About

The New Orleans Section is the third oldest section in the Institute having been chartered in 1932. Only the Chicago and Delaware Valley Sections are older.

Section Activities and Meetings

The section's activities are typical of most local sections. Dinner meetings once per month from September to April form the bulk of the section's calendar of activities. At least one of the meetings is billed as a social to which spouses of members are particularly encouraged to attend. Spouses are always welcome to attend, but many may not find the topics of interest. To encourage non-chemical engineers to attend, some monthly meetings have featured speakers with topics of general interest. Among those topics were money management and communication "soft skills". The section held its first every "Internet Surf" night as our starting program in 1997! This program also allowed the section members to interact with the local student chapter of AIChE on the Tulane Campus, where the meeting was held.

The Tulane Student Chapter is nearly as old as the New Orleans Local Section. The Student Chapter was the 57th founded in 1938. The local section tries to maintain close relationships with the student chapter and offers a small yearly honorarium to a senior chemical engineering student.

In addition to this website, the section also communicates to its over 340 plus members through the "Reactor" the section's monthly newsletter. The newsletter has been recognized as outstanding for a small section (See Awards below). Starting in May 2005, the section published its first ever "Reactor Turnaround". This summer publication is intended to keep members informed about the planning activities of the section during its traditional "summer break".

In 1995 the section received the Randall D. Sheeline Award from the Institutes Public Relations Committee for excellence in public relations activities for that year.

New Orleans Section Awards

The Institute sponsors several awards, and the New Orleans Local Section has been honored with several of them over the years.

• Randall D. Sheeline Award, for excellence in public relations activities  1995
• Catalyst Grassroots Award, for support of the grassroots advocacy program 1999
• Marx Isaac's Award, for excellence of a small section newsletter  2001
  

Invitation to Visit the New Orleans Section

If you ever find yourself in New Orleans, the New Orleans Local Section would welcome you at any of our functions. Please check our web site for upcoming activities - and Laissez Le Bon Temps Roule (Let the Good Times Roll)!