Norbert Rillieux  Norbert Rillieux (March 17, 1806 – October 8, 1894) was an American-French inventor who was widely considered one of the earliest chemical engineers and noted for his pioneering invention of the multiple-effect evaporator. This invention was an important development in the growth of the sugar industry. Rillieux, a French-speaking Creole, was a cousin of the painter Edgar Degas. Norbert Rillieux was born into a prominent Creole family in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the son of Vincent Rillieux, a white plantation owner, and his placée, Constance Vivant, a free person of color. Norbert was the eldest of seven children. His siblings were: Barthelemy, Edmond, Marie Eugenie, Louis, Marie Eloise, and Cecile Virginie. Norbert's aunt on his father's side, Marie Celeste Rillieux, was the grandmother of painter Edgar Degas. His aunt on his mother's side, Eulalie Vivant, was the mother of Bernard Soulie, one of the wealthiest "gens de couleur libre" in Louisiana. One of Norbert's cousins was the blind writer Victor Ernest Rillieux. As a Creole of color, Norbert Rillieux had access to education and privileges not available to lower-status free blacks or slaves. Baptized Roman Catholic, Rillieux received his early education at private Catholic schools in Louisiana before traveling to Paris in the early 1820s to study at École Centrale Paris, one of the top engineering schools in France. While at École Centrale, Norbert studied physics, mechanics, and engineering. He became an expert in steam engines and published several papers about the use of steam to work devices. These early explorations became the foundation of the technology he would later implement in his evaporator. At 24 (1830), Rillieux became the youngest teacher at École Centrale, instructing in applied mechanics. In the 1800s, the process for sugar refinement was slow, expensive, and inefficient. The most common method of converting sugarcane into sugar was called the "Sugar Train"; it was also known as the "Spanish Train" or "Jamaica Train". The sugarcane juice was pressed from the cane and poured into a large kettle, where it was heated and left until most of the water evaporated.