Dear Colleague,

Richard Darton

        In this issue:

• Welcome to Berlin
• Who's Who
• EFCE Awards
• EFCE Events
• Science and Technology
• News from the Member Societies / related organisations
• Contact

Welcome to Berlin

   Welcome to Berlin, a city which stands for the great achievements of recent European history like no other. For four and a half decades Berlin had personified a divided Europe, for two decades Berlin has exemplified the unification of Europe. Now the European Congress of Chemical Engineering (congress website: http://www.ecce2011.de) is coming to Berlin  alongside the first European Congress of Applied Biotechnology. The parallel congresses, to be held on 25-29 September 2011, will show how two technical and scientific areas which have much in common can come together, talk to each other, learn from one another and have fun together. What better place can there be to do this than Berlin? In addition to a superb scientific programme, a visit to Berlin offers a chance to enjoy a fascinating historic city.
   Having the European Congress of Chemical Engineering and the European Congress of Applied Biotechnology together with several smaller events at the same place is an ambitious undertaking which holds the promise of finding new ideas in unexpected places. Nearly all areas of our life are related to Chemical Engineering and Applied Biotechnology, in particular those which are at the centre of public discussion today: energy, water, CO₂ and not least safety. The research programme will also show how sound science and engineering still involve new insights in the classical foundations: unit operations and transfer processes. Both have changed with the computational skills and the new methods that have become available over the last decade and will change even more with the focus on nano scale, on biological or on interface dominated systems.
   The topic of Education is an important one for discussion at Berlin. With the expected shortage of skilled personnel, education will become even more important. Germany in common with other European nations has just experienced the first realignment of the national Bologna process. This is a good sign as it shows the willingness to continually improve the educational system. It is now time for chemical engineers and biotechnologists to evaluate the newly formed programmes and define what we believe makes a sound education in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. It will need more than science and engineering, even more than social skills. It will need to form a person who is aware of the full range of their professional responsibilities. Globalisation, the drive towards sustainability, and the changes in our economies will bring with them a much greater need to look beyond the task at hand.
   This congress offers the chance to discuss all aspects of the dynamic changes which influence our lives, our jobs and our profession. You are most cordially invited to be part of the discussions, to meet colleagues and friends and enjoy an interesting stay in one of the most vibrant cities in Europe: Berlin.
The ProcessNet-Annual Meeting, DECHEMA's Biotechnology Annual Meeting and a strong contribution of the EFB Section on Biochemical Engineering Science will widen the scope of these joint congresses.
We hope to see you in Berlin!

Dr. Hermann J. Feise                                                                                                 Prof. Joel Bertrand
                                                Chairmen of the Scientific Committee of ECCE8

Who's WhO

Elections to the EFCE Executive Board

The Federation is pleased to announce the members of the EFCE Executive Board for the next four-year term of office:

Representatives from Industry (in alphabetic order) -
all candidates have been elected, namely:
Dr. Andreas W. Knell, Switzerland
Mr. Konstantinos Kremalis, Greece
Dr. Robert Elliott Low, United Kingdom
Dr. Francois Nicol, France
Dr. Jochen Rudolph, Germany

Representatives from Academia (in alphabetic order) -
the following six out of the ten candidates have been elected:
Prof. Vladimir Bales, Slovakia
Prof. Jiri Drahos, Czech Republic
Prof. Rafiqul Gani, Denmark
Prof. Bozenna Kawalec-Pietrenko, Poland
Prof. Angel Irabien, Spain
Dr. Eva Sorensen, United Kingdom

Change of Chairmanship

On 30 August 2010, Professor Angel Irabien, Santander, Spain, succeeded Professor Bozenna Kawalec-Pietrenko in the position of Chairman of the Section on Environmental Protection and Sustainablilty.

Professor Manuel Rodrigo, Cuidad Real, Spain, was elected as the new Chairman of the Working Party on Electrochemical Engineering, starting from 1 January 2011. He will succeed Professor Symeon Bebelis who held this position for four years. Professor Ann Cornell, KTH, Sweden, was elected as the new Working Party Secretary.

Re-election of WP Chairs

On 12 October 2010, Professor Timothy McKenna, France, was re-confirmed as the Chair of the Working Party on Polymer Reaction Engineering for a second term of office. Professor Markus Busch, Darmstadt, Germany, was elected as the new Working Party Secretary.
 
