Free and open to the public.
Light snacks at 6:00 pm while they last.
Seminar starts at 7:00 pm.
For AIChE members, this lecture qualifies for 1 professional development hour (PDH) credit. PDH certificates will be provided to interested attendees.
As a chemical engineer, one can look at the life cycle of food and discover fascinating and useful things about the resources and environmental burdens used to create it. That is a way to describe the “footprint” of production, delivery and use of food. One can compare a donut to a yogurt with a new perspective, or the burdens of driving to the store compared to making the food. This information can help us make choices, and to quantify the environmental impact of food waste. Food also has a “handprint” – the nourishment and joy it can bring to people, but there are real and unmet needs for food globally and in our community. This seminar will talk both about the methods to look at the footprint of food and food waste and also about one way (there are many others!) to improve the handprint by taking take action in our community, through the Midland County Emergency Food Pantry Network.
Dr. Rich Helling is the 2015 “Chemical Engineer of the Year” for Mid-Michigan AIChE section, and is the Director of Sustainable Chemistry at Dow where he supports Dow businesses on the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), the Sustainable Chemistry Index (SCI) and related tools to identify opportunities for innovation, differentiating products in the marketplace, and creating sustainable value for Dow. Rich joined Dow in 1987 in Midland and has held a variety of roles in process research, development and manufacturing, working also in Pittsburg CA, and Drusenheim France. Rich holds a bachelors' degree from Harvey Mudd College with majors in Engineering and History, a masters' degree in Chemical Engineering Practice from MIT, and a doctorate in Chemical Engineering, also from MIT. He s a registered Professional Engineer in Michigan, and is a LCA Certified Professional. He is a dedicated musician, playing trumpet, singing tenor, ringing handbells, and is a cantor at his church. He is the board secretary of the
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