Cody Hirashima

Chemical engineering is evolving rapidly, and the challenges facing the profession are more interconnected than ever. AI, sustainability, shifting supply chains, and emerging technologies are reshaping how engineers work and where they can make the biggest impact.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by ExxonMobil and reflects their views, opinions, and insights. The 5th Annual ChemE Cube Competition™, powered by RAPID® and ExxonMobil, will focus on direct air capture (DAC) and regeneration, and take place November 2–3 in Boston, MA, during the 2025 AIChE Annual Student Conference (ASC). This year, 23 teams were selected to participate in the competition.

Above: Evaporative cooling systems hold promise for use in the data centers that run large language models (LLMs) and other artificial intelligence (AI) systems. A team of researchers tested different glass fiber membranes for their effectiveness in removing heat from electronic chips (left). At right, the evaporation test setup of the fiber membrane is shown. Images courtesy of Tianshi Feng and Yu Pei.