On 22 October 2010, the Working Party on Thermodynamics and Transport Properties re-elected Professor Ioannis Economou, Greece, to chair the Working Party for a second three-year term of office. The Vice-Chairmen, Professor Georgios Kontogeorgis, Denmark, and Professor Ralf Dohrn, Germany, and the Working Party Secretary, Dr. Richard Sass, Germany, were also re-confirmed in their positions.

Obituary Dr Jan Novosad

The EFCE was very sad to learn that Dr Jan Novosad, of the Czech Society of Chemical Engineering, passed away on 21st September 2010. Dr Novosad had contributed greatly to the development of Chemical Engineering in Europe. He served as Chairman of the EFCE Working Party on the Mechanics of Particulate Solids from 1971 to 2002, and had recently become an honorary member of that Working Party.
During the years of his chairmanship, Jan Novosad acted as a wise and determined bridge-builder in the fields of the WPMPS. The Working Party is still indebted to him for laying the foundations of the present activities of the group and for the guiding role he had in the scientific work of many of its members. He was always friendly, constructive and hard-working to the great benefit of all who were privileged to work with him.
He was also a Czech representative in the EFCE Working Party on the Characterisation of Particulate Systems.
From 1996 to 2004 he contributed to the EFCE more generally as a member of its Executive Board, and its Task Group on Public Relations. In 1999 this extensive and valuable service was recognised by the award of the EFCE's first Dieter Behrens Medal.
Dr Novosad was one of the founding members and the longstanding executive secretary of the Czechoslovak and later Czech Society of Chemical Engineering. In 2000 he was awarded honorary membership of the CSCHE. Since 1984, he had been the chairman of the Organising Committee of the CHISA congresses, which has grown to be a world leading conference series.
The EFCE extends its deepest sympathy to Jan's family, friends and colleagues.
 

EFCE Awards

Calls for nominations
 

Excellence Award in Thermodynamics and Transport Properties 2011
The Federation wishes to announce the call for nominations for the second Excellence Award in Thermodynamics and Transport Properties. The award aims at recognising a PhD thesis published in preceding two-year period which demonstrates the most outstanding contribution to thermodynamics and/or transport properties The award consists of a certificate, a cash prize of 1500 euros, and a travel grant and invitation to attend the ESAT conference in St. Petersburg, Russia, from 25 to 27 June 2011, where the award will be presented.
The closing date for nominations is 20 January 2011.
Further information: http://www.efce.info/ExcellenceAwardTTP.html

Excellence Award in Product Design and Engineering 2011
The EFCE has pleasure in announcing that the first EFCE Excellence Award in Product Design and Engineering has been launched by the EFCE Section on Product Design and Engineering to recognise an outstanding PhD in the field. The award comprises a certificate, a cash award of 1500 euros, and a travel grant (not exceeding 500 euros) to attend ECCE-8 in Berlin, Germany, on 25-29 September 2011, where the award will be presented during a specialised PD&E conference. The nominated PhD thesis must have been published during the two calendar years preceding the closing date for nominations which is 31 March 2011.
Further information: http://www.efce.info/ExcellenceAwardProductDesign.html

Deadline for further EFCE Excellence Awards announced in detail in the August issue:

• Excellence Award in Process Intensification 2011: 31 December 2010
  Website: http://www.efce.info/ExcellenceAwardProcessIntensification.html
• Excellence Award in Crystallization 2011: 31 March 2011
  Website: http://www.efce.info/ExcellenceAwardCrystallization.html 

Student Mobility Award 2011
The EFCE is pleased to announce the EFCE Student Mobility Award 2011. The objective of the award is to promote mobility among European chemical engineering students. The award is presented every two years to the best European students who have spent one or more semesters (< 30 ECTU) studying abroad.
The deadline for submission of applications is 28 February 2011.
For further details, please visit the EFCE website at http://www.efce.info/Student_Mobility_Award.html
 

EFCE Excellence Award Winner

The Federation has great pleasure in announcing that Dr. Jose Vicente Garcia-Perez, Spain, has been awarded the 2010 EFCE Excellence Award in Drying for his outstanding PhD thesis, 'Contribution to the knowledge on the use of power ultrasound in convective drying of foods'. The award was presented in Magdeburg, Germany, on 5 October 2010 in conjunction with the 17th International Drying Symposium.
more ...

