The Chemical Engineering Excellence Award program has been instituted to recognize outstanding Northern California chemical engineering professionals and projects. The awards are offered in a number of categories. Selection is by committee vote and only nominations meeting minimum criteria are considered.

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE

• Academic Research: Dr. Harvey Blanch, Chemical Engineering Department, University of California, Berkeley.

Professor John M. Prausnitz, a senior faculty at the University of California at Berkeley, nominated Professor Harvey Blanch. Harvey is properly known throughout the world as a leading researcher and educator in biochemical engineering. His textbook (with D.S. Clark), now in its second edition, is the standard text used in most biochemical engineering courses in the U.S. and abroad. He has published more than 230 original research articles covering a wide range of topics in the production of pharmaceuticals, biomacromolecules, biomaterials; he has also contributed to the solution of waste problems and to improved fermentation (and other) processes of particular interest in agriculture and nutrition.

Harvey received his Bachelor in Chemical Engineering from the University of Sydney, and His Ph.D. from the School of Biological Technology from the University of New South Wales.. He taught chemical engineering at the University of Delaware from 1974 to 1978, joined U.C. Berkeley as an Associate Professor in 1978, and became a full professor in 1982. Harvey has been the chair of Chemical Engineering Department at U.C. Berkeley since 1997. He has been on the editorial board for several journals and books, is on the advisory boards and panels of several symposiums and councils, and has received honors from major academic and industrial institutes.

Harvey is an elected Fellow of the International Institute of Biotechnology, a Founding Fellow of the American Institute for medical and Biological Engineering. He is also a winner of the Marvin Johnson Award in Biochemical Technology Division of American Chemical Society; a winner of the Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers; and a winner of the Enzyme Engineering Award from the Engineering Foundation.

Professor John S. Newman is the first member of the UC Berkeley chemical engineering department in several years to be elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Membership honors those who have made "important contributions to engineering theory and practice, including significant contributions to the literature of engineering practice." And those who have demonstrated "unusual accomplishment in the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology."

The NAE citation says that Newman’s election is "For contributions to applied electrochemistry and for their reduction to practice through advances in electrochemical engineering." A great amount of his research has concentrated on batteries and fuel cells. John, together with the late Professor Charles Tobias, played a major role in developing and solidifying the intellectual framework of this field. Through his textbook, his mentoring of doctoral students, and his teaching, john has been the educational leader for generations of electrochemical engineers.

John received his B.S. from Northwestern University in 1960 and came to Berkeley for his graduate program. He has been here ever since. In 1962, he received his M.S., and completed his Ph.D. in 1963. He joined the faculty in the same year. He became a full time professor in 1970. He is also a faculty senior scientist in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). His many honors include election as a fellow of the Electrochemical Society in 1995, and receipt of the Henry B. Linford Award for Distinguished teaching in 1990 and the Olin-Palladium medal in 1991. His Book, Electrochemical Engineering Systems, is used throughout the world as a graduate text in electrochemical engineering.

Professional Development: Dr. Elahe Enssani, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California.

Dr. Enssani has been a professor of Environmental/Civil Engineering at San Francisco State University, where she developed the M.S. program in Environmental Engineering and taught those classes in both engineering and geology department. She is a competent and dedicated teacher. Students portray her as a very enthusiastic and inspiring teacher. She has more than 20 years of experience in the environmental field with 12 years of it in Consulting, Government, and Academia. She is the founder of Applied Technology and Sciences (ATS), a San Francisco based environmental consulting firm.

Elahe was Assistant to Chief Administrative Officer, at the City of San Francisco, where she administered many environmental programs. In this capacity she worked with City and State agencies. She has worked with the board of supervisors and the City attorney’s office to pass various ordinances within the City. She also worked for Dames & Moore as a Project Manager before joining the City. Her professional experience and technical background and expertise along with her contributions to the local AIChE section as a Past Chairperson make her uniquely qualified to receive the Professional Development Award.

Elahe received her Masters degrees in both Chemical Engineering and Civil/Environmental Engineering from University of California, Berkeley. She also received her Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering form U.C. Berkeley. She is the author of more than 20 publications.

The awards, consisting of personalized plaques are to be presented during the luncheon at the AIChE April One Day Symposium to be held at the SRI International facilities.

CONGRATULATIONS !!