Concluding Remarks
Our objective has been to present a perspective of current educational and research trends in chemical engineering with an eye on maintaining a strong core. It is our position that a conscious effort to nurture core areas of chemical engineering through both education and research would be essential to perpetuate the success of chemical engineers in contributing to society. Chemical engineering embraces analysis of transport and chemical reaction on systems encompassing a wide spectrum of spatio-temporal scales that offer unlimited opportunities for synthesis, optimal design control, and scope for local and global perspectives. The 2018 Nobel Prize of Arnold for deploying directed evolution techniques to engineer new enzymes is a striking example of what chemical engineering expertise can accomplish. Seinfeld’s contributions to aerosol science and atmospheric chemistry have paved the way for quality control regulations in the United States. Enormous contributions have come about in the drug delivery area from Langer,83 and Peppas.84
Preservation and growth of chemical engineering core areas cannot occur without allocation of resources for teaching and research. Graduate programs, regardless of their research thrusts, must invest in high quality core teaching. The present situation does not appear conducive in this regard as researchers dedicated to core areas have to find sagacious means of survival.