AIChE Tribute to Founders - Professor Roger W. H. Sargent

Professor Roger Sargent, intellectual leader, father and pioneer of Process Systems Engineering.

The September issue of the AIChE Journal chronicles the research of Professor Roger W.H. Sargent, recognized as the father of Process Systems Engineering. In this fourth Founders Tribute, experts in the field consider Professor Sargent’s contributions on the Chemical Engineering discipline.

Process Systems Engineering is a major sub-discipline in Chemical Engineering. However, the term “Process Systems Engineering” did not exist prior to 1982 when it was coined by Professors Sargent and Takamatsu. Professor Sargent’s work provided a strong mathematical foundation to Process Systems Engineering through the development of sophisticated mathematical and computational tools for the simulation, design, control, operation and optimisation of chemical processes.

Authors: Professor Ignacio Grossmann of Carnegie Mellon University; Professor Michael Doherty of University of California, Santa Barbara; and Professor Costas Pantelides of Imperial College London review Professor Sargent’s work through five decades. They examine his research contributions in the areas of process modelling, differential algebraic systems, process dynamics and control, nonlinear optimisation and optimal control, design under uncertainty, and process scheduling. In addition to giving an overview of his career, they also look at how he established the Centre for Process Systems Engineering at Imperial College London.