In April, more than 2,100 chemical engineers and allied stakeholders from 50 countries charted the progress and explored opportunities in their rapidly evolving profession at the 2025 AIChE Spring Meeting and 21st Global Congress on Process Safety — held Apr. 6–10 in Dallas, TX. Emphasizing chemical engineering’s crucial role in driving the global transition toward the use of more-sustainable resources, this year’s Spring Meeting program also showcased the full scope of chemical engineering endeavors — from the field’s fundamentals to its new developments, in a program incorporating more than 200 technical sessions.
Key focus areas
Areas of focus included sustainable manufacturing and energy production, as well as process safety developments in the chemical, petrochemical, and related industries. The emphasis on new energy and emerging opportunities for practitioners factored into topical conferences devoted to the safe use of hydrogen and new methods of manufacturing — the latter incorporating resource-efficient process intensification techniques, as well as Industry 4.0 concepts such as artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, and cybersecurity.
Program highlights
Among the program highlights was the biennial Kister Distillation Symposium, with its programming built upon decades of knowledge and progress in that specialization. Other program tracks delved into gas utilization, refinery processing, and professional-skills development for engineers.
The conference launched on Apr. 7 with the AIChE Government and Industry Leaders (AGILE) keynote, presented by Rebecca Liebert, President and CEO of Lubrizol. Liebert discussed the chemical industry’s contributions to modern society, and the role it is playing in shaping a sustainable future.
Programming organized by AIChE’s Fuels and Petrochemicals Div. encompassed topics ranging from traditional fuel production to considerations of how the oil and gas industries are adapting to the changing landscape of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonization. The energy-focused programming began with a plenary co-organized with the meeting’s Industry 4.0 topical conference.
More about the Spring program
Along other program tracks, the 37th Ethylene Producers’ Conference kicked off with a talk by Pam Heatherington (ExxonMobil Product Solutions), who discussed sustainable ethylene production. AIChE’s Process Development Div. hosted a keynote talk by Debalina Sengupta (Univ. of Houston’s Energy Transition Institute). At the Gas Utilization Conference, keynote speaker Erin Tullos (UT Austin) addressed emissions mitigation in oil and natural gas supply chains.
Daily luncheon keynotes elaborated on some of the conference’s major themes. The Spring Meeting’s technical content was also enhanced by poster sessions, exhibits, and social events.
The 21st GCPS
Programming at the 21st Global Congress on Process Safety (GCPS) marked the 40th year of AIChE’s Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS). In addition to a stage-setting plenary, a special session — “40th Anniversary of CCPS: Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future” — offered testimonials from CCPS leaders past and current, who reflected on the milestone activities and the people who solidified CCPS’s leadership in process safety, and projected CCPS’s vision for global process safety into the future.
At the GCPS, process engineers, plant managers, and process design experts shared strategies to ensure plant safety, manage risk, and strengthen process safety management (PSM) programs. This year’s GCPS incorporated the programming of the 59th Annual Loss Prevention Symposium, the 40th CCPS International Conference, the 27th Process Plant Safety Symposium, and the 14th Process Safety Management Mentoring Symposium.
Key sessions at GCPS
The Global Congress’s international reach was evident in sessions that offered “Perspectives on Process Safety from Around the World.” That program track introduced new sessions devoted to safety in mining, minerals, and metals operations. The GCPS’s popular “Case Histories and Lessons Learned” presentations examined real-world incident investigations. Those included lessons learned from a turbine failure at a power station in Queensland, Australia; the use of rupture disks at a vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plant; and a discussion of the 2023 OceanGate Titan submersible vessel implosion; among other topics.
Sessions devoted to process safety culture drew large crowds. Some of those sessions — including “Lies We Tell Ourselves: Cognitive Bias and Human Factors in Process Safety” and “Building Process Safety Culture through Influential and Inspirational Leadership” — attracted audiences of more than 250.
Thank you to our leaders and volunteers
AIChE offers its thanks to the Spring Meeting Program Chair — Virginia Sommer (Fluor) — and the Program Chair and Vice Chair of the GCPS — Irfan Shaikh (Chevron) and Jennifer Mize (Eastman), respectively. AIChE also extends its gratitude to the meeting’s session chairs, presenters, volunteers, and sponsors.
Conference sponsors
Diamond Sponsors
- AcuTech
- ioMosaic
Platinum Sponsors
- Chevron
- ExxonMobil
- GEXCON
- Siemens
Gold Sponsors
- Aspentech
- Dow
- Shell
- Siemens Energy
- Smith & Burgess
Silver Sponsors
- ABS Group
- AIChE Journal
- ATR | SmartProcedures
- BakerRisk & FORTRESS
- Chemstations/AFT
- FM Global
- Fauske
- IPEX
- JCL Risk Services
- Journal of Advanced Manufacturing & Processing
- TÜV Rheinland Risktec
- Valero
- Voovio
- Whycomm SA
- Wolters Kluwer
Bronze Sponsors
- Alliant
- American Elements
- Elsevier
- IChemE
- Sphera
- Syensqo
Distillation Sponsors
- Fluor
- Gammatech Industrial LLC
- Sulzer
- Woven Metal Products
View more photos from the 2025 AIChE Spring Meeting and 21st GCPS below!
This article originally appeared in the Institute News column in the June 2025 issue of CEP. Members have access online to complete issues, including a vast, searchable archive of back-issues found at www.aiche.org/cep.
