National Capital Section
American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Upcoming 2012 NCS Meeting Schedule

February 2012Meeting details to be posted in the near future
March 2012Meeting details to be posted in the near future
Early April 2012ExxonMobil Student Award lunch meeting, Fairfax, VA
May 2012Annual NCS Embassy meeting
June 2012Virginia winery tour
September 2012University of Maryland meeting

Announcements and Previous Meetings

It is our pleasure to announce that Dr. John Bobalek, 2010-2012 NCS AIChE Director has been selected for one of four 2011 AIChE Shining Star Awards, given in recognition of his efforts in supporting the NCS AIChE. John was presented with an award plaque at the 2011 Annual AIChE meeting in Minneapolis, along with a 1-time grant of $1,000 to be used to offset travel and lodging costs. Please join us in congratulating John on this well-deserved honor.

October 4, 2011

Larry Grogan, President of Grogan Advisory Services, "Shifting Into Second Gear - An Economic Recovery for 2011?"

Abstract: At this point, it feels like the economy is shifting into second gear. Holding us back are major elements of the economy that are refusing to cooperate - stubborn unemployment and a flat housing market. But the news is not all bad. There are multiple signs that the economy is returning to wealth. We will review some reasons to be optimistic and some reasons to be cautious. Then we'll offer some ideas on how all of this impacts you as the investor.

Where: Il Porto restaurant in Old Town Alexandria, VA
When: 6pm, reception; 7pm dinner; 9pm adjourn
Cost: $32/person, students are free

Saturday June 11, 2011

Joint NCS and Tidewater Local Section Meeting: Early summer outing in Fredericksburg, Virginia

10:00 a.m. until ??

Tour the Blue and Gray Brewing Company (3300 Dill Smith Drive, Fredericksburg, Va. 22408). Guided by Lori Fitzpatrick, you will learn the basics of the brewing process from start to finish. Sample their four year-round beers as well as seasonal beers, tasting directly from fermenters.

After the tour enjoy lunch (order from the menu) in Lee’s Retreat Brewpub located at the brewery.

After lunch, walk across the parking lot to A. Smith Bowman Distillery where Joe Dangler, Master Distiller, will guide us through the processing and distilling operations. Tastings may be in the offing while we absorb some of the history of the distillery and the Bowman family.

Directions from I 95 can be found at http://classic.mapquest.com/mq/10-OZNyKqcF2HbfhDlqRAiZ

2011 Embassy Meeting

The annual NCS Embassy meeting was held on May 16 at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington, DC. The highlights of the evening were an elegant dinner of traditional Czech dishes and Pilsner Urquell and a presentation by Mr. Josef Dvoracek, Head of the Economic and Commercial Section of the embassy.

Tuesday 19 April 2011

American Institute of Chemical Engineers National Capital Section and ExxonMobil Research and Engineering 2011 Award Luncheon Outstanding Achievement Award for Chemical Engineering Students

11:30am - 2:00pm ExxonMobil Research and Engineering, Fairfax, Virginia, with a welcome by Gary Cheng (Process Engineer - Lubes and Specialties), luncheon in the atrium, keynote discussion by Patty Sparrell (Manager - Plant Engineering Department), recognition of award recipients, and conclusion and final remarks by Mike Bober (EM Engineering Training Advisor)

This lunch event was generously supported by ExxonMobil.

2011 Engineering Family Day

The NCS has a long tradition of supporting the Family Day activities that are a part of National Engineer's Week. For the last 10 years, NCS member Jill Clauss has led this effort, recruiting a number of SWE volunteers to make and distribute thousands of samples of slime.

Wednesday March 23, 2011

Darlene Schuster, Executive Director of the Institute for Sustainability, "Is the Chemical Industry Sustainable?" was held at the Hollywood East Café, in the Westfield Mall. 11160 Veirs Mill Rd. Wheaton, MD; Phone: (240) 290-9988 (nearest Metro stop: Wheaton on the Red Line).

