Greetings from the ASEE Chemical Engineering Division!

As the winter turns into spring for most of us, it brings up visions of things many of us look forward to: Spring Break, mowing lawns, warm weather walks, and registering for the ASEE Annual Meeting! As you guide your classes through midterm, please start making your plans to join us in Baltimore for the meeting June 25-28. We also have our banquet planned for June 27 for what I am confident will be an evening of camaraderie for all who join us. Registration for the meeting is currently open and tickets for the banquet will be on sale soon.

When you think ASEE these days you probably think about how your colleagues at ASEE meetings have impacted your teaching methods, or how ASEE contributes to your students’ success in its administration of fellowship programs and scholarship programs. You might also be wondering about the financial state of the Society.

In February, ASEE held a Town Hall meeting at which they updated attendees on the current financial state of ASEE. The attendees were primarily volunteer leadership. Here are my takeaways from the meeting:

ASEE started the current crisis with a $5.7 million shortfall. Including reimbursements from the 2022 Conference. It was discovered that in addition to the current year shortfall, long-term reserves were depleted nearly to zero.
All but one reimbursement has now been made, and payment plans are in place for other external debts. $2.1 million has been paid off. $1.6 million owed externally. Staff levels have been significantly reduced and other cost-saving measures are in place.
$1.1 million is owed internally to Divisions and other entities. Those funds were co-mingled with operating funds. Funds received by Divisions and other internal entities since October 1 have been tracked, held in an account separate from Operating Funds, and are available as needed. Old funds will be paid back as soon as feasible, but that will likely be longer than one year from now.
Funds collected after October 1 are available (including ticket sales and external sponsorships). All planned events or other commitments must be revenue neutral. Awards, travel stipends, other expenditures follow the same guidelines.
Dues paid to entities are being tracked but are not to be distributed until sometime in the future.
Ticket sales will be tracked and be immediately available.
The root cause of the difficulty is being investigated through an external audit. Results will be shared once available.

In short, we are able to continue with our work in planning and executing our conference program. Additionally, we can now accept your tax-deductible gift to assist in Division operations, such as mentorship grants and complementary banquet registration for award winners. For the time being, all award honoraria and reimbursements are suspended with the intent of a retroactive award at a future time, with the key exception of externally sponsored awards that will be presented as we have previously committed. We are continuing to seek sponsors to enable us to fully recognize awardees at this year’s meeting, but with or without these funds we will celebrate the winners and their achievements at the June meeting and banquet.

In the meantime, take particular note of the opportunity to nominate yourself or a colleague for service in the Division as an officer (see below)!

Thank you for the opportunity to serve in this role and more importantly to be able to learn from so many of you through our connections both in-person and virtually. It is a privilege to be a member of this Division with each of you.

Regards,

David Silverstein

Chair, ASEE ChE Division (2022-23)

Summary of Announcements

Call for ASEE ChED Executive Board Nominations! Submit nominations by Friday, March 31!
ASEE Conference Updates: Conference registration, housing, and on-site childcare registration open!
Call for Potential Panelists/Speakers at ASEE – AI/ChatGPT
Announcements from the ASEE Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion!
Call for Volunteers: CACHE teaching resource center
Call for Participation: Survey on Process Safety across the curriculum
Call for Participation: AIChE Annual Meeting
Call for Nominations: AIChE Education Division Awards!

Detailed Announcements

Call for ASEE ChED Executive Board Nominations! Submit nominations by Friday, March 31!

Submit nominations by Friday, March 31^st via email to Past Chair Tony Butterfield and Newsletter Editor Elif Miskioğlu.

Nominate yourself or a colleague for the following 23-24 positions:

Chair-Elect (then serves as Chair in 24-25)
Director (2-year term)
Secretary/Treasurer (1-year off-cycle term, current incumbent willing to remain)

Have a question on a position? Feel free to reach out! All terms begin after the annual conference in June.

ASEE Conference Updates

Baltimore Convention Center MD
June 25-28, 2023

Conference Registration:Register Now*

*Reminder to 2022 attendees, you should have an email with a (one-time use) registration coupon code for $50 off for yourself, and a second code to share

Hotel Reservation: Reserve Room

Childcare: ASEE is offering complimentary childcare for Annual Conference attendees. Learn More: Annual Conference On-site Childcare

Call for Potential Panelists/Speakers at ASEE – AI/ChatGPT

With the rise of ChatGPT, the impact of AI is an increasingly present thought for many of us. We’re hoping to facilitate a discussion on the topic at ASEE and are looking for potential paneslits/speakers. If you have expertise on how AI/ChatGPT can be used to ask and answer ChE questions, or know someone who does, we’d love to hear from you! Email Conference Chair Janie Brennan and Current ChED Chair David Silverstein.

Announcements from the ASEE Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion!

Chairs update: Review CDEI Chair update from Homero Murzi with the key highlights from the commission committees.

Connect with us: To learn more about the CDEI programs and other DEI opportunities:

Share your DEI news: Send us relevant DEI news, activities, and best practices to share on Twitter by emailing boerches@lafayette.edu and LinkedIn by emailing bbose@lbl.gov

Call for Volunteers: CACHE teacher resource center

The CACHE trustees need Chemical Engineering faculty volunteers to help maintain / update webpages for their teaching resource center.

The topical areas where this help is needed are:

fluid mechanics
heat transfer
engineering math
thermodynamics
separations / mass transfer
bioengineering.

Interested parties should contact John Falconer.

Call for Participation: Survey on Process Safety across the curriculum

Did you wonder why the capstone design survey last fall had so few questions about safety? We held those back for an off-cycle survey on process safety across the curriculum! Please have someone familiar with the process safety offerings in your department complete the Education Division’s Survey Committee’s survey. Please contact the committee chair with questions: Laura Ford.

Committee Members:

Chris Barr, Janie Brennan, Tracy Carter, Kevin Dahm, Hunter Flodman, Luke Landherr, David Silverstein, Stephen Thiel, Bruce Vaughen, Troy Vogel

Call for Participation: AIChE Annual Meeting

The Education Division is trying a new approach for abstract submission this year. Instead of predetermining our sessions for abstract submission, we are asking that you submit to a theme, and the program chairs will sort the abstracts into sessions based on what you choose to submit. No matter what you want to share, it should fit into one of our bins – just find the one that you think most appropriate. Based on your feedback in the programming meeting in Phoenix and our experience with what is usually submitted, the following themes are now available in Confex:

Scholarship of teaching and learning
Teaching professional skills
Core ChE curriculum courses
Elective ChE Courses
Computing/data/numerical methods in the ChE curriculum
Laboratory, hands-on, or experiential learning
Social justice and societal impact in the ChE classroom
Sustainability and global impact in the ChE classroom
Teaching process safety
Assessment methods
Student support and advising
Faculty professional development
Instructional methods and teaching tips

If presenting a poster is your preference, you may still submit an abstract on any chemical engineering education topic directly to the EdDiv poster session.

Call for Nominations: AIChE Education Division Awards!

Please consider nominating a colleague for an AIChE Education Division (EdDiv) Award! The nomination deadline is June 1, 2023.

Nominations and/or inquiries can be sent to the EdDiv Past Chair, Ben Davis.