Students studying for a Master’s in Chemical Engineering (MEng) at the University of Chester can rest assured they are receiving a gold standard postgraduate education.
To add to last year’s accreditation from the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), for its undergraduate BEng degree in Chemical Engineering, the University has now achieved the same accreditation for its MEng degree in the same subject.
This is an internationally recognised ‘gold standard’ and with the first Chemical Engineering MEng cohort only graduating this week, it has been achieved at the earliest opportunity
Professor Steve Wilkinson, Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering, said: “Considering that the University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering is still in its relative infancy, I am particularly delighted with these accreditations. Since the Department was first established five years ago, both staff and students have been working really hard to get us to this point. I am also very proud of our MEng final year students. The IChemE assessors said that each of them was articulate and very professional in their communication and behaviour, and had tackled problems that a year ago had seemed beyond them. We are very pleased that the IChemE is endorsing our offer here at the University of Chester.”
Andrew Caldwell, from Wigan, was in the first cohort of Chemical Engineering MEng graduates who studied at the University of Chester’s Thornton Science Park, and is graduating at Chester Cathedral this week. He is now a Graduate Process Engineer at GHD – one of the world’s leading professional services companies operating in the global markets of water, energy and resources, environment, property and buildings, and transportation.
Andrew said: “As part of the first intake in 2014, I’m really proud that our course received IChemE accreditation at the first attempt. The students always felt that we were working in the same team as the teaching staff. We have helped them to create an excellent Department, of which it feels good to be a part. We will continue to support it now that we are working as graduates in industry. At GHD, I’m working on a number of projects across the water industry, where I have learned valuable insights into the designs of water treatment plants and pumping stations. Throughout these projects I have enhanced and developed the fundamental skills established within the MEng course.”
Ian Walker, Associate Director at GHD, which is based at Thornton Science Park, said: “We were delighted to hear of the confirmation of the MEng accreditation for the University of Chester’s Chemical Engineering course. Congratulations to all involved. We are very pleased to have been able to take on our first graduate from this course who, along with our recent summer placement student from the same course, has already made a valuable contribution to our process team based at Chester.”
Professor Wilkinson added: “The students agreed unanimously to the IChemE assessors that they would recommend the MEng programme to any BEng student eligible to take it. What better recommendation can you get than that?”
