Eli Lilly to sponsor Irish chemical engineering students
25th November 2014
A new five-year sponsorship agreement by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly will provide free membership of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) for all chemical engineering undergraduates at five leading universities in Ireland.
The sponsorship agreement covers all undergraduates starting from autumn 2014 and will continue for the full duration of their courses at Cork Institute of Technology, Queens University Belfast, University College Cork, University College Dublin and University of Limerick.
Chemical and process engineers work in some of the biggest and most important global industries such as oil, gas, chemicals, food, water and healthcare.
The ‘All-Ireland’ agreement will ensure that the next generation of chemical engineers across the island will be able to support their early careers with access to a range of member benefits and professional development.
The students will also have the opportunity to network with IChemE’s 40,000 members in major chemical engineering hubs around the world including South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, USA and the UK.
Dr Denis Ring, IChemE’s All-Ireland Members Group chair and lecturer at University College Cork, said: “Chemical engineering is one of those professions that makes a significant difference to quality of life and generate economic wealth on a national scale.
“Power, drugs, food, clean water, chemicals, biotechnology and much more all require the high-level skills provided by chemical engineers, so the generous support by Eli Lilly to sponsor the professional development of all of Ireland’s chemical engineering undergraduates, over the next five years, is significant to our future economic prosperity.
“On behalf of the profession in Ireland, I would like to thank Eli Lilly for their generous support and urge all undergraduates to take advantage of this unique and practical opportunity for the entirety of their studies.”
Diarmuid O’Connor, business leader, Biotech Operations Eli Lilly Kinsale, said: “I believe it is incumbent upon us in the industry to support and promote the profession and help it evolve in partnership with academia and with IChemE.
“Having a body like IChemE focused on the promotion and continuing professional development of chemical engineers is something I found of great benefit across my own career and it is great to be involved with this new initiative.
“Eli Lilly is proud to be to be involved with this sponsorship agreement as we believe by sponsoring student membership we will be progressing young chemical engineers to the highest professional standards.”
Eli Lilly operates in over 140 countries and has been based in Ireland since 1978. It currently employs around 700 people in Ireland.
