Congratulations to University of Utah chemical engineering professor Kevin Whitty, who has been elected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the highest grade of membership. He will be recognized for his contributions to AIChE during the organization’s annual meeting in November in Boston.
Whitty received his bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University and a master’s and doctorate from Åbo Akademi University in Finland, all in chemical engineering.
He spent three years as research manager and director of gasification pilot operations for Nykomb Synergetics/Chemrec in Stockholm, Sweden, before joining the University of Utah’s Department of Chemical Engineering in 2001. He became associate professor in 2006, professor in 2015, and was appointed Associate Dean of Research for the U’s College of Engineering in 2019.
Whitty has more than 25 years of experience in high-temperature processing of fossil and renewable resources for production of power, heat, chemicals and fuels. His research focuses on energy production from biomass and waste, recycle of plastics, and CO2 capture through technologies including gasification, chemical looping and oxy-fuel combustion.
In 2016, he received the Professional Achievement Award for Innovations in Green Process Engineering from AIChE, an honorary doctorate from the University of Miskolc in Hungary, and the University of Utah’s Celebrate U Achievement Award.
AIChE is the world’s leading organization for chemical engineering professionals, with more than 60,000 members from more than 110 countries. Of its membership, less than 2% reach the grade of Fellow.