NEWS FROM THE ENVIRONMENTAL DIVISION CHAIR

We continue the monthly virtual meetings of theEnvironmental Division Executive Committee on thetelephone. These have allowed us to maintain focuson a number of important initiatives that will providebetter value to the membership. These initiativesinclude: (1) the ongoing quarterly technical telecon-ferences on environmental topics, (2) exciting andexpanded programming at the 2006 AIChE AnnualMeeting, and (3) future virtual specialty teleconfer-ences.

The last technical teleconference was held onThursday, July 6 on the topic of Electronic Waste.The featured speakers were Wayne Rifer from theGreen Electronics Council and Rifer Environmentaland Laura Yates from the Saint Louis County Depart-ment of Health and Regional Coordinator for E-CycleSaint Louis. The third technical teleconference isbeing planned for late September or early Octoberon the topic of Environmental Regulation and Com-pliance. Please look for an e-mail announcing thenext technical teleconference. Members are urgedto contact Dr. Raymond Smith (Smith.Raymond@epa.gov) with suggested topics for future technicalteleconferences. Note that all teleconferences are ac-cessible to all Environmental Division members at nocharge.

Environmental Division programming at the AIChEAnnual Meeting (November 12–17, 2006, San Fran-cisco) includes a wide range of activities: (1) organiz-ing a Special Lecture: Environmental Change by Vice-Admiral Conrad Lauthenbacher on the topic of‘‘Sound Science for Sound Decisions’’ and (2) organ-izing, sponsoring, and cosponsoring a wide range ofsessions and Topical Conferences including Topical1: Water Resource Conservation and Topical E: Sus-tainability.

For those members of the Environmental Divisionwho have missed an important AIChE meeting, theEnvironmental Division is exploring a means of offer-ing some of the meeting content in the form of web-based virtual specialty conferences on very specifictopics of high interest to the membership. More infor-mation on this initiative is forthcoming.

Heriberto Cabezas, Ph.D.Chair, Environmental Division, AIChEcabezas.heriberto@epa.gov

ANNUAL MEETING OF STUDENTS’ CONFERENCE

The Environmental Division is again cohosting asession on ‘‘What challenges and opportunities areavailable for chemical engineers in the environmen-tal fields?’’ We urge the Environmental Division mem-bers to encourage their students to attend these ses-sions.

The Environmental Division is looking for panelparticipants. If you find that you will be at the annualmeeting in San Francisco and wish to interact withvery motivated students, or have questions about thisconference, please contact any one of the following:� Gordon Ellis at AIChE HQ (gorde@aiche.org)� Dr. Nada Assaf-Anid at Manhattan College (nada.assaf-anid@manhattan.edu)

� Dr. Heriberto Cabezas at U.S. EPA in Cincinnati(cabazas.heriberto@epa.gov)

� Dr. Tapas Das at Skillings & Connolly, Inc. (tdas@skillings.com)The date, time, and location of the 2006 meeting

are as follows:� Date: Saturday, November 11, 2006� Time: First Session will start at 2:30 PM; SecondSession at 4:00 PM

� Location: Hilton Tower, Downtown San FranciscoYou may also visit the division’s website for other

details of the Students’ Conference. We look forwardto seeing you at the conference in San Francisco.Thanking you for your support.

Tapas K. Das, PhD, PE, DEEChair, Students’ ConferenceFirst Vice-Chair, Environmental DivisionSkillings & Connolly, Inc.Lacey, WA 98503tdas@skillings.comshivaniki@comcast.net

2006 CECIL AWARD WINNER

The 2006 Lawrence K. Cecil Award in Environmen-tal Chemical Engineering will be presented to Dr.Larry E. Erickson, Professor of Chemical Engineeringat Kansas State University at the Annual AIChE Meet-ing. The Award Lecture, titled ‘‘Environmental Man-agement and Sustainability,’’ will be presented onThursday, November 16, 2006 at 3:15 PM, in the Envi-ronmental Fate and Transport Processes III Session.

Dr. Larry E. Erickson, 2006 Cecil Award Winner

AIChE ENVIRONMENTAL DIVISION NEWSLETTER

� 2006 American Institute of Chemical Engineers

� 2006 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Published online 26 September 2006 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI 10.1002/ep.10159

Environmental Progress (Vol.25, No.3) October 2006 173

This award recognizes an individual’s outstandingchemical engineering contribution and achievementin the preservation or improvement of the environ-ment. The recipient must be a member of AIChE,have 15 years of chemical engineering experience inthe environmental field, and demonstrate leadershipin research, teaching, engineering, or regulatory activ-ities in either the public or private sector. Criteriaconsidered in selecting a winner include: (1) Newdiscoveries, research, or the development of newprocesses or equipment applications in the protectionof the environment. (2) Outstanding contributions ofa chemical engineering nature in the design, con-struction, operation, or management of environmen-tal protection facilities or enterprises. (3) Distin-guished service in environmental protection as a pro-fessional engineer, industrial leader, or educator.

Professor Larry E. Erickson has dedicated his pro-fessional career to advancing the use of chemical en-gineering principles in environmental problems.Throughout the four decades of activity he has con-tributed to the advancement of the field of environ-mental engineering by extending basic concepts fromchemical and biochemical engineering into this arena.Much of Prof. Erickson’s early environmental work(1965–1985) focused on biological wastewater treat-ment design options. More recently (1989–present),he has focused on vegetation-based remediationprocesses. Phytoremediation is one of the most signif-icant technological breakthroughs in the area of con-taminated site management in the past 25 years. Ithas provided opportunities for cost-effective riskreduction and remediation of a variety of contami-nated sites. It is estimated that more than $400 millionare being saved as a result of the beneficial applica-tion of vegetation at field sites, relative to the costs

associated with conventional technologies. Prof.Erickson has published more than 100 manuscriptsrelating to environmental engineering. He hasexposed large numbers of undergraduate and gradu-ate students to the wide variety of phenomena andapplications of environmental chemical engineeringover the course of his career. He has directly advisednearly 60 graduate students and taught over 1000undergraduate students. From 1989 to 2003, he wasthe director of Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Hazard-ous Substance Research Center with funding of over$30 million. Dr. Erickson has also made substantialcontributions to AIChE and the Environmental Divi-sion. He has been an active member of AIChE fornearly 50 years. Starting as a student member in1957, he has been an active participant in the Envi-ronmental Division. He has served as secretary(1993–1994) and treasurer (2003–present) of this divi-sion. He has also served as a member of the Edito-rial Advisory Board of Environmental Progresssince 1995. Prof. Erickson has organized many ses-sions at national meetings as well as special sympo-sia at regional and local sections of the AIChE.Finally, he and his students have been active partici-pants in local, regional, and national meetings ofAIChE.

Gregory R. CarmichaelAssociate Dean for Research and Graduate StudiesKarl Kammermeyer Professor of ChemicalEngineeringCollege of EngineeringUniversity of IowaIowa City, IA 52242-1419gcarmich@engineering.uiowa.eduDr. Larry E. Erickson, 2006 Cecil Award Winner

174 October 2006 Environmental Progress (Vol.25, No.3)