With its GNP growth rate hovering around 8% per year for over the past two decades, China is becoming an important economic partner for the entire world. The Chinese chemical processing industries (CPI) have been growing even faster than the economy as a whole, at over 12% per year. New chemical plants can be seen everywhere converting all sorts of raw materials into final products. For example, two multi-billion dollar petrochemical complexes have started up recently, and a third will begin operation by the end of this year

The changes on the academic side are equally profound. There are at present 169 institutions engaging in chemical engineering and technology, some of which are highly integrated with a large faculty and many students. Many faculty members in leadership positions are in their forties or younger, being the students who entered university after the disruptions of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1975).

Meanwhile, with relatively slow growth, there is a general feeling in the U.S. that traditional chemical engineering has reached its maturity, or that the core has lost its relevance. Extensive discussions of the challenges and opportunities facing the CPI have taken place. High on the recommended list for chemical engineering R&D include product design, biotechnology, nanotechnology, process intensification, etc. Some detailed roadmaps for action have also been developed for the CPI in the U.S.

Not surprisingly, similar questions were asked in a strategic study carried out by the Chinese chemical engineering community. Should China follow an R&D strategy similar to that of developed countries? If not entirely, how to tailor one that takes into account the needs, wants, competitive advantages, and other circumstantial factors of a China changing at a rapid pace? How can Chinese researchers collaborate with others in this ever more open global village? These issues, the background, and the potential impacts on chemical engineering will be discussed in this lecture.

Ka M. Ng is Chair Professor of Chemical Engineering, Director of the Consortium of Chemical Products and Processes, and Project Manager of the Institute of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He obtained his B.S. degree from the University of Minnesota in 1976 and his Ph.D. from the University of Houston in 1980. From 1980 to 2000, he served as Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He joined the faculty in Hong Kong in 2000 and served as head of department from 2002-2005. He held visiting positions at DuPont, MIT, and the National University of Singapore.

His research interests center on product and process design, involving reactions, separations, and solids processing. A computer program based on his group's research on the design of crystallization processes was commercialized in 2003. He was a team member in the development of a novel 50,000 tonne monomer plant that won the Japan Petroleum Institute Award for Technological Progress in 2004.

He serves as a consultant, technical advisor and non-executive director for various companies and government bodies all over the world, and is the Corporate Science and Technology Advisor of Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation. He is a member of the editorial board of the Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering, the Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, and Computers & Chemical Engineering.

Professor Ng received the General Electric Outstanding Teaching Award in 1992. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers where he received the Excellence in Process Development Research Award in 2002.

W. Robert Marshall, 1916–1988

Bob Marshall's career spanned more than 40 years of outstanding service to the University of Wisconsin and to the national and international community of scholars.

W. Robert Marshall received his B.S. from Illinois Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin in 1941, studying under Olaf A. Hougen. After six years at DuPont he returned to UW as associate professor of chemical engineering, where his research focussed on atomization and spray drying.

In 1953 Bob was named director of the Engineering Experiment Station, and in 1971 was appointed dean of the College of Engineering. As dean, he led the college in strengthening its international ties, and developed programs to help women and minorities enter the field of engineering. In 1981 he became director of University Industry Research, a program dedicated to the encouragement of cooperative efforts between the university and industry.

Bob's service to the profession was further demonstrated through his commitment to the American Institute of Chemical Engineers as a director and later as its president. He believed in the value of the exchange of information and the cross-fertilization of ideas that professional societies can provide.

But most of all, Bob Marshall was mentor, advisor and friend to the many who knew him.

Founders' Lectureship in Chemical and Biological Engineering

The Founders' Lectureship was established in 1986 to bring distinguished speakers to the UW Department of Chemical Engineering to broaden our perspective and suggest new opportunities and areas of responsibility in the profession. Such assessment and evaluation is essential in order to keep our curriculum and research programs vigorous and responsive to a changing world. It is also a continuation of departmental traditions that go back to the turn of the century. The Marshall Fund supports this annual lectureship in honor of the founders of the department.

Previous Founders' Lecturers

Copyright 2005 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System Date last modified: Thursday, 08-Sep-2005 17:39:52 CDT Date created: 08-Sep-2005 Content by: che@che.wisc.edu