January Letter from the Chair - Ramanan Krishnamoorti

Letter from the Chair

Welcome and best wishes for a fantastic 2021! I look forward to serving the South Texas Section as Chair for 2021.

I first would like to thank Mark Harkness, 2020 Chair, the Executive Committee, and numerous volunteers for a successful 2020. During a most unusual year, AIChE-STS adjusted its activities to the virtual world and made meaningful impact on the lives of the chemical engineering community in South Texas. It has been a pleasure working with this group the past year.

I also would like to congratulate our newly elected Officers for 2021: Chair-Elect – Julie D. White, Position 1 (Continuing Education) – Mahdi Nouri, Position 3 (Communications) – Romina Myrtaj, and Treasurer – Yurika Diaz Bialowas. You can find more information about them on our website. Special thanks to Yurika for her continued service since 2017 as the Treasurer of AIChE-STS.

The dinner meetings continue their virtual format for the first half of this year. You can sign up for these on the STS website.

Now more than ever, the South Texas Section is committed to supporting our members in transition. Virtual networking meetings are scheduled on the first and third Fridays of each month, and registration is available on the website. We are seeking your ideas to enhance the ways in which STS can support our members in transition – please email us your thoughts.

The Energy Forum and Water Forum will be held in March and May, respectively. The Annual Southwest Process Technology Conference will be held September 30^th and October 1st in Sugar Land. We are hoping that the SPTC meeting will be live and in-person.  These are wonderful opportunities for Networking and Continuing Education.

Interested in volunteering? The STS owes thanks to volunteers for investing their time to help with many initiatives and events related to AIChE. The K-12 program, Offshore Technology Conference support, and the Houston Science and Engineering Fair are just a few of the events that we support. If you are interested in volunteering, please join in.

Our Industry Sponsors deserve a special thanks for helping the Section with its continuing mission. If you or your company is interested in sponsorship, information is included in this Newsletter.

Special thanks to AIChE’s national office for their continued support of the South Texas Section.

I look forward to interacting with you in the virtual meetings for the first half of this year and hopefully, in person, for the rest of the year!