ChemEng Enterprise creates waves at ChemEngDayUK 2024

ChemEng Enterprise experts lead the way in a session entitled ‘Translation’.

This year’s ChemEngDayUK 2024, the premier UK chemical engineering conference, was attended by over 400 delegates from across the world of academia and industry.

ChemEng Enterprise, led by Professor Sandro Macchietto, Director of Enterprise in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London, made a substantial impact on the event by co-organising, a first for this annual conference, a dedicated session on ‘Translating Chemical Engineering: from research to societal impact’.

Professor Sandro Macchietto and Dr Christian Holtze, BASF, also presented a well-received joint keynote lecture titled “From Bench to Impact: academic and industry perspectives on translation”.

The Translation session also featured a panel of experts from academia, SMEs, large companies, and investors discussing the challenges and excitement involved in going from research ideas to practical applications. Chaired by Professor Camille Petit, Director of Research at Imperial College London's Department of Chemical Engineering, the panel comprised experts from industry and academia:

• Dr Christian Holtze, BASF (moderator)
• Professor David Fairen-Jimenez, University of Cambridge
• Dr Helen (Jinghui) Lian, Labcycle
• Ms Andrea Sinclair, Angel Investor
• Dr Rob Singh, Essex University
• Dr Mark Selby, CERES Power
• Mr Paul Swift, P&G

Finally, some recent startups were selected to showcase their work, including Bioataraxis, a spinout from the Chemical Engineering department at Imperial who are developing new biobased high-performance surfactants.

On the significance of hosting a grand ChemEng Enterprise session at one of the largest Chemical Engineering events of the year, Prof Sandro Macchietto stated: “Addressing the big societal challenges requires new thinking and brilliant research. The other half the of work is connecting such research to industry and delivering practical, economically viable solutions at scale. Sessions like this help realise the breadth and depth of the fantastic translation work happening in our universities, and the incredible potential from linking research, industry and finance. Awe inspiring!”  

ChemEngDayUK 2024

This annual event is supported by the Heads of Chemical Engineering UK (HCEUK), and addresses the future research and educational contributions of chemical engineers.

Find our more about ChemEngDayUK 2024 at the Department of Chemical Engineering.