The AIChE Netherlands/Belgium Section is a self-governing unit and was founded in 1975 as the Netherlands Section. At that time many American and other foreign nationals participated in the development of the European, specifically the Dutch and Belgian, petroleum refining and chemical industries. Since that time, the Section has been run by executive officers to serve as a forum for the initiation and discussion of ideas, activities and programs to better serve the membership and keep the Section responsive to member needs and interests. General membership participation in this task is highly encouraged. Section meetings have provided members with an opportunity to meet in an informal professional atmosphere with those in engineering and management functions in other organizations. Reflecting the Section's record of attracting high quality speakers for a variety of topical subjects, regular meetings have been well attended. By virtue of its mode of operation and selection of meeting topics, the Section does not compete with other engineering societies such as the Dutch KIVI NIRIA, KNCV and Belgian KVIV and SRBII, or the European Branch of I.Chem.E. The subjects presented at meetings, though related to Chemical Engineering and to the Process Industries, are often of a general nature and the atmosphere, with cocktail hour and dinner plus a question and answer period, is relatively informal. In addition to these meetings a full day Colloquium on technical subjects is held annually. Members are welcome to invite meetings guests who are related to the Chemical Process Industries, or who have an interest in the subject of a particular meeting. In general, meetings are open to members of other engineering societies or to the interested public at large. In 1984, to reflect the interest in the Section of those working and residing in Belgium, the Section was renamed into "Netherlands/Belgium Section".