BASF recently welcomed 26 faculty members from higher education institutions across the globe for a three-day workshop at its manufacturing facility in Wyandotte, Michigan. The event was designed in collaboration with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ (AIChE) Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) to provide educators the tools to integrate process safety into their curricula and prepare students for careers in the chemical engineering industry.

“The workshop was a valuable opportunity for BASF to coordinate with engineering faculty to further emphasize the importance of process safety education and management,” said Gregg Kiihne, BASF director of Process Safety.

The workshop covered topics that included creating a safety culture, behavior-based safety, hazard identification and risk management, and technical discipline. BASF employees and CCPS staff shared best practices and industry case studies to inspire conversation and demonstrate how process safety can be shared in an educational environment.

“Everyone who teaches chemical engineering should attend this workshop,” said H. Scott Fogler, Arthur F. Thurnau professor and Vennema professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan, and noted author of primary textbooks used by chemical engineering faculty across the U.S. “It will help them learn the basic principles of chemical plant safety and how to incorporate them into every core chemical engineering course.”

The process safety faculty workshop is one component of AIChE’s larger “Doing a World of Good” campaign. As a Founders Circle sponsor of the “Doing a World of Good” campaign, BASF will help underwrite the expansion of AIChE’s Undergraduate Process Safety Learning Initiative. This initiative fosters the safe and ethical practice of chemical engineering and kicks-off new inclusion programs to expand partnerships with industry, academia, and professional associations that engage under-represented groups in the engineering workforce.

“This really motivates me to tell my students how important safety is all the time,” said Helen Durand, assistant professor of chemical engineering and materials science at Wayne State University. “The workshop was amazing and it changed how I think of, and how I will teach process safety.”