About AIChE

Eugene R. Allspach
University of Cincinnati

Education was always a top priority in our house. My mother vowed that all of her children would have a college education. When I was in high school, I considered my options and chose to study to be an engineer. I learned about the co-op program at the University of Cincinnati and thought that fit my needs very well.

When I enrolled at UC, I registered as a mechanical engineer. After my first quarter of classes, I realized that I liked chemistry much more than mechanics so I switched to chemical engineering. I did not know any practicing chemical engineers but I knew that I really enjoyed chemistry.

There were two opportunities in my career that I thoroughly enjoyed and are my most significant. The first was to be involved in the formation of a new business joint venture with a Japanese company. I was involved from the concept stage through the successful implementation stage. I was able to negotiate the joint venture partnership agreement, technology license and marketing services agreement as well as establish the management structure and company objectives. When the joint venture was approved by both company’s boards, I was named its President. The joint venture was responsible for developing a market in the U.S. for a new type of plastic, ethylene vinyl alcohol co-polymers (EVOH). The advantages for EVOH were they had a very high gas barrier and had excellent solvent resistance. Most plastics allow gases to pass through them and soften or even dissolve in solvents.

The values I believe in, which have driven my career are:

Treat all people with respect
Be the best at what you do
Be ethical and honest at all times
Lead by example
Teamwork is best

These values were instilled in me by my parents and were reinforced by several people that I met throughout my career.

I would like to be remembered as a person who was able to build teams in which everyone was treated with respect, very high performance standards were set, and achieved more than they ever thought they could.
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Profile
I am sincerely honored and humbled to be a part of the University of Cincinnati AIChE Centennial Celebration Mini-History . While I was attending UC, it never crossed my mind for a moment that I would be so honored. When I took that first really difficult test and struggled, I wondered if I had the capability to be a good engineer. With the help of my family, friends, and professors I was able to succeed at UC.

I grew up 30 miles north of Cincinnati on a small farm. I had three older sisters and was the only boy of the family. Growing up on a farm is a great experience. My father raised livestock and milked cows. He raised all of the corn, hay, wheat, and oats to feed the livestock. The farm year was very busy from spring to fall with planting and harvesting. The winter was not nearly so busy. It was always necessary to think ahead and be prepared for the following year. That training taught me to think ahead and be prepared for the future.

There was always lots of work on the farm and each member of the family had their “chores” to do. Since I was the only boy, my chores were outside work such as feeding the cows and whatever else was needed. I believe that those chores taught me team work, accepting responsibility and accountability for my actions. If I did not do my portion of the work, my father would have to do it for me. I hated to disappoint my parents and siblings so I always wanted to do my chores very well and strive to do more. I also did not want to incur the wrath of my father for not doing my chores.

Education was always a top priority in our house. My parents’ educations were affected by the Depression. My mother had to drop out of high school to help her parents on their small farm. She wanted an education and vowed that all of her children would have a college education. My father started engineering at Ohio State but after one year ran out of money and could not afford to continue.

There was a couple who became very close friends of our family. They did not have any children but “adopted” us as their grandchildren. They treated us like grandchildren and my parents as their own children. They were very kind to all of us and we considered them to be our grandparents. The woman had taught school for 35 years and was another strong proponent for getting a college education. She encouraged us in every school endeavor and was very supportive of all of us-just like fabulous grandparents do.

The school that I attended had all 12 grades in one building. We had a “big” class of 60. Most classes had 45 students. We were the first wave of the “post-war baby boom” so we strained the system. All 60 of us were in one classroom with one teacher from first through sixth grade. In the seventh grade, we were finally split into two classes. Those first teachers had a very heavy workload with all of those students in one classroom.

I remember a science project in third grade that I thought was really good. I do not remember where I learned about it. As best as I can recall, the project was to dilute liquid cake coloring with water. It would be one color in liquid form. Then I would dip a strip of chromatographic paper in the liquid. The liquid flowed through the paper and the colors would separate. I do not remember where I got the paper or the idea but really enjoyed doing it. I remember my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Finley. Each student had a file card in a card file box with our name on it. We had to read 5 books during the year and put the book title on the file card. We all aimed to read the most books in the class, so in the end, we would up reading many more than the number needed. I do not remember if I had the most but I know that I read a lot of books that year. I thank her for encouraging me to read.

