NEW YORK, NY, May 6, 2025 – The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) has announced the creation of a new Institute-level high honor. The L.-S. Fan Award for “Advancing Fundamentals of Chemical Engineering” will recognize contributions to fundamental practice in chemical engineering. The prize – named in honor of particle technology pioneer Liang-Shih (L.-S.) Fan, Professor at The Ohio State University – will be supported by an grant with fundraising led by Dr. Ah-Hyung “Alissa” Park, the Ronald and Valerie Sugar Dean of the School of Engineering and Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Dr. Bing Du, the technology development lead at ExxonMobil, in collaboration with the AIChE Foundation. The L.-S. Fan award includes an invited lecture by the recipient, and the inaugural award presentation is slated for the Fall 2026 AIChE Annual Meeting.
The L.-S. Fan Award honors individuals who have made sustained contributions to “Advancing Fundamentals of Chemical Engineering”. The award focuses on work in particle science and technology, along with areas like multiphase flow, multiscale modeling, materials, transport phenomena, and reaction engineering. These technical fields are critical to processing across industries like energy, oil and gas, chemicals, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and renewable energy. Recognized contributions include research, innovation, or applied engineering solutions relevant to these sectors.
Alissa Park lauds Fan as “a seminal figure in the field of particulates and multiphase reaction engineering – a discipline whose economic and environmental impact resonates profoundly through the U.S. and world economies.” Reflecting on Fan’s leadership in sustainable energy research and his mentorship of future chemical engineers, Park adds “I am honored to be a part of his legacy, and excited to present this new AIChE award recognizing the importance of the fundamentals of chemical engineering.”
Liang-Shih Fan is Distinguished University Professor, C. John Easton Professor of Engineering, and Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at The Ohio State University. He has invented processes that control sulfur, nitrogen oxide, and carbon dioxide emissions, and that convert carbonaceous fuels, plastic wastes, and biomass to hydrogen, chemicals, and liquid fuels. These energy conversion processes and technologies include OSCAR, CARBONOX, and redox chemical looping. He also invented and commercialized the electrical capacitance volume tomography (ECVT) – the first 3D, real-time, non-invasive tool for industrial imaging of multiphase flow systems. He has published eight books, 500+ articles, 40 chapters, and holds 90 U.S. patents.
Fan has made an impact on chemical engineering education. At the Ohio State University, he has served as the thesis advisor for 97 PhD students and has worked with 72 post-doctoral research associates. His authored book, “Principles of Gas-Solid Flows,” has become a widely-adopted textbook, and his edited book, “The Expanding World of Chemical Engineering,” has gained popularity with general audiences as an introduction to the field. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the journal Powder Technology and has served as a consulting editorial board member for over 20 journals including the AIChE Journal and the International Journal of Multiphase Flow.
A Fellow of AIChE, the American Chemical Society (ACS), and the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Fan is also a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the United Kingdom’s Royal Academy of Engineering, the Australian Academy of Technology Science and Engineering, the Indian National Academy of Engineering, the Mexican Academy of Sciences, the Academia Sinica Academicians in Taiwan, and the National Academy of Inventors. He earned his BS from National Taiwan University and his MS and PhD from West Virginia University, all in chemical engineering. He also earned an MS in statistics from Kansas State University.
Source: AIChE
About AIChE
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), established in 1908, is a nonprofit organization for chemical engineers. Headquartered at New York, NY, AIChE serves over 60,000 members across more than 110 countries. The institute offers services, including technical conferences, publications, educational programs, and industry partnerships. AIChE supports sectors such as energy, pharmaceuticals, food, and environmental engineering. Its initiatives include the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS), the Institute for Sustainability (IfS), and the Society for Biological Engineering (SBE). As of December 31, 2023, AIChE reported total assets of approximately $63.2 million. The organization employs approx. 1,600 individuals across six continents, reflecting its commitment to advancing chemical engineering through innovation, safety, and sustainability.