Dr.-Ing. habil. Jerzy Mackowiak studied at Wroclaw University of Technology (Poland) where he gained his degree (Dipl.-Ing., 1970) and doctorate (Dr.-Ing., 1975) in Chemical Engineering. He subsequently studied Mathematics at Wroclaw University. From 1976 to 1989, he worked at the Institute for Thermal Separation Processes of Bochum University, where his final post was as Academic Director. During this time, he created a database containing fluid dynamics and mass transfer data for the design of packed and tray columns. Since 1989, he has been Managing Director of Envicon Engineering GmbH, now Envimac Engineering GmbH, in Oberhausen, Germany and Envimac Polska Sp. z o.o., Poland. He completed his habilitation at Wroclaw University in 1991. Since 2004 he has been working as an external lecturer at the Institute of Fluid Separation Processes of the Technical University in Dortmund. He is the author/co-author of more than 120 publications and holds 15 patents.