About the East Tennessee Section of AIChE

The East Tennessee Section has contributed to the profession of chemical engineering for six decades. Our area is in the extreme eastern part of the state near the border with Virginia and North Carolina. As discussed in the local section history, our section was founded and is largely driven by employees of Eastman Chemical Company, which is the 11^th largest chemical company in the U.S. and has over 500 chemical engineers at its headquarters in Kingsport, Tennessee. However, as the recent member analysis shows, many of our members work for other local employers as well including Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) in Elizabethton, Tennessee.

The section covers chemical engineers in the following geographical area: In Tennessee, the counties of Sullivan, Johnson, Carter, Washington, Unicoi, Greene, Hawkins and Hancock; In Virginia, the counties of Washington, Scott, Lee, Russell, Wise, Dickenson, Buchanan, Bland, Wythe and Grayson. Mail correspondence to the section should be addressed to: AIChE P.O. Box 3488 Kingsport, TN 37664-3488

Our section has monthly programs from September through May. Most of these are lunchtime meetings held in the Eastman Research Laboratories, but there are occasional plant tours and night meetings as well. The local section offers a review course for the professional engineer’s exam and sponsors continuing education classes as well. The history of these events is documented by our local section newsletter which is published monthly from September to May.

We have had many prestigious members and officers over the years including one past national AIChE president, many high ranking Eastman Chemical executives, and AIChE fellows. We currently have Dr. Jeff Siirola as a member, who is the 2005 president of the national AIChE.

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