What does a Tuesday in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania look like for Brian Kenney '95, Messer Chief Operating Officer and Lehigh University alumnus -- it's spending time on campus sharing his experience, his knowledge, and his passion for chemical engineering with the next generation of engineers.
Once setting foot again in the Rauch building, he changed his hat from COO to guest lecturer in the junior-level separations class — the kind of invitation that turns an ordinary class day into something students talk about for years. Brian walked the students through his own career journey, demonstrating just how many different paths a chemical engineering degree can open. He introduced Messer and the industrial gas industry, fielded a lively Q&A, and spent time tying the air separation process directly to what the students were studying in class — adsorption, distillation, and the real-world equipment that makes it all work.The day's capstone was taking a group of undergraduate chemical engineering students and their professor on a site visit to Messer's Bethlehem plant. “It shows them both the practical side — the application of what they’re learning in class — but then also, maybe more importantly, role modeling. They can now see their future in a way and imagine what they could do with their own lives. That’s a huge motivator.”— Steven McIntosh, Department Chair, Lehigh Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
For most of the students, the Bethlehem site visit was their first time setting foot on an operating industrial gases plant. And for a class deep in the middle of studying separation processes, the timing could not have been better. McIntosh described the impact of that kind of hands-on exposure: seeing a 30- or 40-foot distillation column operating in real life — not as a diagram on a whiteboard — is something students simply don't forget. The mental leap from textbook schematic to real, seeing operating equipment up close is transformative.
These are talented, motivated students who, according to McIntosh, are looking for more than just a job. They want to see a career with a personal growth path, feel like they can make a real impact, and connect with role models who have walked the road ahead of them. That's exactly what Brian's visit delivered. “When students heard first-hand how he navigated his career — from studying the same material they're wrestling with today, to understanding how Brian navigated his career at a major industrial gases company — it gave them something a textbook can't: a vision of what's possible,” McIntosh reflected.
With continued engagements from alumni like this, a chemical engineering graduate can do meaningful work from day one.
Department/Program: