Dear Colleague,
 
It gives me great pleasure to send you this, the first issue of the EFCE E-Newsletter on recent EFCE activities. I do hope that the information will be of interest to you.

Yours sincerely

John Garside
EFCE Executive Vice-President
 

         In this issue:

• A word from the President
• Who’s Who
• EFCE Awards
• Events
• Science and Technology
• News from the Member Societies
• Contacts/Imprint

A word from the President

Dear Colleagues,

Since its creation in 1953, the EFCE has become a platform for all European chemical engineers and their activities. The adopted structure of Working Parties, covering almost all the basic areas of chemical engineering, has proved itself to be a useful concept which has enabled the efficient exchange of experience and knowledge among the EFCE members. Let me remind you that the Federation’s very first Working Party, the Working Party on Chemical Reaction Engineering, was established just 50 years ago (in 1957), and it is still one of the most active Working Parties.
In 2001, EFCE Sections were introduced in addition to the Working Parties to support cooperation in interdisciplinary, task oriented areas. To date we have 23 Working Parties and 4 Sections - the numbers change as some Working Parties have terminated their activities and some others have just recently been formed. Although this process may seem to be natural, I can assure you that the EFCE Executive Board will always try all reasonable measures to help any inactive Working Party before asking the General Assembly for approval to wind it up.

The activities of Working Parties have always reflected the changing world of chemical engineering, but the most decisive factors, dramatically influencing our profession (and society at large), have appeared only in the last 10-15 years. As examples, let me mention:

• Extremely rapid and effective communication possibilities using not only e-mail, but also various forms of e-conferences, video meetings, e-teaching, etc.
• Availability of all kinds of information on the web for almost everyone, including searches for scientific literature, existence of numerous databases and other useful sources of data.
• New and emerging scientific disciplines, or disciplines with an exponentially increasing impact, like nanotechnology, bioengineering, genetic engineering, and sustainability.

All these and many other factors must also have a deep impact on the EFCE. They have to be taken into account when revising the future strategy of the EFCE after more than five decades of its successful existence. Some steps in this direction have already been taken - for example the formation of the Task Group on Public Relations, which should help in increasing the visibility and value of the EFCE to the chemical engineering community and to the general public. However, the problem is much more complex and thus at our last presidential meeting in Manchester at the beginning of July we decided to make a thorough analysis of the EFCE activities.
We have to develop objectives and strategies that reflect the above-mentioned factors so that the EFCE will be perceived as the real voice of European chemical engineering of the 21st century. This ambitious task can only be achieved in close collaboration with the Member Societies, Working Parties and Sections. I should therefore appreciate your assistance and am looking forward to our further cooperation.

Jiri Drahos
 

Who’s Who

Change of Chairmanship of EFCE Working Parties and Sections
Dr. Hermann Feise, Chairman of the Working Party on Mechanics of Particulate Solids, has announced that Prof. Massimo Poletto , University of Salerno, Italy, has been elected to succeed him in the position of chair of the Working Party from 1 January 2008 for a three-year term of office.

In May 2007, Prof. Andrzej Kraslawski , Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland, was elected as the new Chairman of the Working Party on CAPE from the end of ESCAPE-17 for a three-year term of office. He succeeded Prof. Rafiqul Gani.

Dr. Eva Sorensen , University College London, UK, was elected to succeed Prof. Richard Darton, in the position of chair of the Working Party on Fluid Separations from May 2007 for a period of three years.

During the their last business meeting, the Working Party on Comminution and Classification elected Prof. Kari Heiskanen , Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, Finland, to succeed Prof. Eric Forssberg, who had led the Working Party since 1994, in the position of Chairman of the Working Party from May 2007 to 2010.

Prof. Dietrich Knorr , University of Berlin, Germany, was elected the new chairman of the Section on Food from 1 July 2007. He is the successor to Prof. Helmar Schubert, the first Chairman of the new Section.

European Process Safety Centre
The European Process Safety Centre (EPSC) wishes to announce that Prof. Christian Jochum is to succeed Richard Gowland from the 1 September as its new Director of Centre. Holding a doctorate in chemistry, Prof. Jochum is a former Corporate Director of Safety with Hoechst AG and since 1997 has worked as free lance consultant in process safety, risk and emergency management. He currently chairs the Plant Safety Commission in Germany which acts as advisor to the Federal Government. Richard Gowland will remain with EPSC as Technical Director.
  

EFCE Awards

Jacques Villermaux Medal 2007
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gerhart Eigenberger , Germany, is the laureate of the Jacques Villermaux Medal 2007. He has been chosen for the award in recognition of his outstanding scientific contributions to chemical reaction and process engineering, his support of the Federation’s Working Party on Chemical Reaction Engineering as a member and chairman and of the International Symposium on Chemical Reaction Engineering (ISCRE). The award will be presented at the opening ceremony of ECCE-6 on 17 September 2007 in Copenhagen, Denmark. ( more ... )

Honorary Membership of the Federation The European Federation of Chemical Engineering wishes to announce that Honorary Membership of the Federation is being awarded to Dr. Trevor J. Evans , United Kingdom, former Chief Executive of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) and Head of the EFCE UK Office for around 30 years. This distinction is conferred in recognition of the role Dr. Evans played in the development of chemical engineering across Europe through his commitment to the Federation, and his contribution to international friendship and understanding. The Honorary Membership will be presented on the occasion of ECCE-6 in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 17 September 2007.

