The Purdue University Davidson School of Chemical Engineering hosted its annual reception at the 2024 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Annual Meeting on October 28 in San Diego, California. As a Titanium Sponsor, the School welcomed students, faculty and professionals from across the country to celebrate its latest advancements and awards while discussing innovative research, emerging ideas and transformative projects. 

This year’s reception featured 6 distinguished faculty members that won AIChE national and division awards. Professors Gintaras Rekalitis and Fabio Ribeiro earned AIChE National awards, and Professors Rakesh Agrawal, Mohit Tawarmalani, Letian Dou, and Zoltan Nagy, and graduate students Montgomery Laky, Esin Aydemir and Abhimanyu Raj Shekhar (ABE), received AIChE Divisional Awards, joining a distinguished awardees who have made lasting impacts on the field of chemical engineering. Professor Stephen Beaudoin, Director of the Purdue Energetics Research Center, was elected to join the AIChE Board of Directors, where he will serve a three-year term alongside other accomplished chemical engineering professionals. In addition to our faculty, the Purdue Chapter of AIChE was named "Outstanding Student Chapter" for the ninth consecutive year, underscoring their dedication to academic and professional excellence. 

We also celebrated the launch the W. Nicholas and Elizabeth H. Delgass Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Research Endowment Area, the fifth in our series of named endowments supporting key areas such as soft materials, process systems, separations and mathematical modeling. This area focuses on developing new approaches and technologies to decarbonize the production of energy and chemicals, while protecting the environment, capitalizing on the investigation of catalytic materials, devices and reactors and chemical reaction pathways and mechanisms. Our five endowments represent a new era for the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering and lay the groundwork toward our goal of establishing ten research area endowments, made possible through the generous support of our alumni and friends. 

The School also marked the 10th anniversary of the Purdue Process Safety and Assurance Center (P2SAC), which plays a vital role in enhancing safety across the manufacturing and consumer products industries. Throughout the conference, School faculty presented at numerous technical and professional sessions, facilitating valuable knowledge exchange and collaboration. Notably, Kelly Schultz, Larry and Virginia Faith Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, led the Fluid Mechanics Programming Meeting, while Assistant Professor David Bernal Neira led sessions on Quantum Computing Leadership and the Center for Operations and Optimization in Process Systems (COOPS), sharing cutting-edge insights in their fields. Purdue students also had the opportunity to showcase their research to the wider chemical engineering community, gaining valuable experience. 

The Davidson School of Chemical Engineering is honored to have played a prominent role at the 2024 AIChE Annual Meeting. By engaging with industry leaders, fostering academic collaborations and celebrating the achievements of our faculty, students and alumni, we reinforce our commitment to advancing chemical engineering. We look forward to building on these accomplishments and inspiring continued innovation, sustainability and excellence across the global chemical engineering community. 

Learn more about AIChE here.