| Mehdi Nafissi and Les McQuire organized the first "Bench To Pilot Plant" Symposium in 1997. It was a huge success and it has now become a regular feature of the Chemistry Program in North Jersey. Mehdi and Les went on to organize a similar session at a National ACS meeting and since then Les organized another National "Bench To Pilot Plant" at the National Meeting in San Diego. |

| Les with Mehdi Nafissi (Co-founder of "Bench"), the Section Chair (Anita Brandolini) and the speakers at the first Bench to Pilot Plant (1997) |

| Bench To Pilot Plant at National. A capacity crowd on a Thursday afternoon! |