In high school, the three teachers that I remember the most were my history teacher, chemistry teacher, and math teacher. My history teacher, Miss Lucy King, taught not only history but also encouraged us to read current events. We had a test each year in high school in January on current events during the prior year. I still keep abreast of current events. She instilled an interest and encouraged a habit which I still enjoy. My chemistry teacher, Mr. Donald Morris, was a chemical engineer who left engineering to teach. He really pushed us to think. He definitely did not believe in just rote memorization. He wanted us to understand the principles of chemistry, which was a great help in my career. My math teacher, Mrs. Ruby Phillabaum, motivated us to excel. She would report the highest scores on each test and then hand the papers back in descending order of the grades. You always wanted to have the first paper handed back to you.

In high school, I played basketball all four years and really enjoyed it. I was a good player but not a great one. To get in condition for basketball I ran cross country which was great for conditioning but I never enjoyed it like I did basketball. I also threw the discus on the high school track team.

When I was in high school, I considered two college education options. My parents had four children in six years so I knew that I would have to find a way to finance my own college education. I enjoyed math and science. I had an uncle who was a mechanical engineer and my father had studied aerospace engineering. When I was in eighth grade, the state replaced a bridge next to our farm. The engineer in charge of the project was very friendly and I admired how he could build a bridge. He was a civil engineer. The first option was to study to become an engineer and work very hard to get an academic scholarship. The second option was to study to be a high school teacher and a coach, and work to get an athletic scholarship. I thought that I had a better chance of getting an academic scholarship rather than an athletic one so I chose to study to be an engineer. I learned about the co-op program at the University of Cincinnati and thought that would fit my needs very well. I applied to the UC Engineering College and was accepted.

The next step I took was applying for several scholarships. I was fortunate to receive a four year Armco Steel Corporation scholarship and a freshman scholarship from UC. With the scholarships and my co-op job, I was able to finish school debt free which was welcome.

When I enrolled at UC, I registered as a mechanical engineer. After my first quarter of classes, I realized that I liked chemistry much better than mechanics so I switched to chemical engineering. I did not know any practicing chemical engineers but I knew that I really enjoyed chemistry.

During my sophomore year, I met a pre-junior student, Stan Glantz, who was the editor for the engineering college magazine, the “Co-op Engineer.” He was always recruiting students to work on the magazine so he recruited me. The ironic part was I was not a very good writer. The first article that I wrote was horrible. Stan was not very tactful and told me that it was horrible. He helped me re-write the article so that it was satisfactory. He did the same thing with me for several more articles and actually taught me how to write more than any class that I had taken. I worked on the Engineering College magazine the rest of my time at UC and was the News Editor. My writing progressed to the point that I was selected to be a member of Pi Delta Epsilon, the national journalism honorary fraternity.

My work on the “Co-op Engineer” also led me to become involved in the Engineering College student government, the Engineering Tribunal. I was elected as my class representative for two years and in my senior year I was elected President of the Engineering Tribunal. I attended UC from 1965 to 1970 during the period of much activity and unrest on campuses throughout the U.S. The Engineering Tribunal was a part of many changes in the Engineering College during that time. The Engineering Tribunal requested that students be put on several faculty committees to provide student input into College affairs. This was approved by the College and was the first time students had been on faculty committees. The Engineering Tribunal instituted an outstanding teacher award to recognize professors who were outstanding teachers. Several curriculum recommendations were made and implemented. Prior to the changes, an engineer would have to wait until their junior year for the first opportunity to choose an elective. All classes had been set in the curriculum until the junior year and even the senior year did not have many electives available. Overall, the Engineering Tribunal was able to lead many changes that made the College more student oriented.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at UC. One of my professors has had a long lasting impact on me. Dr. Robert Delcamp was Associate Dean. He also taught me organic chemistry when Dr. Stanley Cosgrove was on sabbatical leave. Dr. Delcamp was the student advisor for many of the student organizations that I participated in as well. I got to know Dr. Delcamp and very much admired his ability to help a group reach consensus on difficult issues. He kept the lines of communication open during the turbulent 1960’s so there were no incidents in the Engineering College. I have tried to emulate him during my career.

