Who is Thiele?
Ernest W. Thiele, 1895-1993
Thiele’s longest professional work experiences were with the Standard Oil Com- pany of Indiana and the University of Notre Dame. He retired as associate direc- tor of research at Standard Oil (now the Amoco Corporation) in 1960 after thirty- five years there and then served as a visiting professor of chemical engineering at Notre Dame until 1970. His name was known to every chemical engineer trained after 1927, since by then all departments of chemical engineering were teaching the McCabe-Thiele method for determining distillation parameters. After 1939, most chemical engineers interested in designing chemical reactors employing solid catalysts became familiar with the Thiele modulus and catalyst electiveness factors, which were inventions of Thiele. Ernest Thiele was born on December 8, 1895, in Chicago, Illinois.
Past Winners of the Ernest W. Thiele Award
| YEAR | RECIPIENT | AFFILIATION | RECOGNITION & ACHIEVEMENT |
| 1983 | E.W. Thiele | Standard Oil (Indiana) | Catalysis, Distillation fundamental advances |
| 1985 | B.B. Broughton | UOP | Aromatics Separation Processes, adsorptive separation |
| 1986 | T.J. Hanratty | Univ. Of Illinois | Advances in Fluid Mechanics |
| 1987 | G. Thodos | Northwestern | Physical Property Advances |
| 1988 | L.O. Stine | UOP | Petroleum/Petrochemical Processes |
| 1989 | D.T. Wasan | IIT | Research and Progress on Separation Processes |
| 1990 | R.S. Mah | Northwestern | Chemical Process System Analysis |
| 1992 | J.J. Carberry | Notre Dame | Chemical Reaction Engineering research, innovation, and education |
| 1993 | R.J. Bertolacini | Amoco | Catalysis research innovations and leadership |
| 1994 | J.W. Westwater | Univ. of Illinois | Research in Heat transfer and contributions in teaching |
| 1995 | Norman Li | UOP | Pioneering research in membranes and separations |
| 1996 | Rathin Datta | Argonne | Original research in metabolic engineering and membranes |
| 1997 | Hamid Arastoopour | IIT | Academic leadership and environmental engineering |
| 1998 | Arvind Varma | Notre Dame | Fundamental advances in synthesis of materials, catalysis and reactor stability |
| 1999 | S. George Bankoff | Northwestern | Heat transfer advances in chemical and nuclear engineering |
| 2000 | Henry Linden | IGT (retired) | Leadership of the Institute Of Gas Tech. |
| 2001 | Paul Sechrist | UOP | Contributions to computational fluid Mechanics, CCR, and FCC refining processes |
| 2002 | Julio Ottino | Northwestern | Research in Chaos Theory and mixing of solids and liquids |
| 2003 | Ali Cinar | IIT | Contributions in process modeling, monitoring and control. As an educator championing computers and statistics. |
| 2004 | Ted M. Knowlton | PSRI | For his contributions to fundamental and applied research, and his leadership in the fields of fluidization and particulate solids. |
| 2005 | Dimitri Gidaspow | IIT | For his fundamental contributions to computational fluid dynamics, multi-phase flow and fluidized bed systems and as an educator. |
| 2007 | Lynn H. Rice | UOP | For his fundamental contributions to the petroleum refining isomerization process. |
Announcements for Past Winners of the Ernest W. Thiele Award
Professor S. George Bankoff Wins The 1999 Ernest W. Thiele Award
Congratulations to Professor S. George Bankoff, the Walter P. Murphy Professor (Emeritus) of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering at Northwestern University for being awarded the 1999 Ernest W. Thiele award.
Professor Bankoff is being recognized for his internationally acclaimed contributions to the field of Chemical Engineering. George Bankoff's fundamental understanding of heat transfer and the application of these insights to nuclear and chemical engineering has won him many awards and recognition. He is the recipient of the Robert E. Wilson, Donald Q. Kern, and Heat Transfer and Energy Division awards. In 1996, Professor Bankoff was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
The Ernest W. Thiele award is presented annually to a midwest region member of AIChE who has made outstanding contributions to advance the practice of Chemical Engineering.
Please join us in congratulating Professor S. George Bankoff on his achievement.
Dr. Henry Linden Wins the 2000 Ernest W. Thiele Award
Congratulations to Dr. Henry Linden, the Max McGraw Professor of Energy, Power Engineering, and Management at Illinois Institute of Technology for being awarded the 2000 Ernest W. Thiele award.
Dr. Linden is recognized for his internationally acclaimed contributions to the field of Chemical Engineering. Dr. Linden has won this award for his leadership at the Illinois Institute of Technology, as an advisor on energy policy to the US DOE, as a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the British Institute of Energy, and as a fellow of our own AIChE..
The Ernest W. Thiele award is presented annually to a midwest region member of AIChE who has made outstanding contributions to advance the practice of Chemical Engineering. The award is sponsored by BP Amoco and consists of a plaque and a $1000 honorarium.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Henry Linden on his achievement.
