Electrochemical Engineering

Fumio Hine was born on November 23, 1927 in Osaka Japan. His father was a committed businessman, but Fumio was a bit of a romantic. Nevertheless, after taking some electrical engineering classes in Osaka, he began his studies of chemistry under the direction of Professor Shinzo Okada in the Department of Industrial Chemistry in 1948. Hine received his Ph.D. in 1960 from Kyoto University. He was a Fulbright Scholar, and without much foreknowledge of what to expect, he was sent to work with Earnest Yeager at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. During this period he began a close and long collaboration with Robert B. MacMullin. Working in Niagara, MacMullin was well known for his work on the development of the chlor-alkali process and had a great influence on the young Hine. Given that electricity is the major input to most electrolytic processes, such processes are often located close to low-cost electrical power. This was the case in Niagara, New York, which supported a flourishing electrolytic industry beginning in the early 1900s because of Niagara Falls. Cleveland is not too far away, and Fumio recounts visiting MacMullin's home several times in the 1960s, where he discussed concepts of industrial electrochemical processes and explored the natural beauty of the ...