When I graduated, I seriously considered becoming a college professor. I enjoyed the college atmosphere in which young, ambitious, idealistic students wanted to learn and make the world a better place. I enjoyed teaching and thought that college would be a great place to teach. I did not immediately pursue that dream. I worked for Shell Chemical for one year and then started graduate school in chemical engineering at Rice University. After one semester of graduate school, I discovered that to be a successful engineering professor, one had to do more research than teaching. I enjoyed the teaching but not the research. I completed my thesis and Master’s Degree in chemical engineering and then went back to work in industry.

I started work the second time at Northern Petrochemical Company, a division of Northern Natural Gas Company in Morris, Illinois as a process engineer. I worked in the low density polyethylene area. The plant had just started up two years prior to my arrival so I worked on improvements which make a new plant run better. After one year, I was promoted to assistant superintendent for ethylene production. I was responsible for the daily operation of the ethylene plant which provided the raw material for the other two operations at that site. This was a rapid learning experience for me. An ethylene plant is a single train with many different unit operations that must run properly or the entire plant will shut down. I also got my first experience with supervising 40 people. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I had several other jobs at the Morris Plant including Process Engineering Superintendent, Ethylene Superintendent, and Monomer Production Manager.

During this series of jobs, I realized that I liked operations or the application and use of technology more than I did the development of the technology itself. I enjoyed creating a team environment in which a group of people produced a product better than anyone else. What I enjoyed sounded a lot like what was necessary to run a business so I requested a job opportunity in the business area. I was fortunate to be assigned as Director, Strategic Planning and New Business Development for Northern Petrochemical. This was an outstanding experience for me. I was able to participate in a wide variety of business opportunities. I was able to develop and implement a strategic planning process. In the new business area, I was able to establish criteria for new businesses for future growth and then seek out opportunities in these areas to develop. I was able to negotiate a new technology license as well as the construction contract to build the new plant using this technology. One of the business opportunities that I developed during this time, a new plastics joint venture, led to one of my most enjoyable assignments.

The joint venture was targeting market development in the food packaging area. Foods that would spoil when exposed to oxygen were not packaged in plastic if they needed a shelf life of more than 3 to 6 months because oxygen would seep into the package and spoil the food. Technology was being developed to allow multi-layer plastic packaging in which one of the layers was a high gas barrier plastic to prevent oxygen seepage into the package and the food from spoiling. The EVOH layer was only 0.001 inches thick to provide the gas barrier needed. To provide sufficient strength and structure for the container, a cheaper plastic was used on the outside such as polypropylene or high density polyethylene. Polypropylene and polyethylene are not polar molecules but EVOH is a polar molecule so they would not adhere to each other. An adhesive had to be used so they would adhere together. Another layer was typically designed to use the scrap from the package manufacturing process that had never been used. These requirements led to a 5 to 6 layer bottle or plastic package. There were significant challenges to get a uniform 1 mil thickness layer uniformly distributed throughout the package to prevent oxygen seepage into the package. The technical challenges were overcome and the end products were marketed. A readily recognizable example of the new development was the Heinz plastic ketchup bottle introduced in the 1980’s. The Campbell ’s microwaveable individual soup servings and Mott’s individual apple sauce servings are some other examples. EVOH was also used in flexible packaging applications such as lunch meats, bacon, cheese, and other items to make food fresher when purchased and extend the shelf life. The applications continue today.

In 1984, the U.S. market was less than 1 million pounds of EVOH per year. In December 1984, the joint venture approved building a plant with a capacity of 22 million pounds per year. The challenge was to continue to develop the market according to our forecasts to utilize the plant capacity when construction was complete in 1987. We successfully developed the market and the joint venture was profitable in 1988 which is outstanding for a new business to achieve in that short time. My greatest pride was that we developed a company that was dedicated to working as a team and being the best in the industry. My greatest satisfaction was to be able to develop a concept into a successful business from start to finish.

