Prof. McHugh attends workshop in Leeds, England,on proposed degree in macromolecular engineering

Anthony McHugh, the P.C. Rossin Professor and chair of chemical engineering, represented Lehigh recently at a workshop in Leeds, England, on macromolecular engineering.

The event was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Center for Advanced Engineering Fibers and Films at Clemson University. Chemical engineering departments from MIT, the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), McGill University (Canada) and the Technion (Israel) were also represented, as were the polymer physics departments from the University of Leeds and Bradford University, also in Great Britain.

The purpose of the workshop was to discuss the creation of a formal degree program in macromolecular engineering that would involve distance-education modules and student exchanges among American and British universities.

Discussions on the new degree program began last year at the Polymer Processing Institute at NJIT in Newark. The program would integrate molecular detail into engineering calculations and require coursework in mathematics, chemistry, physics and transport.

McHugh gave presentation about Lehigh's chemical engineering and polymer science and engineering degree programs.

Those attending the workshop crafted a "model" degree program to use as a template to prepare a proposal to NSF to pursue the next stages of development.