An American researcher, who will receive the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Barack Obama later today in a White House ceremony, headlines the 61st Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference (CSChE2011), which will be hosted by The University of Western Ontario at the London Convention Centre from October 23rd to 26th.
Purdue University’s Rakesh Agrawal received the medal, which represents the highest honour for technological achievement bestowed by the U.S. government, for “an extraordinary record of innovations.” Agrawal, the Winthrop E. Stone Distinguished Professor at Purdue’s School of Chemical Engineering, holds 116 U.S. patents, nearly 500 non-U.S. patents and has authored 93 technical papers in the fields of electronic device manufacturing, liquefied gas production and the supply of industrial gases for diverse industries.
His talk, titled “Chemical Engineering Innovation Needs for a Future Solar Economy,” will be presented on Tuesday, October 25th from 1:10 to 2:10 p.m. in Ballroom 5 & 6. Media are invited to attend.
CSChE2011 is the largest event for chemical engineers in Canada and will draw more than 1,100 delegates from 20 different countries to the Forest City over the coming week. Plenary sessions and conference symposia will focus on topics ranging from nanotechnology and the environment to globalization and women in engineering.
Western President Amit Chakma delivers his welcome speech on Monday, October 24th at 7:45 a.m. in Ballroom 5 & 6. Chakma, himself a chemical engineer, will also participate as a panellist in the globalization session scheduled for Monday, October 24th at 9:30 a.m. in Theatre C.
Western Engineering professor and Canada Research Chair in Particle Technology Applications Jesse Zhu is the Conference Chair and Western Engineering professor and Associate Dean (Academic) Amarjeet Bassi is the Technical Program Chair.
Don Hewson, the Managing Director of Western’s Sarnia Research Park is the Vice Chair of the conference and Bill Cairns from Trojan Technology and Jennifer Lee from Nova Chemical are the Technical Program Co-Chairs.
MEDIA CONTACT: Jeff Renaud, Senior Media Relations Officer, 519-661-2111, ext. 85165
