Much attention over the past two years has been focused on alternative energy and green chemistry. So it is particularly appropriate that Chemical Engineering’s (CE) 2010 Personal Achievement Award recognizes two individuals with expertise in those fields. Last month, at an award ceremony held at the ChemInnovations Conference and Exhibition in Houston, Tom McGowan, a longtime consultant in biomass energy, combustion, air pollution control and more, was joined by Kris Mani, developer of a novel process for potash, in accepting the awards from Rebekkah Marshall, CE’s editor-in-chief.
The aim of the CE Personal Achievement award, which the magazine has offered biennially since 1968, is to honor individuals for distinguished careers (see Table 1). It complements CE’s Kirkpatrick Award for Chemical Engineering Achievement, presented in alternate years, which honors companies — as opposed to individuals — for specific chemical-process technology.
The CE Awards have saluted excellence in diverse areas — research, development, design, plant operations, management and other activities. The distinction can emerge in less-ordinary ways, such as government service. The one major criterion is that the career must have related, fully or largely, to the use of chemical engineering principles in solving industrial, community or other problems.
Thomas McGowan
Tom McGowan is president and founder of TMTS Associates Inc. (Atlanta, Ga.; www.tmtsassociates.com), a firm that specializes in thermal systems and air pollution control. Prior to founding TMTS, McGowan spent 10 years employed by the environmental services firm RMT/Four Nines Inc.
For 35 years, McGowan has made significant contributions in the areas of combustion, air-pollution control, solids handling and industrial ventilation, including drying, combustion and gasification of biomass. His functions have ranged from process and project engineering, to process safety and sales.
McGowan holds a master’s degree in industrial management from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Ga.; www.gatech.edu) as well as B.S.ChE and M.S.ChE degrees from Manhattan College (New York; www.mancol.edu). He is a registered engineer in Georgia and several other states and is OSHA 1910.120 Haswoper-certified.
The holder of a U.S. patent for an air-supply grate and ash-removal system for a wood gasifier (U.S. patent No. 4,601,730), McGowan has contributed to “Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook,” 7th ed., as well as the “McGraw Hill Standard Handbook of Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal,” 2nd ed.
McGowan is the primary author of the Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA; Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.awma.org) publication “NOx Control for Stationary Sources,” and a co-author of “The Industrial Wood Energy Handbook,” (Van Nostrand, 1984). He has authored numerous magazine articles and journal papers on a diverse range of topics, including energy, pollution control, waste treatment, thermal processes and solids handling.
CE received numerous pieces of correspondence in support of McGowan’s nomination for this award. Among the supporters is Don W. Green, emeritus distinguished professor of chemical and petroleum engineering at the University of Kansas (Lawrence, Kan.; www.ku.edu).
Green commented that “Tom has had a long and distinguished career as a chemical engineer. The breadth of technical and management activities in which he has engaged is very, very impressive. He exemplifies the best of chemical engineering practice.”
Gary Collison, principal at Golder Associates (Atlanta, Ga.; www.golder.com), says his company has relied on McGowan’s expertise in combustion and incineration, and knowledge of thermal treatment systems, biomass energy systems and thermal desorption technology. McGowan has helped guide the company and its clients through the labyrinth of environmental regulations, as well as to prepare contract documents for competitive bids, and select contractors, Collison wrote.
Collison’s letter of support also spoke to McGowan’s “recognized expertise in the combustion industry” and his “open and independent technical approach.”
Other supportive letters pointed out McGowan’s mix of technical knowledge, vast experience and ability to express himself clearly.
McGowan is an asset to the chemical and combustion engineering community, says Richard Trudeau, vice president at Environmental Soil Management Companies (ESMI; Fort Edward, N.Y.; www.esmicompanies.com), and his career has aided the advancement of technology across several fields.
Kris Mani
Dr. Kris Mani currently serves as president and chief executive officer of NSR Technologies, Inc. (Decatur, Ill.; www.nsr-tech.com), an innovative, research-driven chemical technology and manufacturing company, which he founded in 2006.
