Breaking down the silo walls
9th April 2014
A strong line-up of speakers joined forces at the UK's second annual national chemical engineering research day – ChemEngDayUK 2014 – to strengthen collaboration and networking amongst the UK’s research communities.
Speakers included former Institution of Chemical Engineers’ (IChemE) president and chair of Scotland’s new Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre, Ian Shott CBE; the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ chief scientist, professor John Perkins; former president and current energy centre chair of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), Dr Dale Keairns; and Dr Keith Guy, chair of industrial gas consultants, Esprit Associates.
The event was held at the School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science at the University of Manchester. Around 300 delegates attended the event which included over 150 postgraduate research presentations.
Other speakers at ChemEngDayUK 2014 included Kedar Pandya, engineering theme leader for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Marc-Olivier Coppens, Ramsay Memorial professor in chemical engineering at University College London.
UCL’s Coppens asserted that the UK was well placed to address the challenges presented by the nation's need for sustainable energy, manufacturing and healthcare, both responsibly and effectively.
Coppens said: 'We can prove our worth by cultivating innovation and deploying critical thinking grounded in fundamental science and engineering. We must also promote academic and industrial collaboration, social awareness and inclusiveness. Facilitating a productive dialog to inform coherent policy making must figure prominently on our agenda.'
IChemE's director of policy and communication, Andy Furlong, expressed his satisfaction at the new sense of solidarity that was building within the UK chemical engineering community.
Furlong said, 'ChemEngDayUK is now firmly established as the must attend gathering for everyone involved in research in the broad space that is chemical engineering in the UK.
“The event is helping to break down silos, build new networks and provide collective vision and purpose for the chemical engineering profession.'
ChemEngDayUK 2015 will be hosted by the University of Sheffield over two half days, 8-9 April 2015. Bath, Birmingham and Leeds have joined the queue to stage future events.