HBIA Member Inducted into WVU Academy of Chemical Engineers

Roy Whipp, President of Whipp Technology, Inc., was honored on May 2, 2008, as a newly inducted member of the  West Virginia University Academy of Chemical Engineers.  Active members can never exceed 60, and no more than six new members can be added in a given year.

In 2007, Whipp became one of the first two special members of the Hot Briquetted Iron Association (HBIA) in recognition of his contribution to the body of engineering and operating expertise that is the basis for today’s hot briquetted iron (HBI) Industry, according to the HBIA press release.

Whipp holds a chemical engineering degree with high honors from West Virginia University.  His background includes extensive operational and management experience in the engineering, construction, and start-up of plants for the direct reduction of iron ore and the use of direct reduction products in steelmaking. 

He began his career with Exxon Chemicals, where he was initially in LNG, LPG and refinery engineering initially and then became involved in the process design and start-up of the FIOR de Venezuela hot briquetted iron (HBI) plant.  He joined FIOR as technical manager and later became plant manager and technical advisor to the general manager.  In 1986, Whipp became a private consultant providing technical and management advisory services to direct reduction process suppliers and production plants.  He was instrumental in the construction, start-up, and optimization of HBI plants owned by SIVENSA (Venezuela) – VENPRECAR and Orinoco Iron.

Whipp has been awarded over a 100 of direct reduction-related patents in the US and 28 other countries.  He is the developer with a partner of five copyrighted computer programs for direct reduction process simulations and scrap optimization (Scrap OptiMiser^©).  He has published more than 55 technical articles on direct reduction, steelmaking, and computer modeling and is president of Whipp Technology, Inc., St. Petersburg, Fla.