During company discussions on issues of diversity, the lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender, queer, intersex, ally, and plus (LGBTQIA+) community is often overlooked.

Shivali Kadam is a chemical engineer working for a consulting firm centering around the semiconductor industry. She is also an accomplished pageant winner, and won the Miss Oregon title under the Miss America competition umbrella in 2019.

Natacha Souto-Melgar, an assistant professor in the Dept. of Chemical Engineering at the Univ. of Arkansas (U of A), enjoys teaching and encouraging her students to be passionate about separations science. “I like to motivate others,” she says. Souto-Melgar recently received the AIChE Separations Division Education and Outreach Award, which grants up to $5,000 to support educational initiatives that drive learning in the field of separations. With this grant, she plans to buy the equipment to

As millions of citizens around the world hunker down in their homes to ride out the COVID-19 pandemic, many struggle with the emotional and physical toll of isolation. When separated from friends, family, and coworkers, it can be difficult not to feel bored, lonely, or restless. Al Sacco, a chemical engineer and astronaut, was isolated in orbit on the International Space Station, and he has some sage advice for those currently sheltering in place.

Polymers and textiles are an integral part of society. What we wear and what our clothing can do for us has helped define humanity for most of history. Clothing serves many purposes — fashion, protection from the elements, warmth, and identification. It is often an indicator of gender, social status, or religion, and is a powerful means of self-expression. Today, technology in this sphere is rapidly evolving. How we manufacture polymers and textiles is changing for the better.

Recently, the federal government announced increased funding for five of the nation’s most promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates. Among the organizations selected is Moderna, a small biotechnology firm that began clinical trials of an mRNA-based coronavirus vaccine in March 2020.

The yellow- and black-striped paper wasp builds its hulking honeycomb nest by gathering wood fiber and slathering it with saliva, creating a thin, paper-like material it constructs into hives.

Society today is accustomed to immediate gratification. People want things fast — fast food, fast entertainment, and fast fashion, a relatively new concept. The fast fashion industry draws inspiration from upscale fashion designers, but it turns those runway styles into inexpensive, trendy cloth- ing quickly and in mass quantities.

Over the past decade, drones have become a hot topic within the science and technology community. These devices, formally known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are essentially flying robots that can be controlled remotely, often embedded with a camera or other sensors.

The lives of six women reflect how far we have come, and how much further we have to go. On an unseasonably warm late-October day in Pittsburgh, PA, Rosemarie Wesson took the stage at AIChE’s 2018 Annual Meeting. Under the muted glow of a dozen spotlights, she told the story of six women who entered the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 2001. Four years later, they would become the first and only all-female chemical engineering class to graduate from any American coed college.