NEW YORK — The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) announced that William (Bill) Grieco has been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AIChE’s RAPID (Rapid Advancement in Process Intensification Deployment) Manufacturing Institute, replacing the interim CEO, Thomas Walsh. Grieco officially assumed his role on Aug. 1, 2018.
In making the announcement, June Wispelwey, AIChE’s Executive Director, said, “I am delighted Bill Grieco is joining RAPID as its CEO. His appointment represents AIChE’s ongoing commitment to strong leadership, and will result in an orderly transition for RAPID.” Remarking on Grieco’s record of leadership in the chemical industries, Wispelwey said that, in his new leadership role, Grieco will be responsible for all of RAPID’s operations, including research and development (R&D) activities, corporate governance, and compliance. She noted that “RAPID has achieved many milestones and will now focus on new trends and opportunities for advancing process intensification, which are waiting to be explored.”
Thomas Walsh added, “Under Bill’s direction, RAPID will further leverage our existing capabilities, AIChE’s resources, DOE relationships, and develop new business models, products and services to ensure not only RAPID’s long-term sustainability, but also the continued success of our member organizations.”
Outlining Grieco’s extensive corporate experience, Wispelwey highlighted his former role as Vice President of Energy and Environment at Southern Research, a nonprofit research institute based in Alabama, where he defined and implemented strategies to transform the business from one serving only the fossil energy sector to a boutique innovation testing, development and consulting organization focused on reducing the environmental footprint of energy generation and chemicals production.
Prior to joining Southern Research, Grieco spent five years leading innovation and technology for Owens Corning, where he built a Front End of Innovation team and led R&D for the $3 billion Building Materials Group. He was also instrumental in winning $13 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) SunShot program to develop and commercialize a building-integrated solar photovoltaic roofing shingle for residential use.
Earlier in his career, Grieco served as Managing Director and CTO of Gardenia Ventures, an innovation commercialization and consulting firm, where he managed investment due diligence, technology strategy development, and opportunity search and selection efforts for clients ranging from private equity investors to new ventures to F500 firms.
Grieco serves on the external advisory boards for Florida Solar Energy Center and the Georgia Tech Energy Policy Innovation Center. He has been a member of AIChE for 25 years, and chaired the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Forum in the mid-2000s.
Leveraging up to $70 million in federal funding, RAPID is focused on developing breakthrough technologies to boost energy productivity and energy efficiency by 20% in five years. RAPID will leverage approaches to modular chemical process intensification used in a variety of industries. In the chemical industry alone, these technologies have the potential to save more than $9 billion annually.
AIChE is a professional society of 60,000 chemical engineers in 110 countries. Its members work in corporations, universities and government using their knowledge of chemical processes to develop safe and useful products for the benefit of society. Through its varied programs, AIChE continues to be a focal point for information exchange on the frontiers of chemical engineering research in such areas as energy, sustainability, biological and environmental engineering, nanotechnology, and chemical plant safety and security.
