Author: Associate Webmaster

As you may have read, the Wilmington Section and the Delaware Valley Section of the AIChE are merging back again. The Wilmington Section’s service area was originally part of the Delaware Valley Section at its inception in 1932. In 1983, the Wilmington Section started operating independently, bringing a full range of professional activities that were propelled by the dedication of many volunteers. Time and seismic changes to our demographics have changed the makeup of the organizations, and it now makes sense to rejoin as one stronger organization. We are thrilled to bring both sections back together, combining our resources to give you the best value for your membership. We believe that this merger will create more opportunities for our members.  Integration will allow your local section to pool resources to better serve you and your professional associates in this very important hub of industry and academia.  The consolidated leadership is committed to integrating and providing value to members of its entire service area, which now includes the state of Delaware and Cecil County, Maryland, in addition to South Jersey and Philadelphia and its suburbs. Several board members of the former Wilmington Section have joined the consolidated board, ensuring that the needs of the Wilmington geographic area are heard and fulfilled. The consolidated section will be known as the Delaware Valley Section.

The new by-laws have been approved by our Board of Directors and AIChE Local Sections Committee. It only needs the formal approval of AIChE – Career and  Education Operating Council. After the approval, DVS will work with AIChE to have all IT systems reflecting the new changes.

Another change worth mentioning is that ChemE students studying in the area are consider members in good standing.  We are making an effort to involve students and develop good engineers and leaders by putting together events to support the needs of students and involving students at the board level. 

DVS is one of the largest and most progressive sections in the world with a rich and diverse annual program. This is only possible by the participation of our members. We invite you to get involved at the board level. It may sound a lot of work, but our board is very committed and structured that even the smallest help can contribute greatly. Please contact Daniel Sujo, 2014-15 Chair if you would like to learn more about getting involved at DVS.

 

By: Aswathi John

Esperanza College, a Christian College program started to enhance the knowledge, skills and outlook of Hispanic and local community students. AIChE was able to be a part their mission by organizing a K-12 outreach sponsored by INOLEX at Esperanza College.
In order to show the kids an application of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in real life we organized an activity in which we showed them how to make a lip gloss.

First we discussed with the students, the different characteristics a lip gloss should have and how one can use the principles of chemistry to combine different kinds of substances to make a lip gloss with the desired characteristics.

Once we showed them how to make and package it, we asked them to think about how thousands of similar lip gloss is being produced in a day. And hence we taught them the necessity of Chemical Engineers in the field of manufacturing to efficiently produce various products around them.

We made them understand that once a Chemist finds the best formulation to make a lip gloss with the desired characteristics, it is the job of the Chemical Engineer to design and engineer techniques and mechanisms that can be used for the large scale production of the product which then goes into the consumer market.

Overall we were glad to have successfully organized this workshop to show the importance and necessity of Chemical Engineers in our society.

For pictures click here 

By: Peter Schwalbenberg, Vice Chair

“In recent years’ the DVS’s Oktoberfest has become a social hotspot for engineers, students and friends and this year was no exception. For this 8th edition of the event, AIChE-DVS and ISPE-DVC teamed up and hosted this annual autumn get-together at the one and only, Yards Brewery in Philadelphia.

Over 90 attendees came to enjoy the local brews and the good company. The Spruce, Pynk, and Pale ales proved to be an epic delight, specially accompanied with the beer themed appetizers/sandwiches provided by Tradestone Cafe. The night kicked off with a warm welcome given by the Daniel Sujo, the chair of AIChE-DVS and Alan Levy, the president of ISPE-DVC. The event followed with a fun and easy social bingo competition, with folks mingling to find out different fun facts about each other. 10 winners won 10 Wawa gift cards, but people kept on meeting and greeting to complete their bingo boards. Business cards were exchanged, fun gatherings were planned and student learned a great deal about industry and career advice. And let’s not forget the hilarious brewery tour given by Yards’ own Mike Hans! Great beer, great food and great people made this Fall season kick off to a great start!”

Check the photos from Oktoberfest 2014 HERE

Please join me in congratulating Doug Kriebel, PE, Chuck Clerecuzio, PE and Dr. Zenaida Gephardt, PE for their appointment as Fellow Members of AIChE based on their demonstrated significant professional accomplishment and long-term service to the profession and our section.

I also want to congratulate as well the outstanding job of our Awards Committee for their hard work behind the scenes to ensure our members are recognized locally and nationally.

We are always looking for nominations! Please contact us if you want to nominate an outstanding member of our section.