East Tennessee Local Section

Hello, Tennessee chemical engineers.  Our chapter is an important part of chemical engineering history.

Please refer to the Newsletters link for our latest newsletters and the Files link to see presentations from our speakers. 

The February 2019 Newsletter, The Pipeline, is now available: 

https://www.aiche.org/community/sites/local-sections/east-tennessee/newsletters/february-2019-pipeline

April Local Section Meeting Announcement

April 9, 2019 11:30 a.m., Eastman Research Auditorium, Kingsport, Tennessee

Peter Lodal:  How the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911 Changed the History of Process Safety

For visitor's pass, contact Tim Nolen, tnolen@eastman.com

This presentation will recount the creation of the first safety committee at Eastman Kodak Company, and how its formation relates to one of the seminal industrial accidents of the 20th Century, the Triangle Shirtwaist fire of March 1911. It will review the Triangle Case History, and discuss how its impact was felt, and how changes were made in many different industries as a result. Available accident statistics from the early 20th century will be presented to illustrate the case for change and the need for continual review of case histories across a range of industries and activities, adopting learnings even when the event itself is not relevant to current operations.

Peter Lodal is a Technical Fellow in Global Health, Safety, Environmental and Security Services. He has been with Eastman in various positions for more than 41 years, 17 years in process engineering, and the past 24 years in process safety and loss prevention. He is Eastman Chemical Company’s representative to the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) Technical Steering Committee, is the chair of the CCPS Planning committee. Pete also chairs the Process Safety Committee for the American Chemistry Council (ACC). Pete is a Professional Engineer (TN) and a Certified Process Safety Professional. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and a Fellow of the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS). Pete holds BS (1976) and MS (1977) degrees in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University. Pete and his wife of more than 41 years, Susan, have three children, Erik (37), Nicholas (34) and Genevieve (34), and nine grandchildren.

About Us

I hope you'll join in to the many educational, networking, and enjoyable activities of the East Tennessee Section of AIChE.

The East Tennessee Section has contributed to the profession of chemical engineering for seven decades.  Our area is in the extreme eastern part of the state near the border with Virginia and North Carolina.  As discussed in the local section history, our section was founded and is largely driven by employees of Eastman Chemical Company, which is the 9^th largest chemical company in the U.S. and has over 500 chemical engineers at its headquarters in Kingsport, Tennessee.  However, many of our members work for other local employers as well including Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) in Elizabethton, Tennessee and BAE Systems in Kingsport.

Our section has monthly programs from September through May.  Most of these are lunchtime meetings held in the Eastman Research Laboratories, but there are occasional plant tours and night meetings as well.  The local section offers a review course for the professional engineer’s exam and sponsors continuing education classes as well.  The history of these events is documented by our local section newsletter which is published monthly from September to May.