Join the Process Development Division, Wednesday, September 26 at 02:00 PM Central Time for our live webinar presentation, "A Career in Process Development," hosted by Dr. Joe Powell, Energy Transition Institute, University of Houston; Former Shell Chief Scientist. Register here as well as via the button below. Registration is free. A webcast of this event is available on the AIChE Academy and is free to Process Development Division members here.
Presentation Abstract:
Process Development is a key skill for industry in translating ideas and opportunities into commercial reality, including today’s grand challenges in achieving Net Zero Emissions by 2050 and a Circular Economy for chemicals and materials. This seminar will provide an overview of the industrial role, including examples that led to commercialization of major technologies. Specific topics include use of shortcut methods to fast-track development, de-risking to optimize technology portfolio management, impacts of AI, machine learning and digital computation on optimal future approaches, and the importance of stakeholder engagement, including life cycle assessment with sustainability as critical drivers for innovation. Process development leadership roles have the advantage of a wide breadth of engagement, visibility, and impact that transcends specific technology and economic fads, and hence is a great way to make a meaningful career contribution.
Speaker Biography:
Joe Powell (Joseph B. Powell, Ph.D.) is an AIChE Fellow and Shell’s Chief Scientist - Chemical Engineering. In 1988 he joined the Process Development Department at Shell Technology Center Houston, where he has led major R&D programs in new chemical processes, biofuels, and enhanced oil recovery, in addition to a Hunters innovation group. Dr. Powell has been co-inventor on more than 125 distinct patent applications with 60 granted, and several industry awards, including the A. D. Little Award for Chemical Engineering Innovation (AIChE 1998), R&D100 Award (R&D Magazine) and American Chemical Society Team Innovation Award (2000), U. Wisconsin College of Engineering Distinguished Achievement Award (2009), AIChE Process Development Division Service Award (2012) and Practice Award (2017). He is co-editor and chapter author for the book Sustainable Development in the Process Industries: Cases and Impact, John Wiley & Sons, New York (2010), and has served AIChE in various roles including division and meeting programming chair, operating council, executive board on programming, pilot plants area chair, topical chair. He was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 2021 after serving two terms on the Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology. He serves on the editorial committee of Annual Review of Chemical and Biological Engineering and was elected to the Board of Directors of AIChE (2016). Dr. Powell obtained a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1984), following a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Virginia (1978).
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