Notre Dame University-Louaize’s (NDU) American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Student Chapter organized and hosted the first National AIChE Meetup, bringing together all of Lebanon's AIChE student chapters from: the American University of Beirut (AUB), the Beirut Arab University (BAU) the Lebanese University (LU), the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), and Saint Joseph University (USJ).
The event was organized in collaboration with the AIChE Middle East Regional Committee, exclusively comprising NDU’s Chapter. The meetup constituted discussions among the various student bodies to promote chemical engineering at the national and international levels in order to increase its impact. After introducing the AIChE Executive Student Committee (ESC) to the sister chapters, a brainstorming session convened to identify opportunities and events in which sister chapters may collaborate and support one another to achieve their common objectives.
AIChE is a professional association for chemical engineers founded in 1908 to distinguish the profession from that of chemists and mechanical engineers. With more than 60 thousand members from over 110 countries, the organization has established itself as a reliable source of information and expertise for chemical engineering professionals, providing a wide range of resources in growing fields and core process industries.
AIChE student chapters have been established in many universities across the world, with the goal of providing students with networking opportunities on the academic and industrial scales, as well as to increase students' local and national involvement by attending seminars and taking part in national competitions.
Despite the challenging socioeconomic conditions in Lebanon, the AIChE-NDU Student Chapter has not stagnated since its foundation in 2017, instead establishing itself as one of the most proactive and ambitious societies of its kind nationally and internationally. Dr. Elias Feghali, AIChE-NDU Chapter Advisor and coordinator of the Chemical and Petroleum Engineering programs at the Faculty of Engineering (FE), stated: “Despite its young age, the Student Chapter proved to be a leader in initiating and defining the framework of a very fruitful and sustainable collaboration between all AIChE Student Chapters across Lebanon.’’
AIChE-NDU’s regional and international prominence is attributable to the students’ concerted efforts to foster a collaborative network and develop spirited action plans that push the limits of the chemical engineering world, led by an innovative youth.
For helping with the Meetup, the AIChE-NDU Student Chapter warmly thanks the sponsors for their invaluable support of the event: the FE, Dunkin’ Donuts, Latte Art, and Cosmaline (Malia Group).