Student Mobility Award 2007
EFCE has great pleasure in announcing the winners of the Student Mobility Award 2007: Mr. Daniel Weber , Germany (1st prize), Mrs. Stefanie Demming , Germany (2nd prize) and Mrs. Ana Carvalho , Portugal (3rd prize). The award will be presented to the prize winners at the closing ceremony of ECCE-6 on 20 September 2007 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
( more ... )

Call for nominations
The Federation is pleased to announce the call for nominations for the Excellence Award in Recognition of an Outstanding PhD Thesis on CAPE 2008 . The award consists of a cash prize and a certificate, and will be presented to the winner at a special session during the ESCAPE-18 conference to be held in Lyon, France, in June 2008. Any PhD thesis supervised at a university or PhD-awarding institution of an EFCE member country in the area of computer-aided process engineering (CAPE) or process systems engineering (PSE) is eligible for nomination. The candidate’s thesis must have been defended during the two calendar years preceding the nomination deadline of 31 December 2007 .
( more ... )
 

Events

CHISA 2008
18th International Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering, 24 - 28 August 2008, Prague, Czech Republic (EFCE Event No 672)
The CHISA Congress, organised by the Czech Society of Chemical Engineering, is traditionally attended by participants from all over the world. It addresses the entire area of chemical engineering topics, covering science, research, development and industrial practice. Pan-European contacts and global co-operation will be emphasised. The Exhibition MARCHES 2008 will also be organised. For detailed information please visit the Congress website at http://www.chisa.cz/2008.

WCCE8
8th World Congress of Chemical Engineering, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 23-27 August 2009 Canada and Montréal will welcome the international chemical engineering community to WCCE8 at the downtown Palais des Congrès de Montréal (Convention Centre). WCCE8’s technical programme will emphasize the key role played by chemical engineers from all around the world in developing the processes and products needed by humanity in a more sustainable way - as highlighted by the Congress’s overall theme Challenges for a Changing World . The Call for Papers will be distributed in early 2008. More information can be obtained from the Congress website at http://www.wcce8.org
  

Science and Technology

New EFCE Working Party on Thermodynamics and Transport Properties
In March 2007, the EFCE Member Societies approved the formation of a new EFCE Working Party on Thermodynamics and Transport Properties. The objectives of the new WP are among others:
(a) to promote thermodynamic, transport and physical property measurements, correlations, predictions, and simulations in the academic and industrial chemical engineering communities, the national societies, as well as the national and international funding agencies,
(b) to promote concerted education activities for chemical engineers in the areas of thermodynamics and transport properties,
(c) to offer a suitable forum to chemical engineers for the exchange of ideas, the development of new basic and applied research projects and collaborations through the organization of conferences, workshops and other activities.
The inaugural meeting of the Working Party will be held in conjunction with ECCE-6 in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Wednesday, 19 September 2007. ( more ... )
 

News from the Member Societies

The Spanish EFCE Member Society "Asociacion National de Quimicos - ANQUE" will award its highest distinction, the Golden Medal of ANQUE, to the European Federation of Chemical Engineering. The President of ANQUE, Prof. Baldomero Lopez Perez, has invited the EFCE President, Prof. Jiri Drahos to the Gala Dinner of the annual ANQUE General Assembly in Madrid, Spain, on 1 December 2007 to receive the award on behalf of EFCE.
 

Contact

Why an E-newsletter?

As you know, information is everywhere, at all times, on all topics... .
This E-newsletter is your publication, with the objective of informing you rapidly and regularly about EFCE news, challenges, science and technology, of course, and also events, awards, changes... .
The Executive Board, the different Working Parties and Sections, as well as the EFCE in general, are working well for chemical engineering in Europe, but what is happening globally?
With this E-newsletter EFCE members and any other interested persons will receive all the information in their e-mail box and so be kept up to date with the activities of the Federation. We offer you an opportunity to learn about the major news in a concise form every 4 months. You can then get further information by clicking on the appropriate links.
You can also be a contributor to the newsletter, indeed we very much hope that you will be. This is your newsletter and it has also been created for you to contribute information. You can do this easily by sending the information by e-mail to:
The first issue is a sort of test for us. We would very much appreciate receiving your comments about it. If you are attending the ECCE 6 congress in Copenhagen we will be very pleased to meet you at the EFCE stand (number E-012).

We hope that you will be as enthusiastic as we are about this new addition to your information sources.

Christine Legrand for the EFCE Task Group on Public Relations.

Editor: Christine Legrand, e-mail:

The statements and opinions expressed in the e-newsletter are those of the contributors and EFCE assumes no responsibility for them.