Q&A: Meet the 2014 Candidates – Part 2

3/5   in the series 2014 AIChE Board Elections

Voting for next year's AIChE Board of Directors begins September 16 at http://www.aiche.org/election. Have your say and help direct the future of AIChE! The Young Professionals Committee (YPC) asked potential members of AIChE's board a few questions about Young Professionals and AIChE. They were asked to answer two main questions, and were given the option of choosing to respond to additional questions, so you won't see responses from every candidate for every question. This is the second of the two mandatory questions. Answers are shown in alphabetical order by position and the candidate's last name. In addition to learning about the candidates here, you can also learn more about candidates and the election process on the AIChE election page.

Q: What do you see as the number-one issue facing young professionals in the chemical engineering profession today?

For President-Elect

Tom Hanley

The companies employing chemical engineers today are required to adjust to a rapidly changing global environment that can have major impact on corporate performance in relatively short time spans. YP's are typically in the best position to assist companies in their efforts to maintain and expand markets and to measure and predict trends that impact both profitability and future directions. YP's should be continually observing and learning as the global economy develops. This challenge requires both technical and business skills and YP's should be actively looking to expand their personal skill set in order to provide the necessary knowledge and direction needed to either maintain or enhance their employer's profit potential.

Gregory Stephanopoulos

The evolving nature of the chemical engineering profession and its expansion into areas outside the traditional space of fuels and chemicals, the need for continuing education to ensure that one keeps up with technological developments and new skills necessary for the job, management issues at technical and non-technical levels, team work, importance of communication skills, understanding the nature and risks of the global economy, mentoring or learning from the experience and knowledge of more senior engineers, and probably many more could be issues of concern to young professionals. I am not one and not in a position to suggest what is the most critical that many face in their career. This is the reason that I think it is extremely important for AIChE to institute and promote a mechanism that will facilitate young professionals to express their concerns and request the assistance of the Institute in handing them. This could be a web site, the YP Forum, or an office at the New York headquarters. If I had to pick one of the above issues as the one of greatest concern to young professionals, it would be the continuously evolving nature of the chemical engineering profession and the uncertainties it creates in skill requirements and job security. Although this is not unique to chemical engineering, our profession is more exposed to rapid changes brought about by accelerating advances in all three sciences that are the foundation of chemical engineering, namely, physics, chemistry and biology. The most effective way of dealing with this continuous change is via education and here is where AIChE could help its young members by catalyzing the offering of high quality continuous education programs in areas of current interest and high demand.

For Director

Rich Calabrese

The number one issue is sustainability. As the population grows and the economy becomes more global, engineers have greater responsibility for solving the many challenges that face society with respect to energy, water, health, safety, climate and environment. There is a need to engage the public more proactively and give more weight to their concerns in developing technical solutions to these grand challenges. Please make your collective voice heard to ensure that policy and decision makers take a more long-range view that balances short-term needs to maintain present quality-of-life with long-term needs to insure a sustainable future.

Alan Nelson

One of the questions that I am often asked by Young Professionals is "How do you achieve work-life balance?" The response that I provide is often met with some disbelief, and, maybe some disappointment, that I did not share the secret to life. My answer is simple - there is no "balance,"only choices. The balance that each and every one of us seeks to find, and at times struggles with, is not based on some notion of what work-life balance should be. It is grounded in the choices we make each and every day, both at home and at work. The reason, I think, that this is a key issue facing Young Professionals today is because there are more demands on our time and fewer opportunities to unplug from technology. But these, too, are choices that we all make. There will be times when you take on additional responsibilities that take time away from your family, or when personal setbacks may cause you to miss a good professional opportunity. A career in chemical engineering is not a sprint - it is a marathon. In a marathon you are not setting a pace for 20 miles, you are setting the pace for the full 26.2 miles. Your career is no different. You need to begin with the end in mind, and realize along the way there may be some difficult choices to make and some hills to climb, but the most dangerous choice that you can make is to not make a choice. If you try to be everything to everyone you will continue searching for work-life balance. Only you know what that means to you, and you are in complete control of your "balance."

John O'Connell

Young Professionals constitute a diverse range of motivations and capabilities within similar educational and professional development experiences. The issue I see for many of them early in their careers is to crystallize what will provide them the greatest lifelong fulfillment. The challenge is partly from dealing with the myriad of CHE career and life opportunities and the dynamics of globalization, sustainability, and economic uncertainty. In addition, since contemporary life is so interactive, it is hard to focus inward and to reflect.

Timothy Odi

Having the right skill set and trainings to contribute effectively and feeling valued by management, in my opinion, is the number-one issue facing Young Professionals in the chemical industry. Fortunately this problem is not insurmountable as YPs can overcome them through the mentorship of more experienced employees. The mentorship is to ensure that the YP is working on the right area and utilizing his/her time in the most effective manner. YPs should also take on challenging assignments and set stretch goals to accelerate their on-the-job training to overcome this problem.

Anne Robinson

Most young professionals are well trained technically for the jobs they desire. However, in order to compete for optimal locations and types of positions, engineers also need excellent soft skills (interpersonal skills, technical writing and speaking, etc.) as well as private-sector experience (such as internships in team-based environments). Honing these skills also enhances networking abilities, which in turn lead to promotions and increase job portability. I believe that finding the ways to develop these skills and obtain internships early in one's career are the major issues facing those entering the profession.

Sharon Robinson

The number-one issue Young Professionals will initially face arises from the work environment created by the recent rapid expansion in the domestic chemical industry. They must be able to "hit the ground running" when they enter the work force and contribute significantly from the first day on a new job. They need to have a stronger educational background in chemical engineering fundamentals and be able to apply their education into practice immediately. Although they will not have the luxury of learning on the job and being mentored at the level that I did during my first work assignments, they will have access to better software tools, internet-based resources, and new communication platforms to help them succeed. They will perform multiple job functions during their career, possibly in several different technical sectors. Compared to the generation of engineers that came before them, they will need polished, well-rounded skill sets earlier in their career. Continuing education will be more important to them.

Shariq Yosufzai

In many refineries and petrochemical plants, up to 50 percent of their populations have less than five years' experience. Young engineers are moving up the career ladder very quickly, taking on greater and greater responsibility and being called upon to make decisions that used to take years of experience. How we capture and impart this knowledge and experience to this new generation of engineers is an issue that must be addressed individually and as an industry. I believe the answer lies in adopting technologies, such as virtual mentoring and collaboration, which can quickly and effectively facilitate this critical transfer of knowledge.

What is the great challenge you face in your career today?