Dr. Mohamed Nounou, associate professor of chemical engineering and OXE faculty advisor, says he joined OXE at Texas A&M University’s main campus in College Station, Texas, in 1995. He commented on the purpose of the society, saying, “One objective of Omega Chi Epsilon is to recognize the academic achievements of exceptional chemical engineering students. Other objectives include promoting original investigation, comradeship and professionalism, and supporting the University’s Chemical Engineering Program and its student body. So, in addition to the individual recognition students receive by joining OXE, they also gain the opportunity to contribute towards accomplishing these objectives.”

Dr. Mark Weichold, dean and CEO of Texas A&M at Qatar, tied the honor society’s introduction on the campus to the University’s core values. “Excellence is one of Texas A&M University’s core values,” he said. “Welcoming the honor society Omega Chi Epsilon to Texas A&M at Qatar is a mark of excellence for the campus as a whole and will provide the University’s chemical engineering students with an opportunity to be recognized for exhibiting excellence in their field.”

Twenty-five Texas A&M at Qatar chemical engineering students were initiated at the campus’ first initiation ceremony.

Joseph Costandy, chemical engineering student and OXE president, said, “Honor societies greatly enhance a learning environment because of the motivation they give us as students to work harder. OXE will also improve the Texas A&M at Qatar campus environment as a whole because the society’s events and goals will benefit everyone, whether or not they are chemical engineering majors. For these reasons, I am very excited to be part of this honor society and look forward to representing the society as its president for the coming year.”

Costandy added he is proud the society will provide students with a venue for exhibiting and upholding important values including professionalism, service and comradeship.

Chemical engineering students at the University of Illinois founded OXE in 1931. The society currently includes over 20,000 members and is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies. Texas A&M University founded an OXE chapter in 1970, and the chapter is currently one of the society’s largest.

This lecture will focus on stress corrosion cracking in metals, presenting a description of processes leading to these failures and review some predictive methods employed in studying these processes. The lecture is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. in lecture hall 238.

For information contact Amanda Field: amanda.field@qatar.tamu.edu, +974.4423.0288.

His lecture will focus on nanostructured materials for hydrogen storage and supercapacitor applications. The lecture is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. in lecture hall 238.

For information contact Amanda Field: amanda.field@qatar.tamu.edu, +974.4423.0288.

Dr. Luc N. Véchot, assistant professor of chemical engineering and chair of the symposium’s organizing committee, said: “The Qatar Process Safety Symposium is a wonderful opportunity for representatives from industry, academia and regulatory institutions in Qatar to exchange ideas about process safety, an important part of the State of Qatar’s industrial and social development.

“We gathered 18 distinguished speakers from countries including the United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Indonesia,” continued Véchot. “The breadth of the speakers’ backgrounds and experience demonstrates how Qatar is committed to learning from best practices in the process safety field while working to become an industry leader in the field itself.”

Dr. Mark H. Weichold, dean and CEO of Texas A&M at Qatar, echoed this theme in his opening remarks, saying: “Safety is a responsibility we all share, and the best way to promote it is to talk about it. The annual safety symposium at Texas A&M at Qatar has become an important gathering of experts and industry practitioners to discuss best practices, emerging trends and news challenges that threaten the safety – and, ultimately, productivity – of Qatar’s industrial operations.”

Mr. Toufik Benmosbah, chief safety, environment and quality officer at Qatargas, delivered the plenary keynote lecture titled “Building a Process Safety Culture.” Dr. Sam Mannan, professor and director of the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center at Texas A&M University, offered the second day’s keynote lecture on the role of education and research in training future leaders committed to safety. Ali Rajab Ashkanani from Qatar Petroleum also presented on the second day on Oil Spill and Emergency Response in Qatar.

ConocoPhillips’ sponsorship of the symposium enabled delivery of the symposium to attendees at no cost. The company is sponsoring the symposium for five years after an agreement signed in Nov. 2011.

