The annual meetings organised by the German society for chemical apparatus engineering, chemical technology and biotechnology DECHEMA represent a core element of the Society's general concept, following the slogan ''Identify tasks - develop solutions - present results - disseminate knowledge - transfer know-how''. Since last year's meeting had been broadly appreciated, the idea of organising the annual meetings of several technical sections and technical DECHEMA conferences in parallel at the same place was picked up again in 1996 to enable mutual exchange of information. Five plenary sessions, 28 overview papers, 172 short reports and 503 poster presentations made of this DECHEMA-meeting an event technology, biotechnology, genetic engineering, environmental protection and safety.