Highlights of Chemical Engineering History

Chemical Engineering is a relatively new field and was formally established in the late 1800's. Originally, Chemical Engineers were formed to help spend less time and less money creating industrial chemicals, which were, because of the industrial revolution, needed, in large quantities. The first so-called "Chemical Engineers" were either Mechanical Engineers who knew some about chemical process equipment; Chemical Plant Foremen who had worked a lifetime in the plant and had learned from their experiences instead of schooling; or Applied Chemists who had researched and had knowledge of large scale chemical reactions.

Here are some highlights from the early history of Chemical Engineering:

1959: John Glover, who designed the first mass-transfer tower, is often considered to be the first Chemical Engineer. At this time, nitrate was commonly used in reactions. Chile was the only available source for nitrate, and therefore it was very expensive to import into Britain. John Glover's tower absorbed extra nitrate, which was instead being burned off, and recycled it. This "Glover Tower" became a standard among chemical plants in Britain at that time.

1880: George Davis, a Britain, founded the Society for Chemical Engineers, which failed.

1887: George Davis presented a series of 12 lectures on Chemical Engineering at Manchester Technical School. His information was criticized for being common, everyday English know-how, since it was designed around operating practices used by British chemical industries. At this time, however, in the United States, this information helped jump-start "new" ideas in the Chemical Industry, as well as spark Chemical Engineering programs at several universities.

1888: The first Chemical Engineering curriculum ever began at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This four year BS program, designed by Lewis Norton, combined Mechanical Engineering and industrial chemistry in order to fulfill the rising needs of the Chemical Industry.

1892: University of Pennsylvania also developed a Chemical Engineering program.

1894: Tulane University became the first southern school, and also the third American school, to offer a program in Chemical Engineering.

1901-1904: George Davis wrote a "Handbook of Chemical Engineering," which had over 1000 pages about unit operations, now considered to be part of the base of all modern-day Chemical Engineering.

1915: Arthur D Little recognized that filtration, heat exchange, distillation, and other assorted processes which were used in different industries were the same. This idea was called "Unit Operations," and later lead to the integrated curriculum of today. He stressed the idea of Unit Operations to distinguish Chemical Engineering from other science and engineering disciplines. Chemical Engineers were the first to deal with the products instead of the mechanical process, and also to study the entire underlying process instead of just one reaction. Unit Operations were the tool showing the uniqueness and worth of Chemical Engineers to American chemical manufacturers.

1932: The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) was formed. They were the first group to evaluate and accredit different Chemical Engineering departments across America. During their first few years, they gave 14 accreditations to various American universities. The AIChE still exists, both nationwide and at UMass.

[What is Chemical Engineering?] [Careers in Chemical Engineering]
[Early Chemical Engineering] [The History of Chemical Engineering at UMass]