Poster Competition at ECCE-7/CHISA 2010

The Working Parties on Multiphase Fluid Flow (MFF), Process Intensification (PI) and Chemical Reaction Engineering (CRE) ran a very successful Poster Competition at ECCE-7/CHISA 2010. PhD students and post-docs submitted posters of which 18 were selected for the competition. The Competition Jury and the members of the working parties present in Prague visited the posters during the poster session on Sunday afternoon August 29. In the evening a dinner took place at which the poster prize sponsored by the EFCE was presented to Miss Carla Pereira, PhD student at the University of Porto, Portugal, for her poster 'Perm SMBR - a new hybrid technology: application on the ethyl lactate green solvent production'. The organisers, participants and jury members considered the competition a real success and intend to repeat it next year at ECCE8 in Berlin.
Further information: http://www.efce.info/wpcre.html

Forthcoming Events

Jiri Drahos
Congress Chair

ESCAPE 21
21st European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering, Porto Carras Grand Resort, Chalkidiki, Greece, 5-8 June 2011 (EFCE Event No. 690)
The theme of ESCAPE 21 is "Process Systems Approaches for Addressing Grand Challenges in Energy, Environment, Health, Bioprocessing & Nanotechnologies". In particular, the technical programme of ESCAPE 21 will cover the following topics: Core Process Systems Engineering: Multi-scale modelling, Synthesis and Design, Optimization and Control, Operations, Training and Education; Grand Challenges: Environmental Systems Engineering, Bioprocess Systems Engineering, Biomedical Systems Engineering, Materials and Molecular Systems Engineering, Energy Systems Engineering.
Conference website: http://www.escape-21.gr/ 

ICEPE 2011
2nd International Conference on Energy Process Engineering - Efficient carbon capture for coal power plants, Frankfurt am Main, Germany 20-22 June 2011 (EFCE Event No. 697)
The conference will provide delegates from research, the private sector and politics with unique focused information on CO2 capture options and their efficiencies. It is designed to cover all technically relevant routes in scientific and technological depth. Each session starts with an invited review lecture followed by three presentations of latest research and application highlights, which are open for discussion. Further high quality research results will be presented on posters, which can be discussed with the authors during a poster session.
Deadline for submission of abstracts: 13 January 2011.
Conference website: http://www.icepe2011.de

EPIC 2011
3rd European Process Intensification Conference, Manchester, UK, 20-23 June 2011 (EFCE Event No. 694)
The chemical, fine chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing industries face various economic, social and environmental pressures. These pressures will be met using innovative application of design methods and technologies to improve process improvement. Process Intensification, augmented by targeted design, is one of the most powerful means of process improvement. EPIC 2011 will provide a forum for knowledge exchange and networking between academics, scientists, researchers, practitioners, industrialists and technology providers, expert in process intensification.
More information: http://www.icheme.org/EPIC2011/

ISIC 18
18th International Symposium on Industrial Crystallization, Zurich, Switzerland, 13-16 September 2011 (EFCE Event No. 696)
Like all previous events, ISIC18 aims at providing a unique opportunity for international exchange between scientists and engineers of all disciplines, academia and industry, and between novice and expert. Papers are welcome from academic institutions as well as from industries. The conference is especially designed to favor the establishment of personal and professional relationships among participants. Those who have an interest in crystallization will find ISIC18, which is organized by the Working Party on Crystallization of the EFCE, well worth attending. Deadline for submission of abstracts: 14 February 2011.
Congress website: http://www.isic18.ethz.ch/ 

ECCE-8
8th European Congress of Chemical Engineering, Berlin, Germany, 25-29 September 2011 (EFCE Event No. 693)
together with the ProcessNet-Annual Meeting and the 1st European Congress of Applied Biotechnology including DECHEMA's Biotechnology Annual Meeting
(see editorial, page 1)
Congress website: http://www.ecce2011.de
Submission of abstracts: http://www.ecce2011.de/ECCE/Submission+of+Abstracts-p-16.html
Deadline for submission of abstracts: 1 February 2011

Further EFCE events in 2012:

• ESCAPE 22, University College London, UK, 17 - 20 June 2012 (EFCE Event No. 695)
  Symposium website: http://www.icheme.org/ESCAPE22/
• ISCRE 22, Maastricht, The Netherlands, 2-5 September 2012 (EFCE Event No. 692)
  Conference website: http://www.iscre22.com
• 7th International Conference for Conveying and Handling of Particulate Solids (ChOPs 2012), 10-13 September 2012, Friedrichshafen, Germany (EFCE Event No. 689)
  Conference website: http://events.dechema.de/chops2012.html

