Two chemical engineering professors were inducted into the Academy of Chemical Engineers at Missouri University of Science and Technology during its annual induction ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 16. The academy honors chemical engineers for contributions to their profession, leadership and involvement with Missouri S&T. It serves as an advisory group to the Missouri S&T chemical engineering department.

The new members are listed below:

Dr. Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan of Rolla, Mo., is chair and professor and chair of chemical and biochemical engineering department at Missouri S&T. He earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of Baghdad in 1979, a master of science degree from Oregon State University in 1988 and a Ph.D. from Washington University in 1993, all in chemical engineering. Al-Dahhan joined the Washington University faculty as adjunct assistant professor of chemical engineering in 1994 and became associate director of the Chemical Reaction Engineering Laboratory that same year. In 1999, he was named an assistant professor and director of Washington University’s Clean Alternative Energy Using Slurry Bubble Column Reactors Consortium. He was named associate professor in 2002 and full professor in 2005. He joined the Missouri S&T faculty as professor and chair of chemical and biochemical engineering in January 2009. His research activities include over 150 publications in refereed scientific and technical journals and over 350 national and international conference presentations. He is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Society of Engineering Education and the American Chemical Society.

Dr. Joseph D. Smith of Rolla, Mo., is the Wayne and Gayle Laufer Chair of Energy at Missouri S&T and a professor of chemical and biochemical engineering. He also serves as director of the Missouri S&T Energy Research and Development Center and executive director of the Small Nuclear Modular Reactor Research and Development Consortium. Smith earned a bachelor of science degree in 1983, a master of science degree in 1984 and a Ph.D. in 1990, all in chemical engineering from Brigham Young University. Prior to joining Missouri S&T in 2011, Smith lead the Advanced Process and Decision Systems group at the Idaho National Laboratory and has held adjunct teaching positions in chemical engineering and mechanical engineering at Tennessee Technological University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Michigan and the University of Tulsa. He serves as an expert witness for gas flare performance and hydrocarbon processing, is a certified cause and origin fire investigator, and is certified by the Department of Homeland Security for determining critical infrastructure risk.