Mr. Paul Sechrist Wins The 2001 Ernest W. Thiele Award
Congratulations to Paul Sechrist, Manager of Physical and Computational Modeling at UOP, for being awarded the 2001 Ernest W. Thiele award.
Mr. Sechrist is recognized for his fundamental contributions to the field of Chemical Engineering. Mr. Sechrist has won this award for his improvements in understanding gas-solid, and gas-liquid-solid dynamics under reaction conditions, use of computational fluid mechanics, as well as advances in continuous catalyst regeneration and FCC modeling.
The Ernest W. Thiele award is presented annually to a Midwest region member of AIChE who has made outstanding contributions to advance the practice of Chemical Engineering. The award is sponsored by BP and consists of a plaque and a $1000 honorarium.
Please join us in congratulating Mr. Paul Sechrist on his achievement.
Professor Julio Ottino Wins the 2002 Ernest W. Thiele Award
Congratulations to Professor Julio Ottino, R.R. McCormick Institute Professor of the Chemical Engineering Department of Northwestern University for being the recipient of the 2002 Ernest W. Thiele award.
Dr. Ottino is recognized for his seminal research in the areas of chaos and mixing of liquids and solids and for his outstanding contributions as an educator, academic leader and mentor. Dr. Ottino has also led the Chemical Engineering department at Northwestern and has brought new and exciting programs to the chemical engineering curriculum.
The Ernest W. Thiele award is presented annually to a midwest region member of AIChE who has made outstanding contributions to advance the practice of Chemical Engineering. The award is sponsored by BP and consists of a plaque and a $1000 honorarium.
Please join us in congratulating Professor Julio Ottino on his achievement.
Proffesor Ali Cinar Wins the 2003 Ernest W. Thiele Award
Congratulations to Professor Ali Cinar, Associate Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate College at Illinois Institute of Technology for being the recipient of the 2003 Ernest W. Thiele award.
Dr. Cinar is recognized for his significant research contributions in process modeling, monitoring and control, and for being an outstanding educator. Professor Cinar has championed the use of computers and statistics across the engineering curriculum at IIT.
The Ernest W. Thiele award is presented annually to a Midwest region member of AIChE who has made outstanding contributions to advance the practice of Chemical Engineering. The award is sponsored by BP and consists of a plaque and a $1000 honorarium.
Please join us in congratulating Professor Ali Cinar on his achievement.
Dr. Ted M. Knowlton Wins the 2004 Ernest W. Thiele Award
Congratulations to Dr. Ted Knowlton, Technical Director of the Particulate Solids Research Institute, for being awarded the 2004 Ernest W. Thiele award.
Dr. Knowlton is recognized for his fundamental contributions to the phenomena of particulate solids behavior and fluidization fields of Chemical Engineering. Dr. Knowlton, with worldwide recognition in the particulate solids area, has won this award for his leadership of the Particulate Solids Research Institute (PSRI) and earlier, the Fluidization Research and Consulting Group of the Institute of Gas Technology (IGT).
The Ernest W. Thiele award is presented annually to a Midwest region member of AIChE who has made outstanding contributions to advance the practice of Chemical Engineering. The award is sponsored by BP, and consists of a plaque and a $1000 honorarium.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Ted Knowlton on his achievement.
Professor Dimitri Gidaspow Wins the 2005 Ernest W. Thiele Award
Congratulations to Professor Dimitri Gidaspow , Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology, for being awarded the 2005 Ernest W. Thiele award.
Dr. Gidaspow is recognized for his fundamental contributions to computational fluid dynamics, multi-phase flow, and fluidized bed systems. Professor Gidaspow has helped to establish a new paradigm in fluidization. Dr. Ernest Thiele was the first to understand mass transfer in catalysts and has been honored by naming the dimensionless group, the Thiele modulus, after him. Professor Gidaspow has continued this research and has for the first time understood turbulent flow of such catalysts. Dr. Gidaspow is also recognized as an effective educator for generations of students and administrator.
The Ernest W. Thiele award is presented annually to a Midwest region member of AIChE who has made outstanding contributions to advance the practice of Chemical Engineering. The award is sponsored by BP, and consists of a plaque and a $1000 honorarium.
Please join us in congratulating Professor Gidaspow on his achievement.
Mr. Lynn Rice Wins the 2007 Ernest W. Thiele Award
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Chicago Section has named UOP’s Lynn Rice the winner of the 2007 Ernest W. Thiele Award. This prestigious award is given annually to one Midwest AIChE member who has made outstanding contributions in the practice of Chemical Engineering.
Rice, a UOP senior engineering fellow, was recognized for his rich 37-year career, working as a principle innovator in the area of the petroleum refining process of isomerization. His numerous contributions have also led to a better understanding of gas-solid handling under reaction conditions, developing and maintaining engineering design tools and guidelines for the isomerization process.
Rice is active with AIChE and currently serves as a Director of the Fuels & Petrochemical Division of AIChE.
Rice received a B.S. Ch.E. at the University of Alabama (graduating Tau Beta Pi) and a M.S. Ch.E. at the University of Colorado. He also has 15 US patents and 40 foreign patents.