February Letter from the Chair

Letter from the Chair

January has been a whirlwind month for all, and as we look forward to the distribution of vaccinations for COVID-19 over the spring, it is a good time to reflect on how chemical engineers have driven advances in vaccine development and their manufacture. The South Texas Section will provide a forum to discuss these in the coming months.

While our January dinner meeting focused on robotics enabled chemical safety, the February meeting promises to be a great opportunity to interact with Toby Baker, the Executive Director of Texas Commission for Environmental Quality (TCEQ).  The mission of TCEQ is to protect our state's public health and natural resources consistent with sustainable economic development. Our goal is clean air, clean water, and the safe management of waste. You can read a history of TCEQ at https://www.tceq.texas.gov/agency/organization/tceqhistory.html.

You can register for the dinner meeting presentation at https://stsaiche.regfox.com/2021-february-virtual-meeting

This year we celebrate Engineers Week during February 21–27, 2021. Founded by National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) in 1951, Engineers Week  is dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers. The South Texas Section is an active participant in Houston’s Engineering week. (https://houstonengineersweek.org/.)

The Science and Engineering Fair of Houston will begin on February 13. This year, the Fair will be virtual and all students’ projects will be pre-recorded. The South Texas Section has traditionally awarded six prizes to students with projects related chemical engineering, chemistry, and the process industries. All South Texas Section Members are invited to volunteer to judge projects. Please read the information here.

The executive committee and many volunteers meet for the monthly executive committee meeting on February 11 from 5.30 to 7.00 PM.  The meetings are virtual and open to any members of the South Texas Section.  Members interested in joining the meeting are kindly encouraged to contact the chair.

Please keep your comments, suggestions and ideas coming in.  We seek to find additional ways to interact with the Chemical Engineering community and grow the impact and connectedness of the group.