Science and Technology

A new perspective on the role of EFCE

EFCE publishes chemical engineering education guidelines

Chemical engineering education should focus on learning outcomes not contact hours according to newly revised recommendations published by the EFCE. The EFCE's Bologna Recommendations recommend that students studying towards bachelor and master qualifications should be assessed on their levels of knowledge and understanding, rather than the amount of time they spend with tutors. The recommendations also suggest that students studying for a PhD or Doctorate are encouraged to further develop their abilities to manage independent research work.
The revised recommendations were prepared by the EFCE's education working party and EFCE President Richard Darton says that the revisions provide timely support for chemical engineering educators: "This is an outstanding piece of work that gives the academic chemical engineering community the right advice at the right time. It stresses the importance of learning outcomes and avoids the trap of specifying a curriculum."
The original EFCE Bologna Recommendations were published in 2005 and almost all newly accredited chemical engineering programmes have adopted the recommendations. National and international accreditation bodies have since defined quality frameworks and learning outcomes for chemical engineering courses and the revised recommendations support these existing guidelines.
The EFCE recommendations for the first and second cycle (bachelor and master) adopt the EUR-ACE® framework standards for accreditation of engineering programmes. For the third cycle (PhD and doctorate) the EFCE is the first institution to define the additional skills to be learned in a doctorate. These additional skills include original research, the development of plans, management of resources, critical analysis and the justification of choices as well as communication with peers and the ability to promote technological, social or cultural advancement in a knowledge based society.
The full text is available at http://www.efce.info/Bologna_Recommendation.html

European ChemCar Competition

Student competition in conjunction with ECCE-8 in Berlin, Germany
The ChemCar competition has been carried out by the "kreative junge Verfahrensingenieure" (kjVIs) of the VDI-GVC in co-working with DECHEMA e.V since 2006. The next competition will take place at the European Congress of Chemical Engineering (ECCE) which will be held in conjunction with the ProcessNet-Annual Meeting and the 1st ECAB in Berlin, Germany, on 25-29 September 2011. Teams from all over Europe are invited to participate in the ChemCar competition.
The aim of this competition is the accurate design of the reaction to achieve a certain distance, for example by adjustment of a specific reactant. Students of chemical and process engineering, chemistry and further study courses are invited to contribute their know-how, creativity and ability to work in a team to succeed in the given task. The ChemCar competition consists of two parts, the poster presentation and the race, and will take place on 26 September 2011.
The winners of the competition will receive the following prizes:
1. place: 2000 € and the ChemCar -trophy ; 2. place: 1000 € ; 3. place: 500 €
The deadline for registration and concept submission is 18 March 2011
For detailed information about the rules for the competition, including prerequisites, registration and concept submission, requirements, safety regulations, competition instructions for the poster presentation and the race, please refer to: http://www.chemcar.de
Contact for registration and questions:

News from the Member Societies / related organisations

CMCCE 2011
22nd Croatian Meeting of Chemists and Chemical Engineers, Zagreb, Croatia, 13-16 February 2011
The conference continues a series of meetings which are held biennially. The main purpose is to promote new achievements, innovative ideas and technologies from the field of chemistry, chemical engineering and related fields, to encourage interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge and experience and to be a forum for scientists, engineers, teachers and managers. An exhibition of chemical industrial and laboratory equipment and instrumentation, computer software and hardware, literature and other relevant material will be organized as an accompanying manifestation.
Conference website: http://22skiki.fkit.hr/

1st International Conference "Art, Science and Technology: Interaction between Three Cultures"
ORT Braude College, Karmiel, Israel, 1-2 June, 2011
Conference Ideas
Art and Society: Art concepts in scientific and technological education; The role of the humanities in the development of the young generation of scientists and engineers; Using art to present different concepts in science and technology
Being an artist, being a scientist, being both: The place of art in the lives of scientists and engineers; Influence of science and technology on artists; Art in relation to brain or art as an extension of the brain
Technology - the third culture?:Relation of technology with science and art; Artistic engineering
The exhibition "ART in the eyes of Scientists and Engineers. Science and Technology in the eyes of Artists" will be organized as a part of the conference.
Artworks submission deadline: 1 February 2011
Contact:

Contact

Editor: Ines Honndorf, e-mail: honndorf @dechema.de

Every effort is made to ensure the factual accuracy of the content of this e-newsletter, but the EFCE cannot accept any responsibility for errors.