Chemical engineering professor dies

tratis Sotirchos, a professor of chemical engineering for 15 years before taking an adjunct position, died June 13 at the age of 48 in Brussels, Belgium. He was struck by a car while attending a scientific conference.

Known internationally for his work in complex chemical systems, Sotirchos joined the University in 1982 and became a full professor in the chemical engineering department in 1992. He conducted research in chemical reaction engineering, which involved modeling how chemical reactions that work well in a test tube might function in larger-scale industrial applications, such as how best to convert coal into fuel.

At the time of his death, Sotirchos was working on producing carbon nanotubes of surprisingly large size. Nanotubes are latticed networks of carbon laced together in a tubelike formation, and which have striking properties including electrical conduction and incredible strength.

"Stratis was a brilliant chemical engineer," says Jacob Jorne, professor of chemical engineering. "He was an excellent teacher as well, and he was so enthusiastic about his work that the excitement became contagious. Neither students nor colleagues could help getting interested in whatever he was saying."

Sotirchos studied chemical engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, where he earned his diploma in 1979. In 1982 he earned his doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Houston before accepting his appointment at the University. He joined the Institute of Chemical Engineering in Patras, Greece, in 1997 as a research director, a position that allowed him to remain on the Rochester faculty as an adjunct professor.

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