Wayne State sustainability expert Huang elected AIChE Fellow
DETROIT (March 31, 2014) - Sustainability expert Yinlun Huang, professor of chemical engineering and materials science in Wayne State University's College of Engineering, has been elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).
AIChE is the world's leading organization for chemical engineering professionals, with more than 45,000 members worldwide. Fellows are elite members who have practiced chemical engineering for more than 25 years and made significant contributions to the profession. Typically, the Board of Directors elects five to eight AIChE members to the rank of Fellow each year.
AIChE recognized Huang -- who has been a member of the organization for 25 years -- for his significant contributions to the field of chemical engineering sustainability and for his leadership roles at AIChE.
"On behalf of the entire Wayne State University College of Engineering community, I congratulate Dr. Huang on this highest distinction," said College of Engineering Dean Farshad Fotouhi. "He is a remarkable educator and innovator, and is well deserving of such an honor. Our students, college, city and state are fortunate to learn and benefit from his innovative work and expertise."
Huang has received many honors, including the AIChE Research Excellence in Sustainable Engineering Award in 2010, which recognized him for his "long-standing and sustained record of research activities and leadership that advanced the development, practice and human recourses in the field of sustainable engineering in the United States and other nations."
He received the AIChE Sustainable Engineering Forum (SEF) Service Recognition Award from the AIChE Institute for Sustainability in 2010. He also was awarded the National Association for Surface Furnishing's (NASF) Scientific Achievement Award in 2013 for his key theoretical contributions to the surface finishing industry and the Michigan Green Chemistry Governor's Award in 2009, which honored his research on engineering sustainability with successful industrial applications. In 2008, Huang was designated a Fulbright Scholar by the U.S. Department of State.
He has published extensively in the field of engineering sustainability and has delivered numerous plenary and keynote speeches and invited seminars on engineering sustainability at international and national conferences and in academic institutions and industries.
He has also served in a number of leadership roles at AIChE. He chaired the AIChE Sustainable Engineering Forum from 2007-09 and has worked as technical advisor of the forum since 2011. Within the forum, he created the Sustainability Education for Chemical Engineers (SEChE) committee, which is aimed at developing educational materials for the chemical engineering core course sequence of the U.S. chemical engineering undergraduate curriculum. In addition, he was chair of process research and innovation for AIChE. Currently, he is chair-elect of the AIChE International Committee, which is responsible for developing and implementing strategic and tactical activities related to the international component of AIChE's mission.
Huang also serves as director for the National Science Foundation RCN-SEES project on sustainable manufacturing, which involves 21 domestic and foreign universities and 11 national organizations and university centers. Recently, the NSF designated him as the U.S. principal investigator and chair, responsible for organizing the U.S. NSF-China NSF Workshop on Sustainable Manufacturing. He also is founder and chair of the conference series International Conferences on Sustainable Chemical Product and Process Engineering and has co-organized and co-chaired another conference series, International Congress on Sustainability Science and Engineering.
Huang obtained his bachelor's in chemical engineering from Zhejiang University, China, in 1982, and his master's and doctorate in chemical engineering from Kansas State University in 1988 and 1992, respectively. He joined Wayne State in 1993 following a postdoctoral study at the University of Texas at Austin.
Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution of higher education offering 370 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 28,000 students. For more information about engineering at Wayne State University, visit engineering.wayne.edu