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What is Your Engineering Ethics IQ?

These seven-steps form a guideline for handling ethically challenging situations in technical jobs Exercising sound ethics in the chemical process industries (CPI) surely requires a large dose of technical know-how, but it also requires a set of good ethical practices…

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Engineering Ethics Survey: What’s Your Opinion?

How would you respond to these hypothetical situations involving ethics questions in the CPI? Although not an everyday occurrence, ethical questions, large and small, confront each of us in our professional lives. For professionals in the chemical process industries (CPI),…

CAB drops in September, ACC report says

The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator for the chemical process industries developed by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), dropped in September following a revised decline in August, according to the ACC’s latest Weekly Chemical…

Current Economic Trends

The preliminary value for the July 2015 CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) fell compared to the previous month’s value, driven by a decline in the Equipment subindex. The Construction Labor, Buildings and Engineering & Supervision subindices…

Specialty chemical volumes fall slightly in August, ACC says

Specialty chemical market volumes in the U.S. fell by 0.1% in August, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). The retreat follows a 1.3% gain in July and a…

Composite leading indicator suggest mixed economic trends, ACC report says

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD; Paris; www.oecd.org) released its composite leading indicator (CLI) for July, and the results, discussed in the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), suggest…

Chemical equity performance fell in August, ACC report says

The S&P index for chemical companies fell by 6.5% in August, while the broader S&P 500 index also fell 6.3%, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). The August…

Bookshelf for September 2015

The following list of recently published books may be of interest to those working in the chemical process industies (CPI): Simulated Moving Bed Technology: Principles, Design and Process Applications. By A.E. Rodrigues and others. Elsevier, June 2015, 304 pages, $180.00.…

Bayer MaterialScience now operating as Covestro

One of the world’s leading polymer materials suppliers has a new identity. From September 1, 2015 Bayer MaterialScience is operating under the Covestro name. The company is now legally and economically independent, but will remain a 100 percent subsidiary of…

Concrete: Modern Engineering for an Ancient Material

Novel additives, improved understanding of cement chemistry and thoughtful mix design are making modern concrete increasingly sustainable, durable and versatile Concrete’s origins can be traced back to the ancient world. For example, many believe that missionaries in North America learned…