A prize will be named in memory of Dr. M. Sam Mannan, executive director of the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center (MKOPSC) and pioneer in process safety, at Hazards 29, the Institution of Chemical Engineers’ (IChemE) premier process safety conference in association with the MKOPSC.
As a tribute to Mannan’s career, IChemE has renamed the poster prize the Sam Mannan Poster Prize, which will be given for the first time at the annual conference this year.
“Throughout my career, Sam Mannan has always been a great friend and supporter of our work at the IChemE Safety Center,” said Trish Kerin, director of the center. “He was passionate about teaching process safety to undergraduates and postgraduates, so it is fitting for the Hazards poster prize to be renamed in his honor.”
For several years the IChemE Safety Center has worked with the MKOPSC to explore key challenges in process safety and share lessons learned through workshops, events and publications. In 2017, both organizations launched Process Safety for the 21st Century, a report which set out a roadmap for the future of process safety.
Mannan spent 20 years at the MKOPSC and developed it into a leading international process safety research and education center. He also helped to establish undergraduate certificates and post-graduate qualifications in process safety. In addition, Mannan was a fellow of the IChemE, Regents Professor, TEES Eminent Professor and holder of the T. Michael O'Connor Chair I in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University.
“Sam Mannan was a friend and colleague long before he joined Texas A&M. When he came to the university, there was no safety center, and in the intervening 20 years he was the major player in developing it into what it is today. I am proud to have known and worked with him,” said Dr. James Holste, interim director of MKPOSC and professor emeritus of chemical engineering.
The conference will take place on May 22-24 in Birmingham, England, and will feature more than 100 technical presentations from industry practitioners, researchers and regulators sharing the good practice, latest developments and lessons learned in process safety.