Dr. Doug White Receives AIChE Fuels and Petrochemicals Award

by | May 1, 2009 | Chemical, Downstream Hydrocarbons, Industry

Jim Cahill

Jim Cahill

Chief Blogger, Social Marketing Leader

I heard a few weeks back that Emerson’s Dr. Doug White, was going to be honored by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). I was sworn to secrecy, which is not an easy thing for someone with an itchy finger on the “publish” button. Since the press release is now out, it’s safe to talk about Doug.

He is a Principal Consultant for the Process Systems and Solutions business and has held positions such as Vice President APC Services for Emerson, President of MDC Technology, President of Profitpoint Solutions, Senior Vice President for Automation Technology for Aspen Technology, and President and Chairman of Setpoint; all leading companies in the development of modern process plant advanced automation applications.

At this week’s 2009 AIChE Spring National Meeting, Doug receives the:

AIChE Fuels and Petrochemicals Division (FPD) award, one of two FPD annual awards, for his outstanding technological contributions to the advancement of these industries.

The Fuels and Petrochemicals Division describes this award:

Recognizes individuals who have made substantial technological contributions to the advancement of the fuels and petrochemicals industries. Selection criteria includes: 1. Long and recognized record in the nominee’s areas of achievement. 2. A chemical engineer and preferably an AIChE member. 3. Awardees are selected based on a combination of technical achievement, management skills, business acumen, academic leadership and general service to the profession. 4. Selection shall be balanced between the fuels and petrochemicals industries.

We have featured Doug several times on this blog, including stories of saving energy with advanced automation, justifying capital projects, and assessing energy reduction opportunities. The common thread is that Doug helps quantify the solution with the business objective. He helps engineers speak the language of finance to get the capital or expense budget required to do the project and quantify the results.

I thought in addition to Doug’s wisdom shared over the years that I’d give you a little of his background. He has a BSChE from the University of Florida, an MSChE from California Institute of Technology, and an MA and PhD in ChE from Princeton. He’s been a member of AIChE for more than forty years.

Doug has applied the fruits of this education and work in the field of process manufacturing and has developed special expertise in the field of advanced manufacturing automation. He has more than thirty years experience designing, developing, managing and implementing advanced automation and optimization systems in oil refineries and chemical plants around the world. He has authored or co-authored more than fifty technical papers on these subjects, many documenting first-of-a-kind system installations.

At this week’s AIChE conference Doug will present, The Digital Plant: Progress and Promise. Doug discusses the current state-of-the-art in process plant sensors, automation, and information technologies and offers some projections on future developments. He shares the areas of plant operation that have seen the largest effects to date and the areas in which he expects to see the greatest impact in the future. I guess there’s no time to rest on one’s laurels when there is wisdom to share.

Congratulations on this well-deserved award, Doug!

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