2011 joint AIChE-ACS meeting

On Wednesday February 2, 2011 a joint AIChE-ACS meeting was held featuring Dr. Maria Burka, President of AIChE and Dr. Nancy Jackson, President of ACS. Drs. Burka and Jackson presented the plans and initiatives for 2011 for the AIChE and ACS, respectively. The meeting took place in Marvel Hall of the American Chemical Society headquarters, located at 1155 16th NW, Washington, DC.

Wednesday October 20, 2010

2006 Nobel Laureate, Dr. John Mather, at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. Mather’s talk, “From the Big Bang to the Nobel Prize and on to James Webb Space Telescope and the discovery of alien life” showcased the history of the universe in a nutshell, from the Big Bang to now, and on to the future – John Mather told the story of how we got here, how the Universe began with a Big Bang, how it could have produced an Earth where sentient beings can live, and how those beings are discovering their history.

Thursday September 16, 2010

June C. Wispelwey, Executive Director, AIChE, AIChE Connections between NYC and DC., held at Ill Porto Restaurant, Alexandria, VA (follow the link for directions).

2010 Embassy Meeting

The 2010 NCS embassy meeting took place on Wednesday, May 26th from 6:30 to 8:30pm at the Embassy of Finland. The embassy is located at 3301 Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, DC. The program consisted of dinner, followed by a presentation by Kyosti Sysio on safe and sustainable chemical manufacturing.

Dinner consisted of a buffet that including Graavilohta,tillikastike (Gravlax, dill sauce), Silliä venäläiseen tapaan (Herring ala russe), Paahtofilee kuutiot (Roasted beef cubes with barbeque sauce), Kanafritit (Chicken tenders), Pastasalaatti (Pasta salad), Vihersalaatti (Green salad), Parsasalaatti (Aspargus salad), Loimulohi,perunasose (Broiled salmon with mashed potatoes), Ankkarisotto (Duck risotto), Omenapaistos,vaniljajäätelö (Apple pie, vanilla ice cream), Pullavanukas (Bread pudding), Hedelmämarjasalaatti (Fruit/berry salad), plus an additional vegetarian option.

2010 ExxonMobil Lunch

The American Institute of Chemical Engineers National Capital Section and ExxonMobil Research and Engineering held their annual award luncheon on April 13, 2010. This event brings together students from the University of Maryland and Howard University, NCS members, and ExxonMobil engineers to present the Outstanding Achievement Award for Chemical Engineering Students at the University of Maryland and Howard University.

As part of this year's event, Dr. Maria Burka gave a short presentation on the benefits of joining AIChE to the students; she also gave an overview of new AIChE initiatives aimed at chemical engineers in the early stages of their careers. Dr. Burka is program director of the Process and Reaction Engineering program in the Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET) Division of the National Science Foundation and is the President-Elect of the AIChE.
Ms. Rebecca Roehmer of the University of Maryland and Mr. Taiwo Oneniyi of Howard University were selected for the Outstanding Achievement Awards. Both are senior chemical engineering students with strong academic records and a history of service to their student AIChE chapters. Shown in the photograph from left to right are Professor Ray Adomaitis and Rebecca Rhoemer of the University of Maryland, Dr. Maria Burka of NSF and AIChE, and Taiwo Oneniyi and Professor Ramesh Chawla of Howard University.

2012 NCS EC members

Past-Chairperson    Josefina Doumbia
Chairperson    Jacques Delente
Vice-Chair    Vivek Dwivedi
Secretary    Raymond Adomaitis
Treasurer    Cynthia DeBisschop
Director    Basil C. "Bill" Doumas
Director    John Bobalek
Director    Vacant

NCS mailing list

For more information on NCS activities, please visit the NCS listserv archive at https://listserv.umd.edu/archives/ncs.html.

NCS documents

Documents used by the NCS can be found here.


Last updated: 27 January 2012