Chemical Engineering in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities

美国国家科学院、工程院和医学院化学科学与技术委员会（BCST）将进行一项共识研究，调查化学工程学科的现状及其对社会的贡献，并阐明化学工程的未来愿景。化学工程师不仅从传统的化学科学中汲取知识，而且从物理学、数学、计算，以及越来越多的生物学中汲取知识，塑造现代社会的技术基础设施，从能源和消费品到个性化医疗。化学工程对社会影响的一个指标是2015年美国化学理事会的估计，化学工业的广度贡献了美国GDP的近26%，同时支持了600多万个就业岗位。这项研究将由一个特设委员会进行，该委员会拥有学术界、国家实验室和私营部门的一系列专业知识，并将形成一份报告，向公众免费提供。这项研究在整个过程中也将受益于广泛的社区投入。本研究的主要目标是为未来10到30年的化学工程研究、创新和教育提供一个令人信服的愿景和战略。该报告将为研究赞助者以及学术界和工业界的研究界提供指导。该报告的建议将侧重于科学需求和优先事项，而不是具体的资助或组织方面。该研究将解决21世纪化学工业不断变化的需求，开发更有效地参与和学习相关领域的方法，讨论预测影响社会和环境的潜在意外和预期后果的方法，开发加强化学工程社区多样性的方法，并为现代化学工程课程指明方向。这项研究的广泛影响将超出化学工程界。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology (BCST) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will conduct a consensus study that will survey the current state of the chemical engineering discipline and its contributions to society and articulate a vision for the future of chemical engineering. Chemical engineers not only draw from the traditional chemical sciences, but from physics, mathematics, computation, and, increasingly, biology to shape the technological infrastructure of modern society from energy and consumer products to personalized medicine. One indicator of the impact of chemical engineering to society is the 2015 American Chemistry Council estimate that the breadth of chemical industries contributed nearly 26% of the US GDP, while supporting over six million jobs.The study will be conducted by an ad hoc committee with a range of expertise across academia, National Laboratories, and the private sector, and will result in a report that is freely accessible to the public. The study will also benefit from extensive community input throughout its conduct. The primary objective of this study is to provide a compelling vision and strategy for chemical engineering research, innovation, and education for the next 10 to 30 years. The report will provide guidance to research sponsors, as well as to the research communities in academia and industry. The report's recommendations will focus on science needs and priorities rather than specific funding or organizational aspects. The study will address the changing needs of the chemical industry in the 21st century, develop ways to more effectively engage with and learn from related fields, discuss approaches for anticipating potential unintended as well as intended consequences that affect society and the environment, develop ways to strengthen diversity within the chemical engineering community, and point the way to a modern chemical engineering curriculum. The broader impacts of the study will extend beyond the chemical engineering community.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.