Notice

PRESIDENT MESSAGE

As I assume the 2019 presidency of the ESChE, I would like to extend to all Ethiopian chemical engineers a message of optimism about the prospects of chemical engineering. Thanks to the vigilant efforts of its Members, Executive committee, professional staff, and volunteers, the society is proud of many accomplishments, and with great prospects for growth in critical areas of the profession. In fact, the chemical engineering profession is very versatile.  Chemical Engineering is you, me and all that surrounds us! Chemical engineers have been improving our well-being for more than a century. From the development of smaller, faster computer chips to innovations in recycling, treating disease, cleaning water, and generating energy, the processes and products that chemical engineers have helped create touch every aspect of our lives. The Society is committed to ensure its ability to accomplish these goals today and into the future

ESChE will be the most trusted source of Chemical Engineering-related information. The Society will provide products and services including good quality journals and periodicals, databases, and meetings that advance the practice of Engineering of Chemical Sciences. Through creative collaborations, transformative technologies, and best practices, ESChE will ensure that its information products and services are the most authoritative, indispensable, and accessible to chemical engineering professionals addressing the world’s challenges.

The Ethiopian Society of Chemical Engineers (ESChE) will focus for providing training, consultancy and community services to industry, academia, and governmental offices.  The society will be involved in the transfer of competencies through various training to keep pace with the dynamic industrial and scientific challenges of the engineering/science profession.  It is obvious that Engineering and Technology education is dynamic.  As a result, any engineering society should build their capacity that is up to  the date.  We are actively working in this regard. In the past few years, we have seen the energy of the society come into sharp focus on various major activities. ESChE continues to expand its educational offerings, helping chemical engineers develop skills in areas of importance to professional practice. Critical areas of instructional need have been identified and prioritized and high-quality content is being developed to meet those needs.

To reach all our members and the community at large we have been setting up ESChE regional Chapters. So far, Mekelle regional chapter was successfully established with 400 members. We are planning establish four additional regional chapters across the country.  This will help us for advancing chemical engineering-related technologies, disseminating best practices, and educating chemical engineers at all levels about the merits and practice of operations in industrial facilities, as well as in laboratories.

We are planning for providing mechanisms of robust engagement of ESChE members, as well as a bridge by which chemical engineers active in new areas of chemical engineering can maintain their connection with the policy makers by consulting the strategic direction of Chemical and manufacturing industry. For advancing this case, the ESChE executive committee recently approved the formation of a new  advisory board. National Chemical/Processing consultancy outreach remains a major focus of our task.

In a fast-changing environment, it is continuously reviewing the challenges associated with the preservation of the chemical engineering fundamentals and their extension to new industries that benefit tremendously from the application of the core Chemical Engineering principles. In many newly emerging fields, it is now common to encounter prominent chemical engineers as lead editors of high-impact journals, star speakers at major conferences, and main inventors of cutting-edge technologies. Just the same, intellectual leaders in core subjects of chemical engineering (reaction engineering, process systems engineering, separations, to name just a few) occasionally find venues outside of ESChE to present their most current and exciting work.

While it is gratifying to watch the appreciation shown to our profession’s leaders and the broad application of chemical engineering’s core principles to diverse areas, it is also critical to retain this intellectual power within ESChE. The value of a professional organization is assessed to a large extent by its ability to attract the thought leaders of the profession, and thus serve as the intellectual hub of new technology development and its industrial applications. Dynamic conferences where the newest and most exciting results are presented, along with journals disseminating far-reaching, high-impact new inventions and ideas, are the best ways to ensure that ESChE remains at the forefront of intellectual advances in the field.

I invite all chemical engineers who may have found more convenient homes for their work in other societies or forums to consider the new ESChE as the place where they can get the most for their research and development advances.

The chemical engineering core is the most precious asset of our profession. ESChE will do its utmost to preserve and advance this core. To this end, ESChE wants to be home to the intellectual leaders of chemical engineering who are nurturing the core and also advancing it in the new, exciting areas of chemical engineering endeavor. This will ensure that the profession serves well its traditional industries while nurturing the new frontiers of chemical engineering and maintains its leadership in 21st century industries that are based on chemistry and biology as enabling sciences.

Dr. Eng. Hundessa Dessalegn,

President of ESChE