In the same year that the American Institute of Chemical Engineers celebrates its centennial, the University’s Chemical Engineering Department will celebrate the progress it has made since its own opening in 1908, according to Don Kirwan, professor of chemical engineering and chair of the department committee for planning.
On the weekend of Sept. 26 to 27, faculty, students and alumni will meet for various events to celebrate the department’s centennial, Chemical Engineering Prof. Jack Hudson said.
“It’s going to be quite the festive occasion, with a lot of celebrating going on,” he noted.
The weekend’s events will begin Friday, Sept. 26 with a reception in the chemical engineering courtyard, Kirwan said, and the following morning will feature a symposium in the Dome Room of the Rotunda, at which department Chair Robert Davis will discuss the status and future of the department. Mark Davis, a professor at the California Institute of Technology, will also speak, Kirwan said, and a small panel of University chemical engineering alumni will discuss their views on engineering higher education.
Kirwan said all University students are welcome to attend the Saturday morning activities, but noted that, for the most part, the weekend’s events will be solely comprised of faculty, alumni, graduate students and “representative undergrads,” such as student officers.
The chemical engineering department will hold another centennial celebration in the form of a reception at the AIChE’s annual meeting in November, Kirwan added.
During these centennial celebrations, the chemical engineering department can look back at the dramatic changes the department has made since its inception. The University’s chemical engineering department graduated its first three students with a bachelor of science degree in 1912, Kirwan said. Now, nearly 20 times that number of undergraduates are in the program, Kirwan noted, also adding that the graduate program, not developed until the 1960s, now is home to 50 doctoral students and residents.
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