RJEC.ORG
Richmond Joint Engineering Council
Join RJEC for our main events of the year happened this month which are the Engineers Banquet at the Jefferson Hotel and CEI day at the Science Museum of Virginia.
The banquet will be held on February 20, 2025 at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond Virginia. Buy Tickets Here
Keynote Speaker, 2024
RJEC welcomes B. Frank Gupton, Ph.D. as our keynote speaker who discuss. “Creating a Center for Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing in Central Virginia” .
Mr. Gupton is the Floyd D. Gottwald Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Engineering. His thirty year industrial career has centered on the development and commercialization of chemical processes for pharmaceutical and agricultural applications. As Executive Director of Chemical Process Development at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, he led the development and commercialization of the chemical process for the production of Nevirapine, a widely-prescribed antiviral medication for the treatment of AIDS. Gupton holds a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Richmond, an M. S. in biochemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from VCU.
Other information:
Attended the University of Richmond on a basketball scholarship
Gupton is a National Academy of Inventors Fellow
He received the VCU Billy R. Martin Award for Innovation in 2017
For his efforts with M4ALL to develop cost-saving methods to produce the anti-HIV drug nevirapine, he won the 2019 Peter J. Dunn Award from the American Chemical Society (ACS).
For that work, he and M4ALL chief technology officer D. Tyler McQuade, Ph.D., also won the 2018 ACS Green Chemistry Challenge Award and the 2018 ACS Award for Affordable Green Chemistry.
Received the RJEC lifetime achievement award in 2015
Student Essays
Every year RJEC holds a student competition where student can submit a written essay or a short video. We award cash prizes and a certificate. All Middle and High School students are encouraged to enter.
This year’s theme is about the rapidly evolving technology of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Some AI examples include, but are not limited to gaming (i.e. Minecraft), Chatbots, SmartAssistants (i.e. Siri, Bixby), navigation/GPS apps, or autonomous vehicles.
How do you envision AI changing the way we live in the next 10 years? What are some potential benefits or risks to the technology?
Download the 2025 RJEC Essay Form
List of Student written and video essays