National awards recognise Singapore chemical engineers

Singapore’s leading chemical engineers from industry and academia have been recognised today at IChemE’s 2012 national awards event.

Guests from more than 15 companies and institutions attended the IChemE’s biggest event in Singapore to date at the Shangri La Hotel. Guest speakers at the event were IChemE deputy president and chair of the Great Britain Health and Safety Executive Judith Hackitt CBE and former England and Manchester United footballer Paul Parker.

Industry winners were Worley Parsons and the Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences (ICES). Worley Parsons lifted the Process Safety Award in recognition of its ‘Black Point Gas Supply’ project. ICES was awarded the Pharmaceutical and Specialty Chemical Award for its work on the formulation of poorly-soluble drugs. ICES’ nanoformulation invention could be used for the development of new pharmaceutical products or to improve existing drugs for higher efficacy and lower dosages.

Elsewhere, Singapore Polytechnic won the Education and Training Award in recognition of its project ‘Design Thinking for Chemical Product Design’, which serves to provide comprehensive coverage of the skills of conceiving, designing, implementing and operating a chemical processing system or a chemical product.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic won the Sustainable Technology Award for its project ‘Sustainable Production of Fuels and Chemicals from Lignocellulosic Biomass’, which aims to develop novel biocatalysts and bioprocesses for the conversion of lignocelulosic biomass to value-added fuels and chemicals.

Sun Shipeng, a research engineer at the National University of Singapore clinched the sole individual prize of the evening, the Young Chemical Engineer of the Year Award, in recognition of his talents and research developing and engineering high-performance membranes as a solution for water reclamation across various industries.

IChemE director of policy and communication Andy Furlong says: "Tonight was all about recognising some of the outstanding chemical engineering and chemical engineers in Singapore. National events like this are important to the Institution alongside our global awards programme.”

IChemE has around 500 members in Singapore with major industry employers including the likes of Worley Parsons, Zenith Technologies, Yokogawa and Veolia Water.

Next week the Institution stages its first North America Awards reception in Vancouver, Canada with its global Awards Dinner taking place on 1 November in Manchester, UK where more than 500 invited guests and chemical engineers are expected.

2012 Singapore Award winners

IChemE Singapore Education and Training Award
Singapore Polytechnic

IChemE Singapore Process Safety Award sponsored by ABB Consulting
Worley Parsons

IChemE Singapore Pharmaceutical and Specialty Chemical Award sponsored by Mitsui Chemical
Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences

Singapore Young Chemical Engineer of the Year sponsored by IChemE On Campus
Sun Shipeng, National University of Singapore

IChemE Singapore Sustainable Technology Award sponsored by GSK
Ngee Ann Polytechnic