IChemE announces the 2026 Young Engineers Awards for Innovation and Sustainability
16th June 2026
IChemE is delighted to announce the winners of the 2026 Young Engineers Awards for Innovation and Sustainability (YEAIS). These awards celebrate exceptional young professionals from across IChemE’s global membership who are contributing to a more sustainable world. Through innovative thinking and practical solutions to real-world challenges, these rising stars demonstrate the transformative impact of chemical engineering.
All entrants showcased impressive creativity, technical innovation and a strong commitment to addressing global challenges. Their achievements highlight the vital role of chemical, process and biochemical engineering in society and serve to inspire the next generation of engineers to lead with purpose and ingenuity.
Building on the success of previous years, the 2026 awards saw a record-breaking number of entries received from 18 countries, reflecting an exceptionally high standard and the diversity of emerging talent across the sector’s future talent.
A panel of 50 judges – all valued IChemE volunteers – were highly impressed by the quality of ideas and innovations presented. In their assessments, judges considered strong communication skills alongside clear demonstrations of how each project contributes to achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
IChemE extends its sincere thanks to Syngenta for sponsoring the YEAIS 2026 categories and for supporting the next generation of engineering innovators. We look forward to welcoming YEAIS finalists, judges and guests to our upcoming showcase events.
Winners, highly commended winners, finalists and participants will have the opportunity to present their projects at one of three showcase events:
- 26 June 2026: Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Edinburgh, UK
- 7–9 September 2026: SOMChE Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- 28–30 September 2026: Chemeca Conference, Melbourne, Australia
YEAIS Winners
The top three awards recognise the highest scoring entry in each age category.
Undergraduate
- Laura Thompson, PE(r)Fect Pack: Advancing Circular Pharmaceutical Packaging, University of Bath
Postgraduate
- George Creasey, Development of photoelectrochemical reactors for solar hydrogen production, Imperial College London
Early Career
- Sajid Hassan, High Pressure Dewatering Rolls (HPDR) Mk-II: A Step-Change Technology for Sustainable Mineral Tailings Dewatering and Water Recovery, The University of Melbourne
Individual category winners
Eligible presentations were classified into seven categories aligned to IChemE’s priority topics.
Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence
Winner
- Karthigesan Velautham, Multi-Functional Regression (MFR) using Python for Petroleum Property Inferential Development, Malaysian Refining Company
Highly Commended
- Myles Bentley, Digital CFD Multiphase Modelling for CO2 Electroreduction Design, Johnson Matthey
- Ng Sheng Tat, Digital Twin–Enabled Multi‑Objective Optimisation of Bio‑Oil Co-Processing: A Physics‑Constrained, Human‑in‑the‑Loop Framework, Inprocess Technology & Consulting Group
Energy and Climate Action
Winner
- George Creasey, Development of photoelectrochemical reactors for solar hydrogen production, Imperial College London
Highly Commended
- Gisoo Pasha Moghaddam, Pilot Plant Mass Spectrometer for Drying Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, AstraZeneca
Engineering Biology
Winner
- Priyarubhini Krishnan & Angeline Sue Anne Sia, NanoSense: An Electrospun Nanofibre-Integrated Hyaluronic Acid Microneedle Patch for Localized Delivery of Diclofenac, Universiti Malaya
Environmental Protection and Improvement
Winner
- Alina Tony & Theo Bockmuehl, Small-scale testing solving global emissions problems: Insights into catalytic N2O decomposition, Johnson Matthey
Highly Commended
- Amro Elsayed, Graphene and Ceria Nanotube-Supported ZIF-8 Nanocomposites: High-Performance Adsorbents for CO2 Capture, H2S Scavenging, and Wastewater Treatment, University of Cambridge
- Tai Ji Zhang, Metal Organic Framework-Based Heterostructure Catalyst in Smart Photothermal System for CO2 Conversion to Fuels, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Excellence in Education, Skills and Training
Winner
- Rosaleen Knox, Sebastian Ridley, Vedaant Raghunath, Alexander Barton, and Jasper Clark, XElectric FS: Project XE01, University of Exeter
Food and Drink
Winner
- Lewis Philips & Reuben Selman, Design of a Community Garden Project for the Student Community at the University of Strathclyde, University of Strathclyde
Health and Wellbeing
Winner
- Setornam Gli, CaviTrace: Hydrodynamic Cavitation-Based Rapid Gram Classification, Newcastle University
Materials, Mining and Minerals
Winner
- Sajid Hassan, High Pressure Dewatering Rolls (HPDR) Mk-II: A Step-Change Technology for Sustainable Mineral Tailings Dewatering and Water Recovery, The University of Melbourne
Waste Valorisation and Circular Economy
Winner
- Laura Thompson, PE(r)Fect Pack: Advancing Circular Pharmaceutical Packaging, University of Bath
Highly Commended
- Evangeline Leong, DAC2BIO: Direct Air Capture-enabled Sustainable Biomanufacturing, Monash University
Water and Sanitation
Joint Winners
- UK: Ryan Oatley & Soluna Stojanovska, Natural Coagulation for Clean Water: A Moringa Oleifera Based Treatment System for Low-Resource Communities, University of Leeds
- Australasia: Sela Maka & Emma Cross, A Year in Action - Hybrid MABR-MBR WWTP in Te Kauwhata New Zealand, Watercare Services Limited
Highly Commended
- Abdulrahman Mohamed Mohamud, Russell McDonnell and Ubaydullah Ahmed, HYDRA: Scalable Solar Desalination for Humanitarian Water Security, Queen Mary University of London
Links
Young Engineers Awards for Innovation and Sustainability (YEAIS)
IChemE Priority Topics
What is chemical engineering?
Chemical, biochemical and process engineering is the application of science, mathematics and economics in the process of turning raw materials into everyday, and more specialist, products. Professional chemical engineers design, construct and manage process operations all over the world. Energy, pharmaceuticals, food and drink, synthetic fibres and clean drinking water are just some of the industry sectors and products where chemical engineering plays a central role.
IChemE
The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) advances chemical engineering's contribution for the benefit of society. We facilitate the development of chemical engineering professionals and provide connections to a powerful network of around 32,000 members in more than 100 countries.
We support our members in applying their expertise and experience to make an influential contribution to solving major global challenges, and are the only organisation permitted to award Chartered Chemical Engineer status and Professional Process Safety Engineer registration.