Darsh T. Wasan Lectureship Series
The Darsh T. Wasan Lecture was established in 2008 in honor of IIT Motorola Chair and Vice President of International Affair Darsh T. Wasan's extraordinary contributions to the university over the last forty-five years. It seeks to bring some of the best and brightest internationally-known leaders to speak on cutting-edge topics of global issues. The lectureship series is made possible by donations from former students of Dr. Wasan, friends, and faculty.2009 Darsh T. Wasan Lecture
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Membrane Technology for a Thirsty Century - from an Industrial Perspective of Energy, Sustainability, and Globalization
Dr. Norman N. Li, President
NL Chemical Technology, Inc.
4 p.m. Lecture, Perlstein Hall Auditorium
5 p.m. Reception, Perlstein Hall Lobby
Please RSVP by September 16, 2009 to cbeisel@iit.edu.
ABSTRACT
As a United Nations report indicated, by the year of 2020, about 1/3 of the world population would be in critical need of clean water and another report pointed out that 200 scientists in 50 countries had identified water shortage as one of the two most worrying problems for the millennium (the other was global warming). It is critically important, therefore, that waste water be treated for re-cycle and re-use and seawater be desalinated to produce potable water. For these purposes, advanced membrane technology would be most suitable to be employed to meet the needs of clean water anywhere in the world. Dr. Li will review the overall membrane technology and its advancement. He will discuss the energy-saving aspects of the membrane processes and compare them with the competitive technologies. He will also examine the sustainability of water reuse by membrane technology and the feasibility of globalization of the water treatment plants using the membrane technology. Finally, he will discuss, from an industrial perspective, the future directions of the developments of membrane science and technology in the 21st century.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Norman Li is president of NL Chemical Technology, Inc. Mount Prospect, Illinois. He has a distinguished career of 40 years of experience in American chemical and petroleum industries. He joined Exxon Research and Engineering Co. after receiving his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1963. He also served as a consultant for the U.S. Apollo Moon Landing Project. He joined the UOP Co in 1982 as its Research Director of Separations Science and Technology and later became the Director of Research at AlliedSignal Co (now Honeywell), which was the parent company of UOP. In 1995, recognizing the critical needs of clean water in many parts of the world, he founded the NL Chemical Technology to develop cost effective advanced membrane technologies for water purification and desalination.Dr. Li has made major technical contributions to the advancement of separation science and technology in general and membrane science and technology in particular. He invented the "liquid membrane" and "mixed matrix membrane" for effective separation and purification of gas and liquid phases. He also invented an energy-saving reverse osmosis membrane for desalination applications. Dr. Li has made significant contributions to the worldwide implementation of industrial separation processes, which include membrane processes, adsorption processes, and for the manufacture of ozone-friendly fluorocarbons.
Dr. Li has more than 100 technical publications, 44 U.S. patents, and 13 books edited. He has given invited lectures at 80 universities and industrial laboratories around the world.
Honors and Awards
- Institute Lecturer, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2009
- "100 Distinguished Chemical Engineers in US", American Institute of Chemical Engineers Centennial Celebration, 2008
- Honorary Doctor of Science degree, New Jersey Institute of Technology, 2008
- Founders Award, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2006
- Clarence Gerhold Award, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2002
- Perkin Medal, Society of Chemical Industry, 2000
- Inaugural Award for Lifetime Achievements, World Congress of Chemical Engineers, 2000
- Chemical Engineering Practice Award, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2000
- Member of National Academy of Engineering of USA, 1990; member of Chinese Academy of Science, 1997; and member of Academia Sinica, 1995.
- Alpha Chi Sigma Award for Chemical Engineering Research, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 1988
- Separation Science and Technology Award, American Chemical Society, 1988
ABOUT PROFESSOR WASAN
Dr. Darsh Wasan received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois in Chemical Engineering in 1960 and his Ph.D. from University of California- Berkley in 1965. He began his career at IIT in 1964 shortly after his graduation from Berkley, gaining full professorship in 1970. Over the last forty-four years at IIT, he has held virtually every academic and administrative post, including department chairman, dean of engineering, vice president for research and technology, vice president for academic affairs and provost at the university. Over the span of his career, Dr. Wasan co-authored over 400 publications, co-authored a textbook with Edwards and Brenner titled Interfacial Transport Processes and Rheology, supervised and mentored 60 doctoral students, 55 M.S. students, and 15 postdoctoral fellows. He also is the recipient of numerous awards for teaching, research, and service, including the American Chemical Society National Award in Colloid and Surface Chemistry and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Alpha Chi Sigma Award for Fundamental and Applied Research in Chemical Engineering, the American Society for Engineering Education Chemical Engineering Division Lectureship Award, the Western Electric Fund Award for excellence in instruction of engineering students, and the IIT Excellence in Teaching Award. In addition to these awards, Dr. Wasan was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest honors bestowed upon engineers in the United States, and to the Indian National Academy of Engineering. Currently, he serves as the Motorola Chair Professor of Chemical Engineering and Vice President of International Affairs at IIT and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. Dr. Wasan married his wife Usha on August 21, 1966. They have two sons, Ajay and Kern.
PREVIOUS WASAN LECTURERS
2008
"Innovation in Global Healthcare, Education and the Arts"
David A. Edwards (Ph.D. ChE �87), Gordon McKay Professor of the Practice of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University
