Drive to Zero Competition Promotes Chemical Engineering Process Safety

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Participants and judges in the Dow Drive to Zero Competition: front row, Haley Cleous, Jordan Haynie, Supriya Thote. Back row: Rick Moore, Tom Spicer, James Cummings, Indran Kamalanathan, Robert Babcock, Juan Albarran and Greg Nesmith.

In April, the Ralph E. Martin department of chemical engineering teamed up with the Dow Chemical Co. to organize the Drive to Zero Competition. In this competition, chemical engineering students made oral presentations on process safety. Process safety is different from personal chemical safety. Rather than dealing with individual safety precautions, such as wearing protective gear and handling chemicals safely, process safety addresses risk on a larger scale, making sure the processes and culture at a chemical facility minimize risk. “While it is important that we keep our employees from hurting themselves while on the job by using the proper personal protective equipment,” explained Greg Nesmith, an employee of Dow Chemical Co. and one of the judges of the competition, “Process safety [problems] can be far more devastating to a plant, a company, and a community.” 

Five students participated in the completion: Haley Cleous, James Cummings, Jordan Haynie, Indran Kamalanathan, and Supriya Thote. Each student made a 15 minute presentation over an aspect of chemical process safety, many describing an accident and how process safety improvements could have prevented or decreased the damage. 

The competition was judged by Greg Nesmith and Juan Albarran, representatives of Dow; Rick Moore, president of Ford, Bacon & Davis and a member of the Arkansas Academy of Chemical Engineers; and Tom Spicer, Distinguished Professor of chemical engineering and holder of the Maurice E. Barker Endowed Chair in Chemical Engineering.

Cleous won the $400 first place prize with her presentation on the Hoeganaes Corporation Fatal Flash Fires. Thote received second place and $300 for her entry entitled “Chemical Process Safety: The Human Factor.” The remaining students received Honorable Mention and received $75 in prize money. The prize money was donated by Dow.

“All of our students did a great job,” said Spicer, “This was a valuable opportunity for them to get a better understanding of all the factors involved in keeping chemical facilities safe. We’re very grateful to Dow for partnering with us and providing an important industry perspective for this competition.”