Particle technology’s contributions to the major challenges of the 21st century A predictive retrospective as a particular birthday present of IChemE

Abstract

In 2122, IChemE - Institution of Chemical Engineers – will celebrate its bicentenary. This article presents as a retrospective the years 2022–2122 and summarizes the progresses (to be) made in the field of particle technology until 2122, i.e. during the second century in the life of the yet young IChemE.A century earlier, in 2008, the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE) announced the grand challenges for engineering in the 21st century. The list has been compiled by a committee under the chair of William Perry11he has been former U.S. secretary of defense and professor of engineering at Stanford but has never written an engineering handbook and comprises a series of challenges to which particle technology will obviously make a sound contribution, such as …•Make solar energy affordable•Provide energy from fusion•Develop carbon sequestration methods•Provide access to clean water•Engineer better medicines•Engineer the tools for scientific discoveryParticles are everywhere, be it due to natural or human activities and their formulation, production, handling and characterization has a major influence on the quality of many aspects of life.We summarized the visions of leading scientists and practitioners in the field of particle technology (and around) in order to discover their opinions summarizing the progresses in this field (to be) made in the 21st century – and the societal impact related to these. We allowed them to dream, to wish, to be forward-looking, to be optimistic22Optimism, according to Merriam-Webster “a doctrine that this world is the best possible world”, being probably not the predominant mindset in 2022. in the framework of a bicentenary.