Spring Meeting 2012: YP Programming Highlights

By: Meagan Lewis

The Young Professionals had a definite presence in Houston at the AIChE Spring Meeting. Regardless of your interests, technical or professional development, the Young Professional Committee co-sponsored, chaired or participated in a session for you. The Young Professional programming kicked off on the Monday morning of the conference following the Keynote Speaker. The first session was a standing room only session, co-sponsored by the Environmental Division, and titled "Environmental Topics on Regulation and Innovation." Speakers included Young Professionals Sarah Widder, Aaron Matthews, as well as speakers from Environ and Siemens. Monday also kicked off the Process Safety Management Mentoring sessions organized by the Global Congress on Process Safety. This group of sessions went so well that they hope to continue this track each spring. That same afternoon, our YP sessions got technical with a session focused on membranes, co-sponsored by the Separations Division. On Tuesday, April 3, the Young Professionals sponsored sessions addressing professional development topics, starting with a session co-sponsored by the Process Development Division. This well-attended session focused on how to develop and progress in a process development career, to MBA or not to MBA, and other PDD career paths. Tuesday afternoon offered more opportunities for professional development with two sessions co-sponsored by the Management Division and AIChE Career Services, "Knowledge Management" and "What Kind of Manager Am I?". Before YP Sessions wrapped up on Tuesday, young professional Virginia Brown chaired the session "Young Professional Tutorial - Topics in Refining." This great session was a perfect fit in the Houston meeting and brought in interested professionals of all ages. On Wednesday, April 4, Young Professionals had one more chance to participate in the Process Safety Management Mentoring sessions. The final two sessions' topics were "The Management of Process Safety" and a talk on safety case studies.

Spring 2013 and Annual 2013

Planning has already begun for the 2013 Spring Meeting in San Antonio. If your division or special interest group would be interested in working with YPAB, please contact the Spring 2013 YP Programming Coordinator, Jon Haughton at Jonathan.Haughton@cornproducts.com. Thank you to everyone who participated, chaired, and worked hard to make such great YP sessions happen in Houston this year! If you will be attending the Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh this fall, do not miss the YP sessions including a new session called, "MBA in a Day," co-sponsored by the Management Division. For further questions, please contact Meagan Lewis at melewis25@gmail.com.