The second opportunity that I thoroughly enjoyed was the formation of the joint venture Equistar. Equistar was formed by combining the petrochemical assets of Millennium Chemical Company with Lyondell Chemical Company in December 1997 and then adding the Occidental Petroleum Company petrochemical assets in May 1998. I was a member of the negotiating team to evaluate the asset values and the potential cost savings possible from a combination of the companies. Equistar was formed with $6 billion in assets and $6 billion in annual sales. I was named its President and Chief Operating Officer. At the time of its formation, it was the largest ethylene and polyethylene producer and the seventh largest chemical company in North America. We were able to achieve $280 million in annual synergy cost savings in the second year which was one year sooner and greater than the target that we had set. When you combine companies, there are many job duplications which unfortunately mean that someone is not offered a job in the new company. This is always a difficult task that must be done to be competitive. We were able to go through the reorganization successfully. By being open and honest and treating people with respect, we were able to quickly inform people of their future with the company and allow each individual to continue their career either within or outside the company. In spite of the job reductions that occurred, we achieved a 96% favorable employee rating in a November 1998 employee survey in commitment to Equistar’s success. . My greatest pride, again, was that we developed a company that was dedicated to working as a team and being the best in the industry. Although it is not a pleasant task, I was satisfied that the individuals who were not offered a job in the new company or declined to relocate, were treated with respect and assisted to move to their next career opportunity. Again, my greatest satisfaction was to be able to develop a concept into a successful business from start to finish.

Between these two opportunities, I had five different positions. The two main positions were in Specialty Polymers and Manufacturing. I was Vice President, Specialty Polymers and Business Development. I had responsibility for four separate specialty polymers businesses as well as strategic planning and new business development for Quantum Chemical Company. I was also Group Vice President, Manufacturing and Technology for Quantum Chemical Company. I had responsibility for manufacturing, R&D, engineering, licensing, purchasing, health, safety, and environmental, and feedstock procurement.

During my career, I was involved in a number of mergers both as the acquiring and the acquired company. I would tell my parents the name of the company that I was working for and they would ask me if I had changed jobs to work for a new company. I always told them that I did not go to a new company but the company changed. I was involved in six company mergers during my career with eight different company names.

The values that I believe in and have driven my career are:

1. Treat all people with respect.
2. Be the best at what you do.
3. Be ethical and honest at all times.
4. Lead by example.
5. Teamwork is best.

These values were instilled in me by my parents and were reinforced by several people that I met during my career for which I had a great deal of respect. Dr. Robert Delcamp, UC Associate Dean and Professor, treated everyone with respect, whether you were a student, professor, or the Dean. He also was able to create teamwork toward a common goal. Mr. Roland Beasley, President Northern Petrochemical Company, was ethical and honest at all times. He generated a great deal of respect and trust even with difficult messages. He led by example and was driven to be the best.

My advice to new graduates is to try to understand what interests and motivates you and let that drive your career path. Until an individual experiences an opportunity, it is difficult to determine if one likes it or not. In addition, there may be new fields discovered that need talent but no one has been trained for. In the 1970’s, engineers were needed in the environmental area but few if any were trained in that field. In the 1980’s, process control was the emerging field. In the 1990’s, biomedical engineering was emerging. I would urge new graduates to try new fields such as these if the challenges meet your interests. You may truly enjoy it and become very proficient in the new field.

I believe my chemical engineering education was an outstanding background for my career. I am a very strong believer in advanced education, especially the sciences. My greatest concern about the future is that engineering and science are not popular in high schools and are not viewed as a great career opportunity. My advice to high school students would be to take as much science and math as possible to determine if you enjoy it. Even if you do not pursue a technical career, you will be using math the rest of your life and you will need some understanding of science to have an opinion on issues facing society. My greatest hope is that we are able to get more students interested in science. A strong education can lead to a very fulfilling career and financial security. The pace of technology improvements continues to offer outstanding opportunities to those who choose to pursue them.

Eugene R. Allspach University of Cincinnati

Eugene R. Allspach
University of Cincinnati