Mani was driven to found the company partially because he saw a need for technology that would lead to greener and cleaner production of hazardous chemicals. To meet this market opportunity, he raised more than $12 million from outside investors to fund the construction of the world’s first chemical plant to manufacture commercial grade caustic potash (45–50 wt.% potassium hydroxide solution) via membrane electrodialysis technology and chromatographic separation.
It is widely thought that financing and building the facility, particularly noteworthy in an era of offshore manufacturing and intense competition from suppliers in China and Southeast Asia, reflect not only Mani’s perseverance and commitment to innovation, but the strength of his technological achievements and business skill.
The processes used at NSR Technologies are substantially more environmentally friendly than alternative production methods. Currently, commercial strength KOH is manufactured via the chlor-alkali route.
NSR’s technology is 40% more energy efficient than chlor-alkali production, and its process is suitable to manufacture potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide (caustic soda). Also, the process does not involve the production or combustion of chlorine gas (www.chemengonline.com/chementator/An-alternative-to-chlor-alkali_4956.html).
To develop the plant, which now generates millions of dollars in annual revenues, Mani used his considerable technical know-how, an innovative design and entrepreneurial spirit along with a raft of more than 40 process and equipment patents that Mani himself was instrumental in establishing.
It is the first innovative and viable alternative to KOH production since the development of chlor-alkali, more than a quarter century ago. NSR Technologies is one of only five KOH producers in the U.S., and the company competes against several Fortune 500 industrial companies.
Prior to establishing NSR, Mani held research and development, as well as management positions, at Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM; Decatur, Ill.; www.adm.com). He began his career as a researcher at Allied Signal Corp., (now Honeywell Inc.; Morristown, N.J.; www51.honeywell.com). During his tenure, he assumed positions of increasing management responsibility in electrodialysis and water purification.
Mani holds M.S.ChE. and Ph.D.ChE. degrees from Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.; www.northwestern.edu).
“Mani has demonstrated a rare sense of expertise and commitment to advancing the profession and application of chemical engineering,” says Thomas Binder, senior vice president for research at ADM in a letter of support.
Mani has “consistently demonstrated an exceptional technical core competency, coupled with a vision to multitask and work hard on complex and divergent projects. He embraces all projects with enthusiasm and has a deep interest to learn and develop, personally and professionally.”
Binder adds that Mani’s remarkable achievement of financing and building a commercial chemical plant “shows a deep commitment to innovation, technology and advancing the field of chemical engineering.”
| Table 1. Past winners of the CE Personal Achievement Award | |||
| Award year | Name(s) of winners | Affiliation(s) of winners | Basis of award / Area of expertise |
| 1968 | James Fair | Monsanto Co. | Fluid separations technology |
| M.F. Gautreaux | Ethyl Corp. | Synthetic straight-chain alcohols | |
| H. Russell Sheely | Badger Co. | Fluidized-bed reactor design | |
| Claude Talley | Texaco Inc. | Stiff boron filament | |
| 1970 | Page Buckley | Dupont | Process control |
| John McWhirter | Union Carbide Corp. | Wastewater treatment | |
| Arthur Morgan Jr. | U.S. Dept. of Agriculture | Food processing | |
| William Tucker | The Lummus Co. | Petrochemical technology | |
| 1972 | Robert Heitz (1st prize) | Dow Chemical Co. | Membrane technology |
| Arnold Ayers (merit) | Allied Gulf Nuclear Services | Nuclear fuel processing | |
