The Neal R. Amundson Lecture

The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
at the University of Houston
requests the honor of your attendance at this lecture honoring
Neal R. Amundson, Cullen Professor of Chemical Engineering and Mathematics.

The Neal R. Amundson Lectures
Friday, February 1, 2008, 1:30–5 p.m.
University of Houston campus
Engineering Lecture Hall, L2-D2

2008 Lectures

Haren S. Gandhi
Ford Technical Fellow, Research and Advanced Engineering, Ford Motor Company

Dr. Haren S. Gandhi is a Ford Technical Fellow at Ford Motor Company Research Laboratory in Dearborn, Michigan. He has worldwide expertise in the field of automotive emissions control. Appointed an international expert by the United Nations and the Government of India, Gandhi has been involved in a joint project with the Automotive Research Institute of India to reduce emissions from Indian vehicles, thereby promoting environmental protection. He has published more than 80 technical papers worldwide and authored more than 50 U.S. Patents. He is the recipient of the President’s National Medal of Technology for research, development and commercialization of automotive exhaust catalyst technology. Gandhi was elected to the National Academy of Engineers in 1999.

Lecture Address
“Overview of Research/Advanced Portfolio at Ford and Deep Dive into Sustainability Research Area”

Abstract
An overview of research carried out in Research and Advanced Engineering at Ford Motor Company will be discussed, as well as a review of the sustainability areas: (1) Energy, CO2 and Ford, and (2) Diesel Emission Control Technology. The intent is to give a broad perspective of areas of technology currently being worked on, with a shift in focus to the environmental/emissions side. The lecture will provide an interesting review of different forms of fossil and renewable energy and its impact on CO2 emission for automobiles. The discussion on diesel will cover some of the most recent advances made in diesel emission technology that can help to produce light and heavy-duty “Clean Diesel” vehicles.

Michael J. Economides
Professor, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston

Michael J. Economides is a professor at the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering and the managing partner of a petroleum engineering and petroleum strategy consulting firm. His interests include petroleum production and management, a particular emphasis on natural gas, natural gas transportation, LNG, CNG and processing, advances in process design of very complex operations, economics and geopolitics. He is also the editor-in-chief of the Energy Tribune. He has authored or co-authored 14 professional textbooks and books, including “The Color Of Oil” and over 200 journal papers and articles.

Lecture Address
“Energy Geopolitics”

Abstract
Oil prices have climbed to $100 per barrel and are expected to remain quite high for the foreseeable future. While the calculated by us equilibrium price of oil should hover around $50, geopolitical headlines rule the price and the world is constantly one headline away from far larger than $100 oil. Contrary to common misconception, this has little to do with “peak oil,” which is decades away. Energy militant nations such as Iran, Venezuela and, increasingly, Russia under the current regime, hold a considerable sway over the energy trade. One obvious bright spot for the future is that energy consumption patterns are bound to change, unifying energy resources, which today are highly fragmented and “cantonized.” An essential element is the expected wide use of electricity in transportation as the only obvious long-term solution. Distorting the energy picture is the entire rhetoric of global climate change, its presumed anthropogenic cause, and the proposed solutions, collectively add to energy costs and energy availability.

About Neal R. Amundson

Neal R. Amundson, widely regarded as the most prominent Chemical Engineering educator in the United States, is Cullen Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering & Mathematics at the University of Houston.

Dr. Amundson, a Minnesota native, was educated at the University of Minnesota, earning a BS ChE (1937), an MS ChE (1941), and a PhD in Mathematics (1945). He taught in the Mathematics Department until 1947. He joined the University of Minnesota's Chemical Engineering Department, where he served as Chairman from 1949 until 1977. He became Regents' Professor in 1967. Under his leadership, the school's Chemical Engineering Department attained the preeminent position that it holds today. Neal joined the University of Houston in 1977. He served as UH Provost from 1987 to 1989.

Neal is recognized as an exceptionally prolific, innovative, and influential ChE researcher. His contributions include modeling and analysis of chemical reactors, separation systems, polymerization, and coal combustion. He has had a profound, pioneering impact on the education of chemical engineers, changing the teaching of the field from a qualitative, descriptive approach to precise scientific methodologies. He has long been an intellectual leader of the Chemical Engineering community, and he chaird the NRC committee that wrote the report on "Frontiers in Chemical Engineering."

Neal's contributions have been recognized through conferral of numerous professional awards by the AIChE, ACS, ISCRE, and ASEE. He was elected to the NAE, NAS, and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He received the NAE's Founders' Award, and honorary doctorates from the Universities of Minnesota, Notre Dame, Pennsylvania, Guadalajara, and Northwestern University. He received the Farfel Award, the highest faculty honor given by the University of Houston. The building that houses the Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science at the University of Minnesota was named "Amundson Hall" in 1979. ISCRE has named its major award the Amundson Award.

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