IIT PROFESSORS WIN PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS

Two Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) professors received special recognition from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) for their ongoing research in particle technology. The honors came during the just-concluded AIChE annual meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The IIT award recipients are Darsh Wasan, vice president for international affairs, Motorola Chair and professor of chemical and environmental engineering, and Dimitri Gidaspow, a professor of chemical and environmental engineering,

Wasan received the Thomas Baron Award in Fluid-Particle systems. Wasan presented his latest research on the spreading of “nanofluids” on solid surfaces, including an optical imaging technique to observe the phenomenon. His findings have widespread industry applications, including improved ways of handling soil remediation and the disposal of nuclear waste.

Wasan has been recognized repeatedly for his groundbreaking research on emulsions, foams and thin films, in particular the forces that control microscopic particle movement and stability. Among his numerous honors: an American Chemical Society Award in colloid or surface chemistry, the Boschasanwaisi Swaminarayan Sanstha Pride of India Award and the Fine Particle Society’s Hausner Award. He is the only engineering scientist to twice receive the National Science Foundation’s Special Creativity Award.

Gidaspow received AIChE’s Lectureship Award in Fluidization. Gidaspow’s fluidization research focuses on what happens to small particles when they move in either gas or liquid. The resulting data offers a wide range of industry uses, including the creation and processing of new and improved chemicals.

Gidaspow is known internationally for applying kinetic theory to gas/solid flow systems and fluidization. He received the AIChE Donald Q. Kern Award in 1985 and also shared a National Science Foundation Creativity Award with Wasan, for their work in separation of particles in non-aqueous media.

Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting technological university awarding degrees in the sciences, mathematics and engineering, as well as architecture, psychology, design, business and law. IIT’s interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum prepares the university’s 6,200 students for leadership roles in an increasingly complex and culturally diverse global workplace.