Statutes

1. Objectives

The World Chemical Engineering Council (WCEC) is the unique body, which links chemical engineering federations world-wide. It is designed as a lean structure with no legal status and no formal budget (though the participating organisations provide staff resource and fund projects and activities on an ad hoc basis).

The WCEC's objectives are as follows:

To promote chemical engineering founding values, ethics and education on a worldwide basis, and to influence the federations in matters of strategy and strategy implementation.

• To be an observatory for new developments involving chemical engineering and complementary fields - particularly within the emerging economies - and to disseminate information among chemical engineering societies and institutions world-wide.
• To promote the role of chemical engineering as a key discipline, which provides solutions to global challenges in areas including energy, water, environment, food and healthcare. WCEC will liaise with other global engineering organizations on these issues.
• To act as an authoritative voice at major science and technology events (international congresses, forums, etc.), which have a significant impact on the chemical engineering profession or where chemical engineering bring influence to bear.
• To seek and receive thematic reports from the federations and to disseminate these as appropriate.
• To monitor and publicise World and Federation Congresses and technical meetings through the publication of a schedule on the WCEC websites with links to federation and member society sites.
• To select the host and location of the quadrennial World Congress of Chemical Engineering (WCCE). WCEC will monitor and assess progress in the planning and development of each World Congress via regular reports from the host federation, providing support as required. This will include international promotion of the congress.

2. Composition

WCEC comprises 20 members with full voting rights, distributed as follows:

• A President chosen by WCEC members from a list of candidates proposed by WCEC, the federations and member societies. The term of the President is 2 years. Re-election is permissible with a maximum of two terms. (1)
• A Vice-President chosen by WCEC members from a list of candidates proposed by WCEC, the federations and member societies. The term of the Vice-President is 2 years. Re-election is permissible with a maximum of two terms. (1)
• Five delegates from each federation. The federation delegation will include the serving presi-dent of that federation or their nominated substitute. All other delegates should be selected by the member societies of the respective federations. (15)
• One delegate from the South African Institute of Chemical Engineering (SAIChE) to represent chemical engineering in Africa and the Middle East* (1)
• The Chair/President of the preceding and pending WCCE (2)

The quorum is 10 voting delegates.

3. Meetings

• WCEC will normally meet twice a year. Meetings will take place coincident with the World Congress, federation congress or a national conference convened by a member society.
• The WCEC President and Secretariat are responsible for planning the meetings and issuing the agenda, minutes of previous meetings, project reports and other documents as appropriate.
• Other meetings may be held via video or teleconference where appropriate as determined by the WCEC President and Secretariat after consultation with the council members.
• Non-voting delegates may participate in WCEC meetings from time to time, including: Individual member society representatives who are not otherwise represented on the WCEC. These will be invited by the President following consultation with the relevant member society and federation President where appropriate.
• Other observers at the discretion and the invitation of the President.

4. Finances and Liability

• The WCEC bears no financial obligations and no liabilities. It operates on a minimal budget pro-vided by the federations on an ad hoc basis. A liability disclaimer will be mentioned on all docu-ments.
• All expenses associated with delegate attendance at WCEC meetings are the responsibility of that delegate's nominating federation or member society.
• In circumstances where the President's employer is unable to support his/her activities in connection with WCEC, expenses will be met by one or more of the participating federations and/or member societies subject to discussion and prior agreement being minuted.
• Any proposed project or work programme to be undertaken by WCEC will be supported by a miles-tone plan and budget. The funding source for any such project of work programme will be clearly identified and commitment secured prior to the commencement.

5. Glossary of terms and acronyms used in this document

Chemical Engineering Federations - There are currently three federations in operation:

• The European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE) covering Europe and extending to Turkey and Israel.
• The Inter-American Confederation of Chemical Engineering (IACChE) covering North and South America.
• The Asia Pacific Confederation of Chemical Engineers (APCChE) covering Australasia and Asia.
• *In addition, WCEC aspires to the establishment of a fourth federation that will embrace chemical engineering societies in Africa and the Middle East. The working title for this body is Chemical Engineering Society for Africa and the Middle-East (ChESAME)

Member Societies - These organisations represent chemical engineering interests in a particular country (although some may draw their membership internationally, e.g. AIChE, IChemE etc.). They participate in the Chemical Engineering Federations according to their geographical location.

World Congress of Chemical Engineering (WCCE) - The premier international gathering of chemical engineers held traditionally on a four year cycle. The congress generally incorporates a fully peer reviewed technical programme, eminent international plenary speakers, an exhibition of chemical engi-neering products and services, youth and student activities and a social programme.