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Please post: It is with great sadness and regret that we inform the Process Systems Community of the death of our colleague Gary Powers. Larry Biegler and Ignacio Grossmann Carnegie Mellon University In Memoriam - Gary J. Powers September 18, 1945-July 23, 2007 Gary J. Powers, Professor of Chemical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, passed away on July 23, 2007. Beloved husband for 41 years to Susan (Whitman) Powers. Loving father of Becky (Tom) Musial, Ben (Rebecca) Powers, Nate (Suku) Powers, Alex Powers, Katie (Rolfe) Loomis) Powers, and Libby Powers. Proud grandfather of Thomas, Jake, Gabriel, William Musial and Indira Powers. Gary received degrees from the University of Michigan (BS ChE, 1967) and from the University of Wisconsin (PhD ChE, 1971). He served on the faculty of MIT before joining Carnegie Mellon in 1974. Gary Powers was a leading researcher in process systems engineering. He did pioneering research in process risk assessment and in process synthesis. As a Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin, in a joint effort with Jeff Siirola, he developed the program AIDS for the automatic synthesis of process flowsheets using artificial intelligence techniques. He co-authored the text "Process Synthesis" with Rudd and Siirola, the first text in this area. Gary's research seminal contributions to safety analysis covered more than three decades. He developed new methods for efficiently generating detailed fault trees for quantitative risk assessment. He applied these methods in industry with great success, and in 1976 he founded the company Design Sciences, Inc. Gary developed theories and models for synthesis and evaluation of high integrity operating procedures, and novel approaches for the verification of real-time control systems combining chemical engineering models with software engineering techniques. For his contributions in the safety area Gary Powers received the 2005 AIChE Norton H. Walton/Russell L. Miller Award in Safety/Loss Prevention. Gary Powers was also an outstanding educator at Carnegie Mellon who loved teaching students at all levels. He taught the introductory course to freshmen in chemical engineering emphasizing synthesis concepts. He also created unique laboratory experiments for chemical engineering undergraduates that emphasized process safety and environmental risk assessment, and used engineering fundamentals to address process and product development problems. Gary taught a safety course to undergraduate and graduate students, where he introduced students to concepts and techniques developed in his research. Gary was one of the most popular and well-liked professors in the department. He was a mentor to many and was respected by all. He was a frequent recipient of the department’s "Kun Li Award for Excellence in Education," which is selected each year by the graduating senior class. Gary was loved and appreciated by his students and colleagues alike. He was always the smiling face in any group and was supportive of all those around him. Gary’s enthusiasm, energy and optimism will be fondly remembered. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him. More information on memorial arrangements, donations and condolence guestbook can be found on: http://www.legacy.com/postgazette/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=91377496