PM – 3:00PM Oxycumbustion of Coal – Needs, Opportunities and Challenges This session will address how new advances in oxycumbustion could lead to increased efficiency in capturing carbon dioxide emissions associated with our continued reliance on coal to meet many of our energy needs.
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM A Tale of Two Energy Problems: Fuel Shortage and Obesity, the James E. Bailey Award Lecture Sponsored by the Society for Biological Engineering While fossil energy shortage presents a global economical problem, excess in energy storage in human bodies (obesity) has become a leading health threat in developed countries and is associated with a constellation of medical problems. James Liao of the University of California at Los Angeles will discuss how research to engineer metabolic agents to produce fuels may relate to helping modulate people’s metabolisms to combat obesity.
Wednesday, November 11
9:10AM – 9:30AM The Risk of Nuclear Power: Weighing the Safety and Proliferation Concerns Associated with Nuclear Energy against the Threat of a Changing Climate and Energy Security Summarizing her work as one of the participants in the Washington Internships for Students of Engineering program, Sarah Widder, a recent chemical engineering graduate of the University of Washington, will discuss how government requirements to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, will create the need for “carbon-free” energy technologies that are both economically feasible and available on a realistic timescale. Nuclear energy is largely “carbon free” and could help stabilize the cost of electricity by reducing dependence on oil and natural gas, with their volatile prices. Although nuclear energy is currently more expensive than other forms of energy generation, the introduction of a tax of $5-$15 per megaton of carbon would make it more competitive.
10:00AM-11:00AM: Improved Estimation and Control for Large-Scale Models of Infectious Disease Spread Infectious diseases continue to be a significant public health problem. With the universal threat of a possible pandemic associated with an emerging infectious disease, a reliable model for the spread of infectious diseases is needed more than ever. Carl Laird of Texas A&M University will describe the work that he and his colleagues are doing to better estimate seasonal drivers and other factors, particularly in childhood illnesses in different geographic locations, may lead to better planning for controlling the spread of infectious diseases.
11:15AM – 12:15PM: Separation Science and Technology in the 21st Century – From an Industrial Perspective of Energy, Sustainability and Globalization, the 61st AIChE Institute Lecture Each year, AIChE invites one distinguished chemical engineer to present a comprehensive review of the his or her specialty. This year’s Institute Lecturer is Norman Li, a former senior scientist at Exxon and research director of UOP and Allied Signal, who is currently president of NL Chemical Technology and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. He will discuss the shortage of clean water and climate change as the two key challenges facing the world. Li believes that, using separations technologies, waste water and saltwater may be made potable and carbon dioxide captured.
Thursday, November 12
8:30AM – 11:00AM: Lithium Battery Technology and Materials Battery technology is playing an increasingly important role in a variety of applications, including hybrid vehicles and portable electronic devices. This session will describe recent advances in battery technology and applications.
11:15AM – 12:15PM: Megatrends Creating Opportunities – 2nd Industrial Innovation Award & Lecture The Industrial Innovation Award recognizes a company for outstanding innovation. This year, Uma Chowdry, senior vice president and chief science and technology officer of DuPont, will describe how new advances in technology should help improve standards of living around the world, while sustaining resources and the environment, providing examples from DuPont’s engineering experience.
3:15PM – 5:30PM: Health and Environmental Impact of Nanoparticles Experts from Europe, Asia and the U.S. will address the potential impact of nanoparticles on human health and the environment.
Friday, November 13
12:30PM – 3:00PM: Biodiesel from Microorganisms This session will conclude the week’s programming on alternative fuels and enabling technologies. Approaches to fuel production based on algae and related organisms will be the focus.
For more information on all the activities surrounding the AIChE Annual Meeting, please visit www.aiche.org/annual.
About AIChE
AIChE is a professional society of more than 40,000 chemical engineers in 92 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 frontiers of chemical engineering research in such areas as nanotechnology, sustainability, new energy sources, biological and environmental engineering, and chemical plant safety and security. More information about AIChE is available at www.aiche.org.
