Prog. Nat. Sci.

This paper traces the development of chemical engineering, its expanding from original scope of the chemical industries to the present scope of practically all industries involving the physical and chemical processing of materials. It points out, with an example, the promising future of the multi-scale approach in dealing with the complex systems in chemical engineering, concluding with the hope of establishing a generic methodology of this approach.This paper traces the development of chemical engineering, its expanding from original scope of the chemical industries to the present scope of practically all industries involving the physical and chemical processing of materials. It points out, with an example, the promising future of the multi-scale approach in dealing with the complex systems in chemical engineering, concluding with the hope of establishing a generic methodology of this approach