Alchemy 2021
The AIChE Ahmedabad University Student Chapter hosted the 2021 South Asia Student Regional Conference from August 27 to 29, 2021. The conference was named ‘Alchemy’ after the Greek process of transformation—a tribute to the way Chemical Engineers are transforming the world.
The Conference was hosted as a hybrid event. The conference saw organising team members, faculty advisors and the attending key dignitaries arrive at the Ahmedabad University campus, where technical and audio-visual arrangements were made. Of the several dignitaries who attended from different geographical locations and time zones were Ms Deborah L. Grubbe (President, AIChE) and Ms June Wispelway (CEO & Executive Director, AIChE) who spoke at the Inauguration of Alchemy ‘21. Other notable guests included Mr Ashok Panjwani (Executive Director, United Phosphorous Limited) and Mr Kirit Adhia (Former Director, Rohit Surfactants Private Limited).
The participants who attended the event virtually were engaged with several interactive and informative sessions lined up through the three days of the conference. Some notable events were the CCPS Workshops, the K12 STEM Outreach Competition, the Chem-E-Safe Competition, the Night of Networking, the ANSYS Workshop, and the Cultural Night.
Day-1:
- Opening Ceremony
- Ms June Wispelway, Ms Deborah L. Grubbe, Mr Ashok Panjwani, Mr Kirit Adhia, Professor Sunil Kale, Professor Devanath Tirupati, Professor Deepak Kunzru, Professor Sanjay Chaudhary, Professor Harshad Shah, Professor Arijit Ganguli
- K12 STEM Outreach Competition
- Panel Discussion
- Dr Bharat Jain, Mr Anil Trivedi, Mr Rajesh Vaidya, Ms Prexa Shah, Mr Pradeep Gandhi, Professor Harshad Shah
- ANSYS Software Workshop
- Professor Arijit Ganguli
- Night of Networking
Day-2:
- Chem-E-Jeopardy Competition
- Centre for Chemical Process Safety Workshop: Overview on Indian legal framework for chemical management in the industry
- Mr Anantha Prasad
- Student Technical Presentation Competition
- Chem-E-Car Poster Presentation
- Cultural Night
Day-3:
- Chem-E-Car Competition
- Chem-E-Safe Competition
- Centre for Chemical Process Safety Workshop: Risk Analysis Safety Tool
- Mr Umesh Dhake
- Chapter Presidents and AIChE Executive Student Committee Meet
- AIChE Sister Chapter Workshop
- Closing Ceremony
- Professor Snigdha Khuntia
ABOUT THE KEY DIGNITARIES:
- Ms June Wispelwey, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is a chemical engineer and business leader with vast work experience in the chemical and biopharmaceutical fields. Prior to becoming AIChE's executive director, June served as executive director of the Society for Biological Engineering (SBE), a technical community within AIChE, overseeing its successful launch and growth.
- Ms Deborah Grubbe, Owner and President: Operations and Safety Solutions, LLC has seen engineering ethics from many perspectives. A registered PE, she is a former Chair of the Law Enforcement and Ethics Committee of the Delaware Board; has consulted with NASA on safety culture after the Columbia Shuttle Accident, and has lectured extensively to students and professionals on safety and ethics.
- Mr Ashok Panjwani, is a Chemical Engineer who graduated from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai (1972). He has over 44 years of industrial experience with reputed Agro-Chemical companies like Gharda Chemicals Ltd., Gujarat Insecticides Ltd. He is currently the Executive Director of UPL Ltd.
- Mr Kirit Adhia is an experienced technologist in the Chlor-Alkali industry with a demonstrated history of working with and setting up four greenfield projects as well as hosting brownfield projects.
