Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Association @ Virginia Tech
We are pleased to introduce the first Annual Research Symoposium. This annual event will provide an opportunity for graduate and undergraduate Chemical Engineering students to showcase recent research and achievements.
| Location and Time: Virginia Tech Inn @ April 22, 2009 11:15 AM | |
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Jeff Siirola is a Technology Fellow in the Eastman Research Division of Eastman Chemical Company in Kingsport Tennessee where he has been for 37 years. He received a BS in chemical engineering from the University of Utah in 1967 and a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1970. His areas of interest include chemical process synthesis, computer-aided conceptual process engineering, engineering design theory and methodology, chemical process development and technology assessment, resource conservation and recovery, sustainable development and growth, and chemical engineering education. |
| Dr.Siirola will address "Sustainability in the Chemical and Energy Industries" | |
| "There is much interest in environmental protection, greener chemistry, and the general notion of sustainability within both the chemical processing and energy industries. In this presentation, sustainability will be examined in the context of long term raw material and energy availability, energy intensity, global warming threats, and the desire for strong economic growth. P opulation and economic trends, material and energy resource and availability data, and elementary systems engineering principles are applied to help elucidate sustainability issues related to global economic growth, raw material choices for the chemical and energy industries, the satisfaction of expected energy needs, and greenhouse gas impacts. Simple concepts from chemical structure and carbon oxidation state, stoichiometry, and thermodynamics are useful for understanding and screening among raw material and energy alternatives at present and going forward. Such analyses can provide guidance for evolving and optimizing overall global chemical and energy industries and suggest that a sustainable future path may be feasible, although in the near term carbon capture and sequestration innovation will be essential." | |