At the AICHE Fall National meeting in Salt Lake City, Dan Crowl received the Gary Leach Award from the AICHE Board of Directors. The award is shared with the other members of the AICHE Chem-E-Car Safety Task Force.

The Gary Leach Award "Recognizes and publicizes the activities of a group in the organization whose performance showed significant accomplishments toward the Institute's mission and objectives." The award certificate states "In recognition of the Chem-E-Car Safety Task Force for its thorough review and recommendations designed to ensure the safety of student participants in the competition.

The Task Force's work strongly supports AICHE's mission to promote excellence in chemical engineering education, and is another demonstration of AICHE's strong commitment to chemical safety."

The Chem-E-Car Safety Task Force identified the Michigan Tech Chemical Engineering Job Safety Analysis Form (JSA) as a very effective instrument for use in the Chem-E-Car Safety program. It is currently used, in a somewhat modified form, for all student groups entering the Chem-E-Car competition, and represents the principal management method for Chem-E-Car safety. The Chem -E-Car Safety Task Force was formed in the spring of 2006 when the AICHE Board of Directors suspended the popular Chem- E-Car competition until a suitable safety program could be developed. This was in response to a number of serious accidents that occurred during the competition. Dan Crowl was an original member of the Task Force. The safety program developed by the Task Force identified several technical, management and cultural components to achieve a safe construction, operating and competition environment for the students, spectators and judges. The competition was re-instated in June of 2006 upon implementation of the safety program, and, since then, no accidents have occurred in either the regional or national competitions. Dan Crowl said that he is very honored to share this award with the other team members.