Western launches green program
LONDON — The University of Western Ontario’s engineering faculty will soon welcome its first class in a new Green Process Engineering Program, housed in the newly christened $22-million Claudette MacKay-Lassonde Pavillion. Beginning in September, the program will implement the basic principles of chemical engineering to design commercial products and processes that are safe, economical and environmentally friendly. Dr. Sohrab Rohani, chair of the chemical and bio-chemical engineering department, expects an initial enrollment of 20 second-year students. “This program has potential to blend with other engineering disciplines, such as electrical, to explore wind and solar energy options,” he says. “Students will also have an opportunity to participate in research being conducted at UWO’s Institute of Chemicals and Fuels from Alternative Resources (ICFAR).” Through a process known as pyrolysis, the institute is focusing on transforming agricultural byproducts into usable bio-fuels and chemicals. ICFAR’s director general Dr. Franco Berruti and colleague Dr. Cedric Briens, also lead a UWO spin-off company, Agri-Therm, to commercialize the pyrolysis process.
