Abstract |
The Environmental Research Committee of the AIChE, a joint committee of the AIChE Environmental Division and of the AIChE Research Committee, conducted a survey of environmentally related research and/or design projects in progress at U.S. Colleges and Universities. Of interest was how the research effort had changed or shifted from a previous 1973 survey and what were the perceived environmental research and design needs of the respondents. Based on the project information received, the identified research design needs submitted, and observations made from the survey the following conclusions were made: There has been a dramatic decrease in environmental research activity involving chemical engineering principles over the past decade as measured by the number of active projects reported. Pollution control technology is the area with the greatest perceived need and the greatest current effort; Water pollution control projects outnumber air pollution control projects by a factor of 2:1; The lowest emphasis is on legal and economic problems; Greater emphasis should be placed on chemical and biological effects and interactions, environmental modeling, pollutant detection, measurement and analytical methods. |