IChemE celebrates first-ever winners of Young Engineers Awards for Innovation and Sustainability
28th June 2024
Around 30 student and early career members of IChemE gathered at IChemE’s Rugby office today to showcase their valuable work driving sustainable and innovative solutions to some key challenges. They were joined by guests including IChemE President Mark Apsey MBE, IChemE Immediate Past President Nigel Hirst, and others from the chemical and process engineering community. Projects on show included entries from undergraduates, postgraduates and early career professionals, with individuals drawn from a wide variety of universities and organisations across the UK and as far afield as the USA.
Guests and presenters had the opportunity to discuss the posters and underlying project informally and a judging panel, drawn from members of the IChemE National Early Careers Group (NECG), had the difficult task of identifying those that stood out. The IChemE President and Martin Wardrope, head of the judging panel and chair of the NECG, both commented on the exceptional standard of the work on display and how difficult it was to identify ‘winners’ in a room where every contribution demonstrated the crucial role of chemical and process engineering in meeting the great challenges facing the world today.
The winner of the Undergraduate Award was Alexandra Joyce Roe for her project ‘Enhancing the Understanding of Biochar to Allow the Incorporation into Tufted Carpet Tiles for a Reduction in the Carbon Footprint’. Andrei-Leonard Nicusan and Roberto Hart-Villamil took home the Postgraduate Award for ‘Energy Reduction in Industrial Processes via Evolutionary Optimisation of Simulation’ and the Early Career Award was won by Roseanna Edney for her work on ‘Creating a Circular Economy for Plastic’.
Six finalists also received Highly Commended certificates for their work: Joseph Carver and Ethan Grigor, University of Bath; Daniel Singleton, University of Manchester; William Gordon-Petrovskii, University College London; Cherie Wong, University of Oxford, Sam Smith, Air Products; and Zoha Tariq, Graduate Chemical Engineer.
Mark Apsey said: “Inspirational is a word which is overused in today’s world – but it is truly inspirational to be in a room with so many young engineers showing how they are already making a difference and being the change. I am determined that, during my Presidential Year, we will shine an even brighter light on the impact of chemical and process engineering on people’s everyday lives as well as the big challenges of sustainability and climate change.”
Deborah Olowu, a student at Queen Mary University London and one of those displaying their work said: “I am very excited about the opportunity to share my work with experienced chemical engineers and my peers. Seeing other people’s work makes me want to learn more about all the possibilities to which chemical engineering can lead. No idea is too big or too small to showcase the difference that we, as chemical engineers, make. These awards are a great opportunity and I urge everyone to get involved as they grow.”
This is the first time IChemE has organised this type of event for young engineers and next year the challenge will be extended to schools and young people under 18 – giving even younger would-be engineers the opportunity to show how they can contribute to IChemE’s vision for chemical engineering: engineering a sustainable world.
2024 Young Engineers Awards for Innovation and Sustainability finalists
Undergraduate Award
Winner:
Alexandra Joyce Roe (Milliken and Company alongside Loughborough University)
Highly Commended:
Joseph Carver and Ethan Grigor (University of Bath), Daniel Singleton (University of Manchester)
Finalists:
Mohamad Amiirulaimaan bin Mohd Ariff (University of Leeds)
Archie Goodburn (University of Edinburgh)
Amirhossein Mjroohislam (Teesside University)
Lukas Berr (University of Edinburgh)
Nikita Verma (University of Sheffield)
Deborah Olowu (Queen Mary University of London)
Kogulan Vipulan (University of Cambridge)
Postgraduate Award
Winner:
Andrei-Leonard Nicusan and Roberto Hart-Villamil (University of Birmingham)
Highly Commended:
William Gordon-Petrovskii (University College London), Cherie Wong (University of Oxford)
Finalists:
Miguel Ángel de Carvalho Servia (Imperial College London)
Ching Yoong Loh (University of Bath)
Agnes Julia L. Aparte (University College London)
Qiang Yang (University College London)
Nichakorn Fungprasertkul (University of Manchester)
Early Career Award
Winner:
Roseanna Edney (Plastic Energy)
Highly Commended:
Sam Smith (Air Products), Zoha Tariq (Graduate Chemical Engineer)
Finalists:
Naza Samuel (AWE)
Lingfeng Gui (Heriot-Watt University)
Maria Kalli (IChemE Young Members Forum London and Southeast Coast and MFX)
Olivia Lauren Cullen (Bacardi - John Dewar & Sons)
Gabriel Jones (Aker Solutions Ltd)
Rhodri Hawkins and Pavel Culik (Green Cat Hydrogen and Green Cat Renewables, respectively)
Links
IChemE Young Engineers Awards for Innovation and Sustainability
Contact
Ann Baylis, Communications Executive and PR Lead, IChemE
t: +44 (0) 1788 534477
e: abaylis@icheme.org
Dan Owens, Communications Executive, IChemE
t: +44 (0) 1788 534458
e: dowens@icheme.org
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 30,000 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.