| Harold Kaufman Jr. (merit) | DCA Food Industries Inc. | Food production | |
| 1974 | Alan Micheals (1st prize) | Alza Corp. | Pharmaceutical engineering |
| Frank Trocino (merit) | Bohemia Inc. | Wood byproducts processing | |
| John Anderson (merit) | Union Carbide Corp. | Solid waste processing | |
| 1976 | Donald Garrett | Garrett Energy R&D Inc. | Flash pyrollysis of coal |
| Lee Gaumer | Air Products and Chemicals Inc. | Natural gas liquefaction | |
| Tom Nicklin | Peabody Holmes Ltd. | Sour gas; hydrocarbon reforming catalysts | |
| Morgan Sze | CE Lummus Co. | Catalytic hydroliquefaction | |
| 1978 | Bernard S. Lee | Institute of Gas Technology | Coal-to-fuels and coal-to-chemicals processes |
| Fernando Oré | Occidental Research Corp. | Oxy hemihydrate process | |
| Charles Sternling | Shell Development Co. | Mass transfer effects | |
| Utah Tsao | CE Lummus | Process commercialization (various projects) | |
| 1980 | David K. Beavon | Ralph Parson Co. | Petroleum refining |
| 1982 | John M. Googin | Union Carbide Corp. | Nuclear chemistry |
| 1984 | William M. Burks | Stauffer Co. | Technology transfer and licensing |
| 1986 | Frederick A. Zenz | F.A. Zenz, Inc. | Fluid-particle dynamics |
| A.D. Reichle | Exxon Research and Engineering Co. | Hydrocracking, fluid-catalytic cracking, catalyst technology | |
| Richard A. Conway | Union Carbide Corp. | Environmental stewardship | |
| 1988 | L.K. Doraiswamy | National Chemistry Laboratory (India) | Reaction engineering |
| Raphael Katzen | Consultant | Wood-chemical process development | |
| Robert Maddox | Oklahoma State University | Gas and liquid desulfurization | |
| 1990 | Francis G. Dwyer | Mobil Research & Development Corp. | Zeolite catalysts |
| George E. Keller | Union Carbide Corp. | Separations technology and chemical engineering education | |
| Trevor Kletz | Consultant | Chemical plant safety | |
| 1992 | Joseph Jacobs | Jacobs Engineering Group | Managerial and technical accomplishments |
| Bodo Linnhoff | Linnhoff March Ltd. | “Pinch” process technology | |
| 1994 | Lowell B. Koppel | Setpoint Inc. | Process control and information-systems planning |
| 1996 | Paul Quencau | International Nickel Co. | Pyrometallurgy |
| 1998 | Ernest Henley | University of Houston | Computer-aided design |
| Hanns Paul Hoffman | University of Erlangen-Nürnberg | Chemical engineering education and reaction engineering | |
| Dan Steinmeyer | Monsanto Co. | Polymer processing | |
| 2000 | Michael Lockett | Praxair | Distillation and heat-transfer technologies |
| John Pelton | Praxair | Crystal formation and growth, flame coating, waste-to-fuel, aluminum refining | |
| 2002 | Lawrence Evans | Aspen Tech | Process modeling and simulation |
| Henry Kister | Fluor Corp. | Distillation and absorption troubleshooting | |
| 2004 | No award given | — | — |
| 2006 | No award given | — | — |
| 2008 | Brian W.S. Kolthammer | Dow Chemical Co. | Kinetic modeling of catalyst systems |
| Shyam Lakshmanan | See Sen Chemical Bhd | Plant improvement and efficiency | |
Submit nominations
The CE Personal Achievement Awards are given out biennially, and nominations for the 2012 award will be accepted beginning in January 2012. If you would like to nominate a candidate to join Mani and McGowan on the growing list of individuals to be awarded the CE Personal Achievement Award, send a letter or email to CE with the following information:
• Name, job title and address of the candidate
• Your name and address
• A summary of around 500 words that describes the nominee’s career and illustrates his or her creativity and general excellence in the practice of chemical engineering. At least some of the activity must have taken place during the three-year period ending December 31, 2011. Without divulging confidential information, try to be specific about key contributions
CE encourages those submitting nominations to ask others to provide information in support of the nominee.
Scott Jenkins, Chemical Engineering, 110 William St., 11th Floor, New York, NY 10038, Email: [email protected]
Scott Jenkins