Month: June 2018

Chemical engineers review the Industrial Strategy in Parliament #LinksDay18

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This week eleven representatives – a mixture of Trustees, members, and staff – from IChemE attended the 30th Parliamentary Links Day.

Hosted by the Royal Society of Biology (RSB), the annual event brings together scientists and engineers from across the UK to discuss key issues with MPs and their peers.

This year’s theme was Science and the Industrial Strategy, and included two panel sessions – The Mission and The Target.

The UK government updated the Industrial Strategy on 21 May 2018 to focus on four ‘Grand Challenges’ – Artificial Intelligence and Data, Ageing Society, Clean Growth and the Future of Mobility.

Continue reading Chemical engineers review the Industrial Strategy in Parliament #LinksDay18

What is it like being a chemical engineer in Parliament? – Interview with Erin Johnson, Ashok Kumar Fellow 2017

On 20 January 2017, we announced that chemical engineering postgraduate student Erin Johnson had been awarded the Ashok Kumar Fellowship 2017.

The annual Fellowship, which is jointly supported by IChemE and the North-East England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC), provides one chemical engineer with the opportunity to work the UK Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology (POST) for three months.

During Erin’s time at POST she researched and spoke to experts from academia, industry, government and the third sector, about the fire safety of building materials. Her research culminated in a briefing note (known as a POSTnote) to support MPs and peers in making evidence-based policy decisions on the subject.

Continue reading What is it like being a chemical engineer in Parliament? – Interview with Erin Johnson, Ashok Kumar Fellow 2017

How do you feel female chemical engineers are raising the bar?

 

 

After a successful campaign in 2017, the team behind International Women in Engineering Day, wanted to aim higher for 2018 and have created the theme #RaisingTheBar.

We felt this was a great opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women in engineering and how these successes are ‘Raising the Bar’ for aspiring female engineers.

We wanted to see what our members thought, so asked them: How do you feel female chemical engineers are raising the bar?

Thank you to all the responses we’ve had – it’s been great to see them.

We’ve collated the responses from the chemical engineers below. We’ll be sharing them on Twitter throughout International Women in Engineering Day. Continue reading How do you feel female chemical engineers are raising the bar?

Trust in Energy: Forecasting our Uncertain Future

shutterstock_1011636538In today’s blog post, Jacob Brown of IChemE’s Future Energy Leaders discusses and reflects on the group’s latest event on energy forecasting, and what it means for chemical engineers.

Quote start On the 17th of May 2018, the Future Energy Leaders of the IChemE Energy Centre hosted a panel discussion on the future of energy, and more specifically, on the topic of energy forecasting; i.e. our ability to predict and plan for the imminent changes in our energy demand and supply. More than 20 delegates attended the live event in London, UK – with more than 40 watching online.

In the past, efforts at forecasting our energy system have been very inaccurate. This event brought together experts from a variety of backgrounds to examine why this is, and how we should be using these forecasts. In short, it seems the answer is “don’t just look at the numbers, look at the premises”.

Continue reading Trust in Energy: Forecasting our Uncertain Future