Honorary Membership of the Federation

Jirí Drahoš completed the study of physical chemistry at the Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague (ICTP) in 1972. He then began a study stay at the Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (CSAS), now the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), where in 1977 he received the degree of CSc. (candidate of sciences). He has worked at this Institute since 1977, holding various positions, such as research scientist, senior research scientist, Department Head, Deputy Director (1992- 1995), and Director (1996-2003) . In 2005-2008 he served as the Vice-President of the CAS and since 2009 he has been appointed as the President of the CAS.
In 1994, he qualified as Associate Professor in chemical engineering at ICTP. In 1999, he defended a thesis for the DrSc. degree in chemical engineering at ICTP, and in 2003 he was appointed Full Professor. In 2006, he received an Honorary Doctorate from the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava, Slovak Republic. From 1985-1986, he worked as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the University of Hannover.
Principal research interest of Professor Drahos is focused on multiphase chemical reactors. He has published more than 70 original papers in impacted international journals, is the co-inventor of 10 international and 10 Czech patents. According  to Science Citation Index (SCI) and other sources, his scientific papers have been cited more than 1000 times.
He is a Fellow of the Learned Society CR, Fellow of the Engineering Academy CR, Senator of the Academia Scientiarum et Artium Europaea, Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers UK, President of the Czech Society of Chemical Engineering, and member of the Board of Directors of the Czech Association of Chemical  lndustry.
He held the position of member of the Executive Board of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (2005-2017), and served as its President in 2006-2009. Since 2002 he has chaired the series of International Congresses of Chemical and Process Engineering CHISA in Prague. He is the subject editor of the international journal Chemical Engineering Research and Design.
In 2012, Prof. Drahos was awarded by the State Medal of Merit of the First Grade for service in the area of science.

A Fellow of Keble College, Professor Richard Darton is Emeritus Professor of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford.
Prominent in the international chemical engineering community, Richard Darton is a past president of IChemE (Institution of Chemical Engineers) and has spent periods as a visiting lecturer at the Mendeleev University and Kurnakov Institute in Moscow and also at the University of St. Petersburg. He has worked at the University of Sydney, Australia and at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. He is an Honorary Member of the Czech Chemical Society and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
His research areas include dynamic surface effects at gas/liquid interfaces and he chaired the EFCE Working Party on Fluid Separations from 2001-2007. He is also a leading thinker in the concept of sustainable development.
In 2011, Professor Darton received the Order of the British Empire (OBE)  in recognition of his service to the engineering community and to chemical engineering in particular. The OBE is awarded by Her Majesty the Queen to individuals  for distinguished service and achievement in their field.
Professor Darton held the position of EFCE President from 2010 to 2013.

Gerhard Kreysa studied Chemistry at the University of Dresden and received his PhD in 1970. In 1973 he joined the Karl Winnacker Institute of DECHEMA in Frankfurt am Main. He developed new concepts for the utilization of electrochemical "packed bed" and "fluidized bed" reactors, which became prominent for waste water treatment in the process industry. He also played a leading role in the clarification of the "cold fusion" affaire in 1989. In 1985 he was appointed Professor at the Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Dortmund. He was a recipient of the Chemviron Award in 1980, the MAX-Buchner-Research-Award of DECHEMA and the Castner Medal of the Society of Chemical Industry in 1994, the Wilhelm Ostwald Medal of the Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig in 2006. From 1992 to 2009 he served as Chief Executive of DECHEMA Society of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology in Frankffurt am Main, Germany. He obtained many distinctions, e.g., Honorary Doctor of Technology from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (KTH) in 1999, Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA), Stockholm in 2003, Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers in 2003, and Honorary Member of the Czech Society of Chemical Engineering in 2006. In 2007 he was awarded with the Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony, and in 2008 he became a member of the German Academy of Technical Sciences (acetech). He remains a lively interest in the further development of science and engineering and is highly regarded as an advisor on national and international issues.