More than twenty chemical engineers have been recognised by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) Medals and Prizes Committee for their outstanding contributions to the profession, in both research and industry.
The committee published the 2017 list of IChemE medal and prize winners today. They recognise exceptional work across all aspects of chemical, process and biochemical engineering.
Among the winners, Professor Eva Sorensen, of University College London, UK received the Frank Morton Medal for promoting best practice in chemical engineering education. She has been a key driver of UCL’s Integrated Engineering Programme (IEP), which takes an innovative approach to delivering engineering education, by encouraging professional and personal development as part of the degree process. The medal commemorates former IChemE president, Frank Morton, and his dedicated service to teaching.
Professor Freek Kapteijn, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, will receive the Andrew Medal, named after Professor Syd Andrew. Kapteijn is recognised as one of the founding fathers of catalysis engineering, and has pioneered new concepts and approaches which will help improve our
understanding of structure-performance relationships in heterogeneous catalysis and material’s science in the years to come.
Professor Robin Smith, University of Manchester, UK was awarded the Sargent Medal for his work as a leading authority on process integration. Smith has spent more than 35 years in this research area, which has led to the conceptual development of advanced process integration principles and methodologies.
Imperial College London scooped the most medals in the honour roll, with five academics from the Department of Chemical Engineering receiving accolades.
Dr Clementine Chambon was among the five and received the Ambassador Prize for focusing her research on enriching the lives of others. The prize is Chambon’s second accolade from IChemE, as she was awarded Young Chemical Engineer in Research at the IChemE Awards last year.
IChemE’s Director of Policy and Publications, Claudia Flavell-While, said:
“All the winners of the 2017 IChemE Medals and Prizes should be extremely proud of what they’ve achieved. This talent is truly international, with chemical engineers from Australia, France, the Netherlands, the UK and the US being recognised.
“Each year we receive excellent nominations to our programme, and it’s fantastic to such a strong support between peers in the chemical engineering community. Each of these individuals are making a difference to their field of interest, inspiring others, and ultimately contributing to a positive benefit for wider society.”
The winners will receive their medals and awards at chemical engineering events during 2018, including at IChemE’s Annual General Meeting on 21 May in London, UK.
ROLL OF HONOUR 2017
Ambassador Prize: Clementine Chambon, Oojra Solutions / Imperial College London, UK
Medal awarded to Dr Clementine Chambon for being a uniquely talented individual and an extremely accomplished person at a very young age, and also for focusing on enriching the lives of others and dedicating time to communicate (in four languages) her aims to the world.
Andrew Medal: Professor Freek Kapteijn, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Medal awarded to Professor Freek Kapteijn as one of the founding fathers of Catalysis Engineering. More specifically, his new concepts and approaches represent important inroads towards a more profound understanding of structure-performance relationships in heterogeneous catalysis and material’s science.
Council Medal: Richard Cousins, BP, UK
Medal awarded to Richard Cousins, a member of IChemE’s Professional Formation Forum (PFF) and a volunteer peer review assessor for IChemE membership. He was instrumental in developing the new IChemE Continuing Professional Development (CPD) sampling process in order to meet new Engineering Council requirements. His contribution and time dedicated to this over the last two years has been invaluable.
Donald Medal: Professor Christopher Hewitt, University of Aston, UK
Medal awarded to Professor Christopher Hewitt for excellence in collaborative work – clearly seeing what can be taken from one field and applied to another and executing effectively. More specifically, Hewitt was commended for the tangible changes in how things are understood and done, in academia in commercial enterprises.
Frank Morton Medal: Professor Eva Sorensen, University College London, UK
Medal awarded to Professor Eva Sorensen for being a key driver for innovation in teaching and learning, inside and outside her own institution. She was noted by the committee to have worked tirelessly over several decades to promulgate best practice in chemical engineering education.
Franklin Medal: Professor Henricus (Hans) Michels, Imperial College London, UK
Medal awarded to Professor Hans Michels for his significant contributions to safety and loss prevention over five decades of research at the heart of industrial applications.
Hanson Medal: John Bresland, Former Chair of the US Chemical Safety Board, USA
Medal awarded to John Bresland for his article BP Texas City: Lessons Learned? published in
The Chemical Engineer in May 2017.
Hutchison Medal: Grant Campbell and Daniel Belton, University of Huddersfield, UK
Medal awarded to Grant Campbell and Daniel Belton, for their paper Setting up a new chemical engineering degree programme: Exercises in design and retrofit within constraints, published in Education for Chemical Engineers, Volume 17, 2016, 1‒13.
Junior Moulton Medal: Anna Patsioura, Université Paris-Saclay, France
Medal awarded to Anna Patsioura for her contribution to the paper Effects of oxygenation and process conditions on thermo-oxidation of oil during deep-frying published in Food and Bioproducts Processing, Volume 101, 2017, 84‒89.
Lees Medal: Sean O’Hern, Michael Stern, David Anderson, Alfonso Ibarreta and Timothy Myers, Exponet, US
Medal awarded to Sean O’Hern, Michael Stern, David Anderson, Alfonso Ibarreta and Timothy Myers from Exponet for their paper Analysis of Combustible Dust Flash Fires on Personal Protective Equipment Fabrics presented at Hazards 27.
Nicklin Medal: Dr Eloy Sanz-Perez, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain and Dr Kyra Sedransk Campbell, Imperial College London, UK
Medal awarded to Dr Eloy Sanz-Perez for continuing to impress with his knowledge, capacity of progress, enthusiasm for work, scientific criticism and capacity of communication. Medal awarded to Dr Kyra Sedransk Campbell for being an outstanding young researcher and role model who would bring great credit and profile to the Nicklin Medal.
Sargent Medal: Professor Robin Smith, University of Manchester, UK
Medal awarded to Professor Robin Smith for his work as a leading authority on process integration. His 35 years of leadership and pioneering research has led to the conceptual development of advanced process integration principles and methodologies.
Senior Moulton Medal: Milena Nadgorny, Zeyun Xiao and Luke Connal, University of Melbourne, Australia
Medal awarded to researchers at the University of Melbourne for their paper 2D and 3D-printing of self-healing gels: design and extrusion of self-rolling objects published in
Molecular Systems Design and Engineering, Volume 2, 2017, 283‒292.
Sharma Medal: Professor Geoffrey Hewitt, Imperial College London (retired), UK
Medal awarded to Professor Geoffrey Hewitt for significant contributions to chemical engineering research and practice over a period of nearly 60 years.
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