Mr. Erec Isaacson, president, ConocoPhillips Qatar, commented on the corporation’s involvement, saying: “This symposium derives its importance from the wealth of academic knowledge and field experience that Texas A&M at Qatar, ConocoPhillips and all of the distinguished participants bring together to share. The symposium represents a sustained platform for the exchange of knowledge on industrial safety that will have its impact on awareness, research and development, as well as more stringent safety practices in the field.”

Tying the symposium to the State of Qatar’s experience and record in process safety, Isaacson continued: “Qatar holds a distinguished record in the fields of industrial safety, health and the environment, and such gatherings have a direct impact on maintaining and enhancing this standing. ConocoPhillips begins this year its long-term partnership with Texas A&M at Qatar for the annual Qatar Process Safety Symposium, and we emphasize our commitment to help support and further this cause, to the benefit of our host country and industry.”

The two-day event, titled “The Importance of Leadership Commitment in Making Safety a Core Value,” featured 18 speakers presenting on topics including incident case studies, best practices in process safety, research on process safety, incident investigations and safety success stories. Over 100 attendees from Qatar and abroad participated.

Dr. Mark H. Weichold, dean and CEO, said, “Safety is a responsibility we all share, and the best way to promote it is to talk about it. The annual safety symposium at Texas A&M at Qatar has become an important gathering of experts and industry practitioners to discuss best practices, emerging trends and news challenges that threaten the safety – and, ultimately, productivity – of Qatar’s industrial operations.”

For information contact Dr. Luc Vechot: luc.vechot@qatar.tamu.edu, +974.4423.0108.

This included a description of Bukur’s new model of product formation in the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis.

The brief also highlighted two of Linke’s contributions on the use of mixtures in Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) systems for enhanced power generation from renewable and clean energy sources, presented by Dr. Mirko Stijepovic, postdoctoral research associate, and the development of an integrated model of water and energy infrastructure systems for the Qatar National Food Security Programme (QNFSP) in collaboration with co-authors Sheikh Hamad Al-Thani, vice chairman, QNFSP, and Wajih Idriss, former student at Texas A&M at Qatar and system and technology analyst, QNFSP.

NYAS also highlighted Elbashir’s modeling and experimental research to design a novel FT reactor in the OryxGTL and Pearl GTL plants and his collaboration project with Qatar Shell Research & Technology Center and DLR (Germany Aerospace Institution) to boost the properties of synthetic jet fuels obtained from natural gas. For information contact Amanda Field: amanda.field@qatar.tamu.edu, +974.4423.0288.

Elbashir lectured on building successful collaboration models between industry and academia in order to encourage development and commercialization of novel technologies. “This was a unique gathering of businessmen, investors, industrialists and decision makers in the Gulf Countries Commission (GCC) member states,” Elbashir said. “The recommendations of this meeting identify the knowledge-based industries and the pillars, technologies and applications that will aid these states in achieving their future visions of diversified industrial products and increased national incomes.”

For information contact Dr. Nimir Elbashir: nimir.elbashir@qatar.tamu.edu, +974.4423.0128.

Faculty, former students and industry representatives will discuss with students career opportunities connected to each respective major. Shannon McNulty, program coordinator for academic services and event organizer, said, “Career Exploration Days help students find exciting careers in their fields and encourage students in other majors to learn more about various disciplines within the University.” The Petroleum Engineering Program will host its Career Exploration Day on 16 Jan. The Chemical Engineering Program will welcome students on 19 Jan. The Mechanical Engineering Program’s event will take place on 23 Jan., and the Electrical Engineering Program’s on 24 Jan.

For information contact Shannon McNulty: shannon.mcnulty@qatar.tamu.edu, +974.4423.0193.

Faculty, former students and industry representatives will discuss with students career opportunities connected to each respective major. Shannon McNulty, program coordinator for academic services and event organizer, said, “Career Exploration Days help students find exciting careers in their fields and encourage students in other majors to learn more about various disciplines within the University.” The Petroleum Engineering Program will host its Career Exploration Day on 16 Jan. The Chemical Engineering Program will welcome students on 19 Jan. The Mechanical Engineering Program’s event will take place on 23 Jan., and the Electrical Engineering Program’s on 24 Jan.

For information contact Shannon McNulty: shannon.mcnulty@qatar.tamu.edu, +974.4423.0193.