Washington, DC - Management practices at the Office of Fossil Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) have been recognized by one of the world’s leading professional organizations for chemical engineers.
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) has announced it will recognize NETL Director Anthony V. Cugini with its 2011 Management Division Award at its 2011 Spring Meeting. The award recognizes NETL management for "its substantial contribution to the management of engineers involved in the chemical process industries, and to management techniques and procedures utilized in those industries."The award is sponsored by Dow Chemical.
In particular, NETL management was cited for greatly expanding "the scope and extent of worldwide collaboration between NETL, industry and universities" and for championing the advancement of computational modeling in chemical engineering applications.
"The achievements that this award recognizes are the result of long-term projects by many talented people," stated Director Cugini. "Whether we are talking about onsite research by NETL scientists, the work of our dedicated contractors, or collaborations with our many partners, I’m proud of their contributions to these successes. In accepting this award, I represent the work of scientists, engineers, and analysts who seek to answer the nation’s most pressing energy challenges. To see their efforts recognized by a world-class organization like the American Institute of Chemical Engineers is a tribute to their hard work and to our joint successes."
As the research arm of the Office of Fossil Energy, NETL’s mission is to advance energy options to fuel the nation’s economy, strengthen national security, and improve the environment. Recent NETL breakthroughs in energy research and technology development include advances in clean fossil-based systems and less expensive ways to capture carbon dioxide for long-term storage. These advances have the potential to greatly improve the way energy resources are used to power electrical plants and industrial applications. NETL’s products and processes are transferred to industrial applications via a robust technology transfer and patent agreement program.
AIChE’s 2011 Spring Meeting will be held March 13-17 in Chicago, Ill. The institute was established in 1908 with the purpose of establishing chemical engineers as a profession independent from chemists and mechanical engineers. Today it is the world’s leading organization for chemical engineering professionals, with more than 40,000 members from over 90 countries.
The AIChE Management Division promotes management skills for chemical engineers and provides a forum to discuss and present topics of interest to practicing professional engineers and managers at all levels. The chair of the division’s awards committee, Dr. Mukund Karanjikar, said that "the critical contributions of Dr. Cugini and NETL have been well recognized by the chemical process industry" and noted that the committee was impressed by the particularly strong field of 2011 nominees. The division has presented its annual award since 1984.
<p>FECommunications@hq.doe.gov</p><p> </p>