Stratis Sotirchos Dies in Car Crash

Stratis Sotirchos, adjunct professor of chemical engineering at the University of Rochester and AIChE member, died June 13 at the age of 48 in Brussels, Belgium. He was struck by a car while attending a scientific conference. Sotirchos was known internationally for his work in complex chemical systems.

Sotirchos' career revolved around chemical reaction engineering, and later composite materials. At the time of his death, Sotirchos was working on producing carbon nanotubes of surprisingly large size.

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, Texas, before accepting an appointment at the University of Rochester. He had published more than 100 refereed journal papers and conference proceedings.

Sotirchos is survived by his wife Kalliope Legaki-Sotirchos, his sons Vlassis (Blaze) and Elias.