Activity Highlights
In 2000 the Wilmington Area Section had a membership of approximately 750 members including industrial, academic, and active retiree participants. The primary activities of the Wilmington Area Section have included monthly topical meetings through a nine-month season from September to May. These meetings have included a variety of topics and formats to serve the section including traditional technical topics in a dinner meeting format, plant tours, technical symposia, corporate management presentations, family-oriented outings, and joint meetings with adjacent AIChE and ACS local sections and the AIChE Student Chapter at the University of Delaware.
As an example of activities, here is a newsletter from 2002
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Technical Presentations
One relatively common topic over the years for meeting presentations has been that of innovation and commercializing inventions through both intrapreneuring and entrepreneuring. A somewhat related theme has been that of forecasting the future of chemical engineering and utilizing trends in the chemical industry to identify the impact of emerging technologies in the chemical marketplace and to define frontiers for future opportunities in our evolving profession. Several non-traditional technical topics that received broad interest have included talks on the destruction of chemical warfare agents, the technical challenges of AIDS research, engineering and design of artificial organs, artificial intelligence, plastics recycling, analytical techniques used in authenticating works of art, and chocolate manufacturing.
Plant tours have generally been well-attended and have provided an opportunity to tour research and manufacturing facilities in the Wilmington Section area. Examples of these outings have included tours of the Chrysler and General Motors automotive assembly plants, the DuPont Robotics Laboratory, the Delaware Solid Waste Authority (a waste reclamation plant), and Occidental Chemical's Chlor-Alkali Plant.
Technical "mini-symposia" featuring several presentations on different aspects of a selected topic have been popular Section activities. Topics have included Distillation (1994), Reaction Engineering (1995), and Process Simulation (1997).
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Local Industrial Leader Presentations
Corporate management presentations have featured senior executives of a number of local corporations including, for example,
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Family Visits to Industry
Another popular activity has been to hold occasional open meetings of more general interest to encourage members to invite family and friends. A variety of topics and formats have been employed, including tours and tastings at both a local winery and microbrewery, stargazing at a nearby astronomical observatory, golfing, ice skating, discussion on the science and practice of stained glass making, and a dynamic presentation on hurricanes by a popular local TV weatherman.
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Pre-College Science Education
The Wilmington Area Section has partnered on several occasions with the Delaware Science Alliance, a non-profit organization of technically trained individuals who are joining with Wilmington area educators to improve science and math education in local schools. The Wilmington Area Section joined the information highway in 1997 with the establishment of a Web page for local section publicity and for establishing links to surrounding local sections and the National AIChE. The initial Web page was sponsored through the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Delaware.
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Student Chapter Interactions
An active interaction with the AIChE student chapter at the University of Delaware has been maintained through a variety of mechanisms. For example, one local section meeting per year is coordinated as a joint meeting with the student chapter. Meeting topics have focused on subjects of direct interest to students and have included, for example, "Career Nights" to help students understand what recruiters are looking for in candidates and what chemical engineers do in marketing, manufacturing, process engineering, and research careers. One well-attended meeting featured a lively panel discussion on "The Future of Chemical Engineering Education", with perspectives from both academia and industry.
The Wilmington Area Section also provides awards recognizing the outstanding Sophomore, Junior, and Senior in Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware. Recipients must demonstrate outstanding academic excellence as well as actively serve and participate in activities such as the AIChE Student Chapter. The presentation includes a monetary award plus recognition at the Section's annual awards dinner and the University's annual Honors Day celebration.
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