Pitt’s Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Program Establishes Shiao-Hung Chiang Seminar Series
Thanks to the generosity of family, the legacy of Shiao-Hung Chiang, Emeritus Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, will endure through a newly named seminar series.
The Shiao-Hung Chiang Seminar Series will be housed in the Swanson School’s Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering through a gift from Chiang’s children – Annette, who conducts research in Pitt’s Department of Biological Sciences; Grace; and Justin. The newly endowed fund will “provide program support to bring outstanding researchers, entrepreneurs, and leaders in the field of chemical engineering to the Swanson School of Engineering community for an exchange of ideas.”
“Our father dedicated over 40 years to teaching at Pitt, and the chemical engineering department was an integral part of his life. We sought a meaningful way to honor the significance of Pitt and the department to him,” said Justin on behalf of the family. “Our dad was always eager to engage in discussions about engineering and science, and he would be delighted to have his name associated with these seminars.”
Chiang, who also was executive chair of the Pittsburgh Coal Conference from 1973-1999, was well published for his research in clean coal processes and earned several patents. He was a generous educator, researcher, and mentor according to Department Chair Steven Little, Distinguished Professor and William Kepler Whiteford Endowed Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering.
“From student and faculty mentorship to department leadership and an international presence in his field, Dr. Chiang made a tremendous impact on the history of the department and generations of alumni,” Dr. Little said. “We are incredibly thankful to Annette, Grace, and Justin for establishing this named seminar in his memory which will benefit the sharing of engineering knowledge.”
“For our family, endowing a lecture series serves as a beautiful tribute to his memory,” Justin said. “We appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with Gary Pollock in Philanthropic and Alumni Engagement and the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering in creating this graduate seminar series.”
Obituary: Chiang led clean coal research and directed the Pittsburgh Coal Conference
— Marty Levine for the University Times (3 January 2023)
Chemical Engineering Emeritus Professor Shiao-Hung Chiang — whose influential work on clean coal processes led to their wide use and several patents, and who directed the Pittsburgh Coal Conference for decades (1973-1999) — died Dec. 14, 2022, at 94.
“He certainly brought notoriety to the school through his research work, and he was certainly very well-known not only throughout the school but the entire University,” said former departmental colleague George Klinzing, now an emeritus instructor. “He had the highest respect as a faculty member in the school. He always stood for the highest standards in the academic field.”
Klinzing assisted with Chiang’s most prominent grant-supported study on the LICADO coal-cleaning process, which uses liquid carbon dioxide as the agent. Chiang led the basic and applied research, which included building a pilot plant unit to prove the principle.
In his large, funded projects involving coal beneficiation — the filtration of fine coal — Chiang had Ph.D. and M.S. candidates, undergraduates and even high-school students in his laboratory, Klinzing said. “He had lots of good advice for everybody — not only me but the technicians. He was a senior counselor to all the junior faculty.”
Chiang was interim chair of his department for two years, traveled extensively to technical meetings all over the world and produced many scientific publications. In his work, he teamed not only with other faculty but also with government employees and those in industry concerning energy, coal and mass transfer basics.
He was active in the American Filtration Society and an officer in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and received an honorary degree from Wuhan University in China.
As executive chair of the Pittsburgh Coal Conference — a forum for exchange of technical information and policy issues among industry, government, and academic participants — he worked to internationalize it by bringing the gathering to other countries.
Shiao-Hung Chiang was born in Suzhou, China, earned his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at the National Taiwan University (1952), his master’s degree at Kansas State (1955) and his Ph.D. at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) (1958), working there with Professor Herb Toor on basic mass transfer.
After being employed for several years at the Linde Corporation in Buffalo, N.Y., Chiang joined the Pitt faculty in 1960 and rose to the position of full professor.
During his time at the University, he enjoyed a strong rapport with the technicians in the department, Klinzing said; they worked with him closely in the design and construction of novel and innovative experimental apparatus to study a variety of physical and chemical principles, including radioactive tracers. He served on the University Radiation Safety Committee for many years and took a sabbatical at Cambridge.
Chiang is survived by three children, Annette (Eric Hsiung), currently conducting research in Pitt’s Department of Biological Sciences; Grace; and Justin, and grandchildren Alexander Chiang, Lauren Chiang, Benjamin Hsiung and Emmy Hsiung.