1995 AFS Chair - George Chase

Dr. George Chase, our May saluted chair, was the AFS chair in 1995 and 2002.  He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering in 1989 from University of Akron and remained there as a professor of Chemical Engineering.  From 1978 to 1983, he was a Captain in the US Army Corp of Engineers.  In addition to hi professorial career, Dr Chase has been a session chair of innumberable AFS conferences and the chair of the Publications Committee.  He has written 84 Filtration Journal publications, 89 Proceeding papers and has been issued 6 patents on subjects related to fluid-particle separation.

Why did you join the AFS and filtration industry?

My research applies theory and experiments to understand and develop multiphase processes.  Fluid-particle separations have many excellent multiphase processes, most of which are empirically understood but lack theoretical development that enables prediction.

As a graduate student I heard about AFS and realized that this organization would provide me with industrial contacts to many interesting separations problems.

What changes (technology, economic, governmental, environmental etc) have had the most impact on the filtration industry?

There are many changes that have big impacts over the past 20 years.  I will only mention two.

First, I believe instrumentation has had a big impact.  New instruments are capable of measuring and sizing smaller particles (into the nanometer range).  This in turn has pushed technologies to quantify, separate, and control nanoparticles.  The public is more aware of nanoparticles because of this.  In the next few years I expect a significant effort by government and private sector to evaluate the health impacts of nanoparticles and these instruments will be an important part of this effort.

Second, Nanofibers over the past 10 years have incorporated into filter media.  The nanofibers improve capture efficiency of nanoparticles without excessive increase in pressure.

Where do you see the filtration industry in 5-10 years?

Availability of fresh water is an important issue today and over the next 10 to 40 years it will be a significant global concern.  The human population is expected to double by 2050, putting great strain on the available water supplies.  Filtration and purification of water is a large industry today and it will become increasingly important in the future.