The 2005 winner of the CACHE Award for Excellence in Computing in Chemical Engineering Education is David M. Himmelblau of the University of Texas, the Paul D. & Betty Robertson Meek and American Petrofina Foundation Centennial Professor in Chemical Engineering. Dave is author of the widely used introductory text, "Basic Principles and Calculations in Chemical Engineering," now in its seventh edition. He also co-authored the books "Optimization of Chemical Processes" and "Process Analysis and Simulation."

Dave earned his Ph.D. at the University of Washington in 1957. Within AIChE, he served as Director from 1974-76 and has been awarded the CAST Division Award (1986) and the Founders Award (1992). He also won the Joseph Martin Award of ASEE in 1987.

His current work focuses on sensor validation using artificial neural networks for fault diagnosis and data rectification.