Awards
The Sustainable Engineering Forum provides three awards annually to o acknowledge research and outstanding contributions relative to engineering and sustainability.
SEF Award Types
(1) Research Excellence Award annually presented for basic or applied research results relative to the sustainability of products, processes, or the environment. The award is to recognize the one who has made significant technical contributions to the advancement of sustainable engineering in research, teaching, and development activities.(pdf for 2011)
(2) Industry Practice Award recognizes individuals or teams who have made outstanding contributions over a long-term basis pertinent to sustainable engineering development in the practice of chemical process/product design or manufacturing. This award focuses on applicants from small, medium, or large companies. (pdf for 2011)
(3) Student Paper Award is presented to full-time undergraduate or graduate students who prepare the best technical papers that describe results related to engineering and sustainability. (pdf for 2011)
2011 Awardees
2011 Research Excellence in Sustainable Engineering Award:
Dr. Heriberto Cabezas, Senior Science Advisor, Sustainable Technology Division, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Dr. Heriberto Cabezas joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1994. He is the Senior Science Advisor of the Sustainable Technology Division. He is a former Acting Director of the Division, and a former Chief of the Sustainable Environments Branch in the same division. Dr. Cabezas is a past Chair of the AIChE Environmental Division (2006). He was a recipient of the 1998 EPA Science Achievement Award in Engineering, and the 2007 Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Dr. Cabezas received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Florida (1985) in the area of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. He holds a M.S. from the University of Florida (1981) and a B.S. (magna cum laude) from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (1980), both in chemical engineering. He is a Fellow of the AIChE, a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a Board Certified Member of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers. His past and present areas of research include chemical process design (WAR Algorithm) and solvent design (PARIS II software), the sustainable management of environmental systems including supply chains and sustainability metrics, and the application of Information Theory to complex environmental problems.
2011 Research Excellence in Sustainable Engineering Award:
Prof. Ignacio E. Grossmann, Department of Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
Ignacio Grossmann is the Rudolph R. and Florence Dean University Professor of Chemical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. He is a leading figure in the area of Process Systems Engineering who has made a number of significant research contributions in the area of sustainability, particularly in the areas of optimal synthesis heat exchanger networks and process water networks, design of biofuel plants and multiobjective design optimization models with environmental concerns.
He obtained his B.S. degree at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, in 1974, and his M.S. and Ph.D. at Imperial College in 1975 and 1977, respectively. After working at the Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo in 1978, he joined Carnegie Mellon in 1979. He is currently director of the Center for Advanced Process Decision-making, an industrial consortium that involves about 20 petroleum, chemical, engineering and software companies.
2011 Student Paper Award:
Xiang Li, Department of Chemical Engineering, Lamar University, “Incorporating Exergy Analysis and Inherent Safety Analysis for Sustainability Assessment of Biofuels,” published in Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. (2011), 50, 2981-2993 (co-authors: Anand Zanwar, Abhishek Jayswal, Dr. Helen H. Lou and Dr. Yinlun Huang; advisor: Professor Helen H. Lou)
Mr. Xiang Li is a PhD student in chemical engineering at Lamar University. His area of research includes design for sustainability, process modeling and simulation.
This paper presents a novel approach for applying exergy analysis and inherently safe design principles to evaluate the sustainability of chemical systems. The efficacy of this methodology is demonstrated through a case study on biodiesel production processes. In conjunction with a multi-criteria decision-analysis method, this methodology will provide critical guidance to the designers.
2011 Student Paper Award:
Viet Pham, Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, “Techno-Economic Analysis of Biomass to Fuel via the MixAlco Process,” published in Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology (2010), 37(11), 1157-1168 (co-authors: Dr. Mark Holtzapple and Dr. Mahmoud El-Halwagi; advisor: Professor Mahmoud El-Halwagi)
Mr. Viet Pham is a Ph.D. candidate at the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University. His work is on the cutting edge of using chemical engineering fundamentals in a unique, innovative, and rigorous manner to solve a pressing problem in the area of sustainable design.
The paper developed and applied various tools in synthesis, simulation, design, and economic analysis for a novel process of converting various types of biomass into mixed alcohols that can be used directly as biofuels or converted to liquid transportation fuels.